Freelance Geospatial Data Engineer Jobs in California

The Marlin Alliance is seeking a forward-thinking Data Engineer in San Diego, CA to provide client support to our Navy client. This is an on-site role and applicants must have active DoD Secret Clearance.

Incorporated in 2002, The Marlin Alliance is a digital transformation company dedicated to ensuring our clients compete and win in tomorrow’s digital world. We specialize in creating technical solutions that allow for seamless execution of automated business processes and the generation of governed, machine-consumable data. From strategic planning to advanced analytics and cybersecurity, our team provides cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary solutions. We are seeking motivated professionals who share our agile, solution-oriented mindset and are ready to deliver the real, practical results relied upon by our clients.

This role is on-site in San Diego, CA and requires active TS/SCI clearance.

Responsibilities:

• Build and optimize robust data pipelines: ingestion, transformation, storage, and governance.
• Convert between tactical data formats, e.g., XML, JSON, GEOJSON, Cursor-on-Target (CoT), JREAP-C, Link-16.
• Implement automation using CHRON/CRON jobs and data orchestration frameworks (Apache Airflow, Kafka, AWS Step Functions).
• Architect and maintain scalable data stores (e.g., Apache Iceberg, Elasticsearch) with schema evolution and deduplication.
• Enable real-time data indexing and fast query performance.
• Implement MIL-STD-6016 (Link-16) and MIL-STD-3011 (JREAP) message handling.
• Support integration or development of Cross-Domain Solutions (CDS) for secure, policy-based data transfers.
• Present complex data flows and technical insights effectively to leadership and stakeholders using clear data models and visual aids.

Required Skills and Experience:

• 5 - 10 years' experience working as a business analyst, data analyst, data scientist, data engineer, database administrator, geospatial analyst, geospatial engineer, machine learning engineer, or software engineer
• Hands on Keyboard- Developer Skillsets
• Fluency in Python, can code without Modern libraries.
• Experience in format conversions with some of the following: XML, JREAP-C, COT (cursor-on-target), JSON, GEO JSON, UMF/UHR, text link-16, Tapil-J, and other Tactical Data Links.
• Experience in natural language parsing (NLP) and using regular expressions, RegEx
• Experience implementing CHRON/CRON jobs
• Experience in data pipeline orchestration, ETL, orchestration tools (e.g., Kafka, Apache Airflow, AWS Step Functions)
• Focused experience implementing and monitoring data stores i.e. (Apache Iceberg, elastic search, data lake management)
• Experience with schema evolution, dataflow and governance
• Experience with real-time search and analytics engines for indexing and querying semi-structured data
• Focused experience optimizing data store queries for speed and de-duplication
• Direct experience implementing MIL-STD-6016 and MIL-STD-3011
• Can translate data between source and destination schemas
• Data modeling and PowerPoint presentations for leadership and stakeholder presentations
• Experience working with or developing Cross Domain Solutions (CDS) systems.

Preferred Skills and Experience:

• Familiarity with DoD data architecture principles (e.g. DoDAF, CADM).
• Experience with DataOps or similar mission-critical pipeline automation (e.g., deduplication, schema normalization).
• Any experience leveraging universal data distribution architectures within DOD operations.

Education and Certification Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, or related STEM field.

Work Environment and Mental/Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions, absent undue hardships.

• Must be able to perform work in a stationary position at a minimum of 50% of the time.
• Must have the ability to operate computer and other office productivity machinery consistently during work hours.
• Must have the ability to communicate and exchange information and ideas in an in-person or virtual setting through the use of online tools and available communication mediums.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship.

The Employer retains the right to change or assign other duties to this position as deemed necessary

Job Classification:

Associate III

$175,000 - $225,000

Disclaimer:

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) incumbent in this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments. All duties and responsibilities are essential functions and requirements and are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities.

To perform this job successfully, the incumbents will possess the skills, aptitudes, and abilities to perform each duty proficiently. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health or safety of themselves or others. The requirements listed in this document are the minimum levels of knowledge, skills, or abilities.

This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an “at-will” relationship.

An Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities