Data Engineer

Company Description

Join us and make YOUR mark on the World!

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has turned bold ideas into world-changing impact advancing science and technology to strengthen U.S. security and promote global stability.

Our mission spans four critical national security areas nuclear deterrence, threat preparedness, energy security, and multi-domain defense empowering teams to take on the toughest challenges of today and tomorrow. With a culture built on innovation and operational excellence, LLNL is a place where your expertise can make a real impact.

Job Description

We have an opening for a Data Engineer to build and modernize data systems that make mission-critical scientific and engineering data discoverable, reusable, and available for analysis. You will partner with scientists, engineers, software developers, and data stewards to understand complex experimental and operational workflows and translate them into reliable data products.

The work spans structured and unstructured data, automated pipelines, metadata and schema design, data quality and lineage, APIs, visualization, and integration with modern data platforms. You will have opportunities to improve legacy processes, introduce reusable engineering practices, and help shape how research data is managed and shared within LLNL and across the National Nuclear Security Administration complex.

This position is in the Applications, Simulations, and Quality Division within the Computing Directorate, supporting Strategic Deterrence data management programs.

Depending on your assignment, this position may offer a hybrid schedule, blending in-person and virtual presence. You may have the flexibility to work from home one or more days per week.

This position will be filled at either level based on knowledge and related experience as assessed by the hiring team. Additional job responsibilities and qualifications will apply if hired at the higher level.

You will

• Design, build, test, and maintain automated pipelines that ingest, transform, validate, and publish structured and unstructured scientific or engineering data.
• Partner with scientists and engineers to understand their workflows and translate their needs into data requirements, schemas, metadata, APIs, and reusable data products.
• Develop and apply data quality, lineage, governance, and metadata practices that make data easier to discover, understand, and reuse.
• Build interfaces, APIs, dashboards, or other tools that allow technical users to explore data and incorporate it into analysis workflows.
• Apply DataOps and software engineering practices - including version control, automated testing, CI/CD, documentation, and containerization - to improve reliability and reproducibility.
• Evaluate data platforms, storage technologies, and commercial or open-source tools, and recommend solutions based on mission needs, security constraints, maintainability, and cost.
• Communicate data architectures, tradeoffs, risks, and progress clearly to technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
• Collaborate across application, platform, data governance, and infrastructure teams to establish shared standards and integration approaches.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Additional job responsibilities at the SES.3 level

• Independently define and deliver solutions to complex, ambiguous data management problems spanning multiple projects, organizations, or scientific disciplines.
• Set technical direction, evaluate architectural tradeoffs, and provide technical leadership or mentorship for data engineering efforts.
• Advise management, customers, and senior technical personnel on data strategy, platform selection, and implementation approaches.

Qualifications

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Department of Energy Q-level security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Data Science, or a related technical field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Significant experience using Python or another programming language to process, transform, analyze, or validate data.
• Broad experience developing data pipelines for structured or unstructured data and working with formats such as JSON, YAML, Parquet, CSV, or XML.
• Comprehensive experience with data modeling, schema design, metadata, data quality, or data lineage.
• Broad experience using collaborative software development practices such as Git, code review, automated testing, or documentation, with familiarity with CI/CD or containerization concepts.
• Comprehensive experience integrating systems through REST APIs, databases, object storage, file-based exchange, or similar mechanisms.
• Proficient and demonstrated experience working with customers or subject matter experts to define requirements and deliver technical solutions.
• Proficient written and verbal communication skills necessary to explain technical concepts, architectures, and tradeoffs to a range of audiences.

Additional qualifications at the SES.3 level

• Advanced experience independently architecting and delivering complex data pipelines, platforms, or data products.
• Advanced experience analyzing complex scientific, technical, manufacturing, or business workflows and translating them into scalable data solutions.
• Significant experience providing technical direction, influencing stakeholders, and recommending systems, services, or process improvements.

Qualifications we desire

• Broad experience with workflow orchestration tools such as Airflow, Prefect, or Dagster.
• Comprehensive experience with scientific, engineering, manufacturing, national security, or other regulated data environments.
• Proficient knowledge of S3-compatible object storage, lakehouse architectures, or distributed data platforms.
• Broad experience developing scientific visualizations or dashboards using tools such as Plotly, Streamlit, Tableau, or similar technologies.
• Comprehensive knowledge of data architectures supporting semantic search, machine learning, knowledge graphs, or AI-enabled applications.

Pay Range

$146,340 - $185,544 Annually for the SES.2 level

$175,530 - $222,564 Annually for the SES.3 level

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting; pay will not be below any applicable local minimum wage. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs.

Additional Information

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Position Information

This is a Career Indefinite position, open to Lab employees and external candidates.

Why Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory?

• Included in 2026 Best Places to Work by Glassdoor!
• Flexible Benefits Package
• 401(k)
• Relocation Assistance
• Education Reimbursement Program
• Flexible schedules (*depending on project needs)
• Our values - visit https://www.llnl.gov/inclusion/our-values

Security Clearance

This position requires a Department of Energy (DOE) Q-level clearance. If you are selected, we will initiate a Federal background investigation to determine if you meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information or matter. Also, all L or Q cleared employees are subject to random drug testing. Q-level clearance requires U.S. citizenship.

Pre-Employment Drug Test

External applicant(s) selected for this position must pass a post-offer, pre-employment drug test. This includes testing for use of marijuana as Federal Law applies to us as a Federal Contractor.

Wireless and Medical Devices

Per the Department of Energy (DOE), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory must meet certain restrictions with the use and/or possession of mobile devices in Limited Areas. Depending on your job duties, you may be required to work in a Limited Area where you are not permitted to have a personal and/or laboratory mobile device in your possession. This includes, but not limited to cell phones, tablets, fitness devices, wireless headphones, and other Bluetooth/wireless enabled devices.

If you use a medical device, which pairs with a mobile device, you must still follow the rules concerning the mobile device in individual sections within Limited Areas. Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities require separate approval. Hearing aids without wireless capabilities or wireless that has been disabled are allowed in Limited Areas, Secure Space and Transit/Buffer Space within buildings.

How to identify fake job advertisements

Please be aware of recruitment scams where people or entities are misusing the name of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to post fake job advertisements. LLNL never extends an offer without a personal interview and will never charge a fee for joining our company. All current job openings are displayed on the Career Page under “Find Your Job” of our website. If you have encountered a job posting or have been approached with a job offer that you suspect may be fraudulent, we strongly recommend you do not respond.

To learn more about recruitment scams: https://www.llnl.gov/sites/www/files/2023-05/LLNL-Job-Fraud-Statement-Updated-4.26.23.pdf

Equal Employment Opportunity

We are an equal opportunity employer that is committed to providing all with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, marital status, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, protected veteran status, age, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.

Reasonable Accommodation

Our goal is to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates applying and interviewing at the Laboratory. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please use our online form to submit a request.

California Privacy Notice

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) grants privacy rights to all California residents. The law also entitles job applicants, employees, and non-employee workers to be notified of what personal information LLNL collects and for what purpose. The Employee Privacy Notice can be accessed here.