Staff Data Platform Engineer
Umbra is an American space technology company delivering advanced systems, from sensors to spacecraft, that empower customers worldwide with unmatched access to critical information from space. Our mission is simple and ambitious: redefine space—for people, systems, and missions in every domain. Umbra’s ecosystem operates through three business units: Remote Sensing (the data), Space Systems (the components), and Mission Solutions (the platforms).Together, our teams develop capabilities that deliver persistent access, resilient performance, and mission-ready solutions, advancing U.S. space leadership while keeping the world safe and informed.
About the Team
Remote Sensing – The Data
Remote Sensing is where Umbra got its start, and our agile Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellation remains the most capable on the market. We transform satellite data into real-world, actionable insights that strengthen U.S. national security and intelligence, support disaster response, and advance scientific discovery. Our team delivers data at scale with unmatched quality, persistence, and the speed and responsiveness our partners demand.
If you want to work on cutting-edge space technology that’s redefining what’s possible in remote sensing, you belong here at Umbra.
About the Job
We are seeking a Senior/Staff Data Platform Engineer to lead our data infrastructure architecture. The individual filling this position will collaborate with product owners and multidisciplinary engineering teams to design, develop, and maintain the data systems that support our autonomous satellite operations, analytics, and internal decision-making. They will play a key role in Umbra's efforts toward redefining how space radar data is consumed.
This position is based on-site in either our Santa Barbara/Goleta, CA office, Arlington, VA office, or Reston, VA office.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, build, and maintain scalable data pipelines and infrastructure to process, model, and analyze large volumes of satellite, operations, and business data
- Develop and optimize data models, data warehouses, lakehouse patterns, and dbt transformations to support internal analytics, machine learning applications, and operational decision-making
- Build and operate analytics and data platform capabilities using tools such as Databricks, dbt, Omni Analytics, and related cloud services
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand data requirements and ensure data quality, reliability, performance, and usability
- Implement best practices for data governance, reliability, security, compliance, lineage, cost management, and observability
Requirements
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, data science, or a related field.
- 15+ years of professional experience as a data engineer or in similar roles.
- Strong proficiency in SQL and experience with data warehousing, lakehouse architecture, and analytics engineering concepts.
- Proficiency in data pipeline development using Python and SQL, utilizing version control and CI/CD best practices.
- Proficiency with analytics and visualization tools such as Omni Analytics, Tableau, Power BI, or similar.
- Experience with Databricks, Apache Hadoop Ecosystem (HDFS, Spark, HBase, etc), or similar large-scale data processing and lakehouse platforms.
- Experience with dbt or similar data transformation and modeling frameworks.
- Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure for building reliable data storage and processing.
- Familiarity with monitoring and observability solutions such as Datadog, Grafana, Prometheus, New Relic, Splunk, or similar.
- Effective communication skills, ability to work collaboratively in a team environment, and willingness to learn new skills and technology.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience working in the aerospace industry.
- Experience with mission scheduling software and/or schedule optimization.
- Experience developing SAR image processing/formation applications.
- Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code, DevOps, Identity and Access Management, and Developer Platforms.
- Experience building custom GIS applications, STAC, or other imagery catalog APIs.
- Experience with semantic layers, data catalogs, lineage, or data quality tooling.
- Current security clearance or willingness and ability to acquire one.
Benefits
- Flexible Time Off, Sick, Family & Medical Leave
- Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, LTD, STD (employer funded)
- Vol Life, Critical Illness, Accidental, Hospital Indemnity, Pet Insurance (employee funded)
- 401k with 3% non-elective company contribution
- Stock Options
- Free parking
- Free lunch in office daily
Umbra is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
Employment Eligibility Verification
In compliance with federal laws, all hired persons will be required to verify their identity and eligibility to work in the United States by completing the required Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9 Form) upon hire.
ITAR/EAR Requirements
This position may include access to technology and/or data that is subject to U.S. export controls pursuant to ITAR and EAR. To comply with federal export controls, all persons hired must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, refugee or asylee as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3), or must otherwise be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or U.S. Department of Commerce as applicable.
Pay Transparency
This job posting may cover multiple career levels. To ensure greater transparency, we provide base salary ranges for all roles, regardless of location. Our standard pay ranges are based on the role’s function and level, benchmarked against similar growth-stage companies. Compensation may vary based on geographical location, as certain regions may have different cost-of-living factors. The final offer will also be influenced by the candidate's skills, responsibilities, and relevant experience.
Compensation Range
The Compensation Range for this role is $185,000- $220,000 DOE.
Skills
- Agile
- Analytics
- API
- AWS
- Azure
- CI/CD
- Cloud
- Data Governance
- Data Pipelines
- Data Quality
- Data Science
- Data Warehousing
- Databricks
- Datadog
- dbt
- DevOps
- GCP
- GIS
- Grafana
- Hadoop
- HBase
- Image Processing
- Infrastructure as Code
- Itar
- Lakehouse
- Machine Learning
- New Relic
- Observability
- Power BI
- Prometheus
- Python
- Spark
- Splunk
- SQL
- Tableau
- Version Control
As published by workable · 7 questions · 1 written answer
Basics
First name, Last name, Email, Phone, Address, Resume, Are you legally authorized to work in the US for any employer? , To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. , Cover letter, How did you hear about Umbra? , What is the highest level of education that you completed?, What is your desired base pay?, When are you available to start?, Various federal laws restrict the employment and post-government employment (PGE) activities of federal government employees. Please identify your employment status with the United States Federal Government, including civilian or military. Umbra may request additional detail on the nature of any U.S. Federal Government employment and may require provision of an agency ethics opinion letter., Similar to federal laws there may be state and local laws that regulate the post-government employment (PGE) activities of current or former state or local government (municipal government) employees. These regulations may vary from state to state but may address activities related to contracting, procurement, regulatory or legislative roles, or other public employment within a municipal government. Please select your employment status with respect to municipal governments., If you answered "I have never..." to both of the above questions, please select N/A. If you answered with something else, answer the following question: Did you in the past, or are you now, participating in, supervising, or otherwise responsible for any active or pending government procurement or contract administration matter that does or might involve Umbra Lab, Inc. and/or a matter that has a direct or potential effect on the financial or business interests of Umbra Lab, Inc.?, If you answered "I have never..." to both of the above questions, please select N/A. If you answered with something else, answer the following question: To the best of your knowledge, is any member of your immediate family (including spouse, parents, siblings, and children), member of your household, or person with whom you have a similarly close personal relationship a current employee of the U.S. Federal Government, a municipal government, or a candidate for political office?
Short answers (2)
- How many years of professional experience do you have as a Data Engineer or a similar role?
- How many years of experience do you have with dbt or similar data transformation frameworks?
Pick from a list (4)
- Do you have experience with cloud security architecture and securing cloud environments (AWS, Azure, etc.)?
- Do you have a current security clearance or willingness and ability to acquire one?
- Do you currently reside in (or within commuting distance to) either the Arlington, VA area, Reston, VA area, or Santa Barbara, CA area?
- If you don't currently reside in (or within commuting distance to) the Santa Barbara, CA, Arlington, VA, or Reston, VA areas, are you able to relocate to either area, as this is primarily an in-office role?
Written answers (1)
- Please describe your experience with Databricks, Spark, Hadoop, or similar large-scale data platforms.