Data Engineer - DHS

Blackstone Talent Group, an award-winning technology consulting and talent agency, is seeking a Data Engineer to join our Client's team.

We are looking for a passionate and driven Data Scientist to support DHS’ Data Services Branch, under the Office of Chief Information Officer, which provides innovative and complex data analytics services and platforms to users.

As a Data Scientist, you will be motivated by an interest in solving complex business and immigration problems through data exploration and analysis. You must be highly analytically minded, possess a robust technical toolkit, and have experience leading research studies. The Data Scientist will be responsible for executing all steps in the modeling and research process to produce high-quality, reproducible results. You will work with immigration experts and data engineers to support the development of processes and technologies that solve immigration problems.

The Data Scientist should be an expert in data science, statistics, and mathematical methods to solve these problems. These models will drive innovative solutions that bring value and direction to DHS situations. Candidates will be able to define a problem statement that addresses the requirements, develop an algorithmic approach to solving the problem, and execute data and algorithmic refinement to create a model.

Responsibilities include:

• Contributing to the development of research approaches to complex policy problems.
• Executing key project tasks (e.g., data collection, data analysis, tool design, and other analytic tasks) within an area of substantive training or experience required by the research project.
• Applying a broad range of quantitative and/or qualitative research tools, methods, and skills to support complex research activities and/or research project management needs.
• Assisting in communicating the results of these analyses to decision-makers through documents, PowerPoint briefings, and other media.
• Acquiring a strong understanding of research topics and a thorough knowledge of the data and programming efforts involved.
• Answering research questions by using appropriate data analytic techniques.
• Manipulating and analyzing complex, high-volume, high-dimensionality data from varying sources.

Required Skills:

• 7+ years of IT experience, including experience in design, analysis, and implementation of large-scale, complex data architectures.
• Knowledgeable in a breadth of statistical computer languages (Python, etc.) to manipulate data and draw insights from large data sets.
• Quantitative analysis experience with SQL or statistical/mathematical software (e.g., R, SAS, MATLAB).
• Ability to build or design data pipelines.
• Knowledge of various predictive analytics and machine learning techniques (clustering, linear modeling, etc.) and their real-world advantages/drawbacks.
• Knowledge of advanced statistical techniques and concepts (regression, properties of distributions, statistical tests, and proper usage, etc.) and experience with applications.
• Experience working in an Agile environment leveraging advanced design and engineering best practices.
• Maker mindset, coachable, and eager to learn/master new technologies and fields.
• Experience mentoring data engineers, establishing best practices, and providing code review and feedback.
• Strong ability to communicate with multiple stakeholders to build relationships and provide guidance.
• Ability to process structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data and apply data cleaning, data imputation, and feature engineering methods prior to developing models.
• Ability to work with the executive team to provide architecture, design, and execution of refactoring of current processes.

Desired Skills:

• Experience with DHS and knowledge of DHS standards is a plus.
• MS or PhD in Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or related technical field.
• Demonstrated ability to adequately plan and meet delivery objectives and maintain adequate service levels in a highly dynamic, complex environment.
• Ability to vet new and novel technologies in the big data space and make recommendations while articulating the risks involved with each solution.
• Data Architecture experience.
• Analytics, data, or other technical certifications.
• Clearance required (one of the following): Public Trust or DHS Suitability, or other DoD clearance.

Security Clearance Required:

Public Trust

Blackstone Talent Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Blackstone Technology Group, a global IT services and software firm that implements technological solutions across commercial industry verticals and the US Federal Government. Blackstone's global talent augmentation practice was founded in 1998, and we have offices in San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Colorado Springs, and Washington, DC. We specialize in providing clients the best talent across a variety of industries and sectors.