Description The Digital Modernization sector at Leidos is seeking a skilled Data Operations Manager to guide a talented team dedicated to delivering advanced, scalable, and real-time data capabilities across the Defense Information System Network (DISN) enterprise. This role combines leadership skills with technical expertise in creating and maintaining modern data platforms, making it a unique opportunity for professionals keen to make an impact.
This position primarily focuses on the operations, sustainment, maintenance, and defense of the DISN as part of the Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN), supporting the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). While this role is primarily remote, candidates must be willing to travel to Scott AFB, IL or Ft. Meade, MD for on-site support or leadership when necessary. A Secret clearance is required upon starting the position, and candidates must obtain their Security + certification within 14 days of employment.
The ideal candidate will possess expert knowledge in streaming data architectures, cloud-native technologies, and platform engineering, and will excel in mentoring teams through technical delivery while fostering a strong engineering culture. This role will lead the design, development, and implementation of secure, scalable data solutions, ideally with experience in DISN environments and proficiency in Systems Engineering, Solution Architecture, Network Engineering, or Software Development to facilitate complex data integration efforts across DoD networks. Automation, AI, and ML data processing, along with best practices in data governance, will be emphasized to support the Global Management Systems (GMS) Team within the Global Solutions Management - Operations II (GSM-O II) contract.
The successful candidate will oversee multiple GMS Innovations portfolio projects, which will involve leading the technical design and implementation of various AI and ML solutions, integrating diverse data sources into Confluent (Kafka) and Elastic platforms, crafting robust data integration solutions, and enforcing CI/CD processes and data governance practices.
As a member of the GMS team, you will play a vital role within a fast-paced, Agile development environment, responsible for architecting and implementing an integration solution that enhances the foundational Integrated Data Architecture platform (Confluent and ELK). You will drive mission-critical enterprise data capabilities, significantly influencing the technology strategy across hybrid cloud and containerized environments while utilizing cutting-edge tools in a collaborative and innovation-driven atmosphere. We promote a culture centered on technical excellence, ownership, and continuous improvement, and we invite you to apply for this exciting opportunity.
Primary Responsibilities: - Manage team capacity, recruitment needs, and workload prioritization.
- Lead, mentor, and develop engineers and analysts focused on data operations, platform reliability, and observability.
- Act as the primary functional manager accountable for team performance, growth planning, and technical direction.
- Oversee the development and maintenance of a scalable data platform utilizing Confluent Kafka, Elastic Stack, AWS, and Red Hat OpenShift (Kubernetes).
- Champion best practices in DevSecOps, CI/CD, monitoring, and incident management.
- Collaborate with product owners, architects, and cross-functional leaders to align delivery with strategic goals.
- Ensure operational excellence and service reliability through proactive monitoring, alerting, and automation.
- Instill a data-driven culture and support enterprise goals in data integration, analytics, and observability.
- Lead the DDO Agile team in designing and implementing key data integration architectures for secure data exchange within DISN and DoD environments.
- Supervise the development of middleware, APIs, and data pipelines to enable interoperability across diverse systems.
- Apply advanced knowledge of network security, transport protocols, and DISN architectures to uphold DoD cybersecurity and data governance regulations.
- Work closely with development teams, network engineers, and system architects to deliver high-performance integration solutions.
- Utilize AI/ML techniques to enhance data processing, anomaly detection, predictive analytics, and automation in data integration workflows.
- Establish robust data governance practices, ensuring data accuracy, security, and compliance with DoD and industry regulations.
- Troubleshoot and optimize data flows, network configurations, and system performance issues.
- Stay informed on evolving DISN, DoD, and industry best practices in data integration, security, and AI/ML applications.
Basic Qualifications: - Demonstrated leadership experience managing technical teams in data engineering, DevOps, or platform operations.
- Strong hands-on expertise in Confluent Kafka, including schema management, stream processing, and Kafka Connect.
- Familiarity with Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) for logging, monitoring, and observability.
- Experience with implementing enterprise data lakes, ETL pipelines, and distributed data architectures.
- Proficient in AWS services relevant to data platforms (e.g., EC2, S3, Kinesis, Lambda, IAM, CloudWatch).
- Experience in deploying and managing workloads in OpenShift or Kubernetes environments.
- Knowledge of infrastructure as code, CI/CD pipelines, and container orchestration best practices.
- Excellent communication skills to align technical solutions with business outcomes.
- Proven ability to manage a geographically dispersed team effectively.
- Strong communication skills for proactive collaboration with a virtual team.
- Working knowledge of DISA STIGs, RMF, and other DoD compliance frameworks.
- Strong foundation in data governance, metadata management, and data quality frameworks.
- Develop DoD requirements, traceability, and detailed project plans/schedules.
- Lead the creation of software systems engineering documents and interface documents (IDDs/ICDs).
- Deep understanding of DoD network infrastructure, security requirements, and data exchange protocols.
- Experience in application integration design and effective communication for collaboration with virtual teams.
- Proficiency in data integration technologies, APIs, message brokers, and middleware solutions.
- Experience with network security, encryption, and access controls in classified and unclassified environments.
- Prior experience in big data analytics or cybersecurity solutions within a DISN environment.
- Background in observability platforms, incident response, or real-time analytics.
- Experience implementing AI/ML-driven data processing, including NLP, anomaly detection, or predictive modeling.
- Ability to obtain interim Secret DoD Security clearance before the start date.
- Ability to secure Security+ certification or equivalent DoD 8570 IAT II certification within 14 days of the start date.
Preferred Qualifications: - Profound understanding of DISN networks with a technical background in Systems Engineering, Solution Architecture, Network Engineering, or Software Development.
- Experience developing and implementing software in a DoD environment (DISA experience is a plus), including developing applications that comply with DoD security standards.
- Familiarity with data technologies such as Kafka, Elastic, Spark, and NiFi.
- Knowledge of AWS GovCloud and cloud infrastructure, particularly networking and security policies.
- Experience in crafting detailed software designs, particularly in ksql or kstreams.
- Proficiency in Agile methodologies and related tools, including Atlassian products like JIRA and Confluence.
- Working knowledge of programming languages such as Python, Java, and SQL.
- Experience with distributed version control software like Git and Bitbucket.
- Understanding of and ability to apply principles of Software Engineering.
Original Posting: May 14, 2025
This position is subject to change based on business needs, and while it is anticipated to remain open for at least 3 days, the close date may be earlier than 3 days after the original posting date.
Pay Range: Pay Range $126,100.00 - $227,950.00
The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and does not guarantee compensation or salary. Additional considerations in determining an offer include responsibilities of the role, education, experience, skills, internal equity, market alignment, and applicable laws.