Data Engineering Research Assistant

About the role

The Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence & Security (ARLIS) at the University of Maryland seeks a Data Engineering Research Assistant to join project teams. You will build and operate Python‑based data pipelines, prepare, load, and validate data in databases, and support search and retrieval components under senior technical guidance.

Key responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain Python data pipelines for ETL/ELT processes.
• Prepare, load, and validate data in relational or document databases.
• Implement and test search and retrieval modules, including vector similarity search.
• Collaborate with senior staff, attend on‑campus and off‑campus meetings, and document workflow.
• Utilize Linux command‑line tools, Git branching/pull‑request workflows, and Docker containers for development and troubleshooting.

Required profile

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Mathematics or a related field.
• Professional or substantial project experience programming in Python.
• Hands‑on experience designing and executing data pipelines or ETL jobs.
• Experience with at least one database (e.g., MongoDB, PostgreSQL) including schema design and query validation.
• Familiarity with Linux, Git, Docker, and Python testing frameworks (e.g., Pytest).

Required skills

• Python
• ETL/ELT pipeline development
• Linux command‑line
• Git version control
• Docker or similar containerization
• Pytest for unit testing
• MongoDB
• PostgreSQL
• JSON Schema
• Qdrant, pgvector, FAISS, sentence‑transformers (any subset)

What we offer

• Opportunity to contribute to national‑security research projects.
• Collaboration with leading scientists, engineers, and analysts.
• Professional growth in a supportive, integrity‑driven environment.