Hybrid Data Architect / Engineer at Noblis

Position Overview: 

We are seeking a highly skilled Data Architect / Data Engineer to support the design, development, and governance of mission-critical data infrastructure for the FAA’s next-generation air traffic control (ATC) systems. This role will be instrumental in modernizing how the National Airspace System (NAS) leverages real-time and historical data to enhance safety, efficiency, and system resilience. 

You will design end-to-end data architectures, define authoritative sources, implement high-performance data flows, and collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams to ensure data solutions support the FAA’s operational, regulatory, and cybersecurity requirements. 

Key Responsibilities: 

Data Architecture & Design 

• Design and implement scalable, resilient, and secure enterprise data architectures to support real-time and asynchronous data needs for ATC systems such as STARS, ERAM, and NAS-wide services. 

• Define and document data schemas, data flows, and system integration points using FAA standards and best practices. 

• Align data solutions with FAA data strategies, including identification of authoritative data sources, metadata standards, and information lifecycle policies. 

• Evaluate and implement data storage, processing, and transformation pipelines, balancing performance, availability, latency, and compliance requirements. 

Data Modeling & Engineering 

• Develop and maintain logical and physical data models tailored to ATM operations, surveillance data, weather feeds, traffic flow, and flight plan data. 

• Create and manage data dictionaries, entity-relationship diagrams, semantic models, and API definitions for structured and unstructured data assets. 

• Build ETL/ELT processes, streaming data pipelines, and batch workflows using modern tools (e.g., Apache Kafka, Spark, Airflow, AWS Glue, or similar). 

• Implement robust data quality, lineage, and governance practices to ensure integrity and traceability of operational datasets. 

System & Domain Integration 

• Collaborate with system architects, software engineers, cybersecurity teams, and FAA stakeholders to ensure alignment between data architecture and end-to-end system design. 

• Understand the ATM domain, including flight operations, traffic management, decision support systems, and FAA data exchange platforms (e.g., SWIM, TFMS, TBFM). 

• Support integration of legacy systems with modern cloud-native or containerized solutions using API gateways, data adapters, and interoperability frameworks. 

Performance, Security & Lifecycle Management 

• Define data performance requirements, including throughput, latency, and availability metrics, especially for safety-critical applications. 

• Ensure compliance with FAA cybersecurity standards (e.g., NIST 800-53, Zero Trust principles) and support data encryption, access control, and auditability. 

• Participate in the full data lifecycle, from acquisition and storage to retention, archival, and decommissioning, in accordance with FAA governance and AMS requirements. 

Required Qualifications: 

• U.S. Citizen or Green Card Holder (3+ years U.S. residency). 

• Proven experience in: 

• Enterprise data architecture and modeling 

• Schema design, data pipelines, and integration frameworks 

• Data engineering technologies (e.g., SQL, Python, Spark, Kafka, cloud-native tools) 

• Metadata management, data catalogs, and lineage tracking 

• Strong understanding of: 

• ATM domain data models, including surveillance, flight plans, and weather integration 

• FAA’s data lifecycle policies, authoritative data source strategies, and system performance requirements 

• Architectural patterns for mission-critical or real-time systems 

• Familiarity with: 

• SWIM, NAS systems, and FAA modernization efforts 

• DevSecOps practices, including infrastructure as code and CI/CD pipelines 

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills to engage technical and non-technical stakeholders alike. 

Required Education and years   

Level I   

• 0-4 years of experience and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related technical field.  

Substitution: High school degree and an additional 4 years of experience    

Salary Range: $63,600 - $99,450

Level II   

• 5-9 years of experience and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related technical field.  

Substitution:    

• Masters degree with 3-7 years of experience would qualify   

• PHD degree with 0-4 years of experience would qualify   

• Highschool degree with a minimum of 14 years total.    

 Salary Range: $77,000 - $120, 275

Level III   

• 10-15 years of experience and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related technical field.  

Substitution:    

• Masters degree with 8-13 years of experience would qualify   

• PHD degree with 5-10 years of experience would qualify   

• Highschool degree with a minimum of 24 years total.    

 Salary Range: $102,500 - $160,100

Level IV   

• 16-24 years of experience and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related technical field.  

Substitution:    

• Masters degree with 14-22 years of experience would qualify   

• PHD degree with 11-19 years of experience would qualify   

• Highschool degree with a minimum of 26 years total.   

 Salary Range: $124,000 - $193,750

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Experience working on FAA or federal aviation programs (e.g., NAS modernization, TFDM, TBFM, ERAM). 

• Knowledge of FAA enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., UAF, DoDAF) and modeling tools (e.g., Cameo, MagicDraw). 

• Familiarity with data mesh, data lakehouse, or hybrid cloud architectures. 

• Experience with geospatial data, sensor fusion, or time-series data at scale. 

• Data architecture certifications (e.g., AWS Data Analytics, DAMA-CDMP, TOGAF).