Remote AI Data Integration Specialist

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The Operations Triage Group (OTG) provides expert engineering and data science support to VA OIT Senior Leadership (CIO, PDAS, SES) for the 100 most critical VA systems (C‑100). We deliver strategic intelligence through major incident triage, daily executive briefings, and operational insights that directly impact Veterans’ access to healthcare and benefits.

The AI Data Integration Specialist serves as a technical expert responsible for designing, implementing, and optimizing data pipelines that enable AI/ML capabilities within mission‑critical federal IT operations. Working closely with the AI Solutions Architect, you will transform raw operational data into AI‑ready assets while ensuring data quality, governance, and compliance. This is a hands‑on technical role requiring deep expertise in data engineering, ML pipelines, and integration architecture.

You will assess complex data landscapes, identify gaps, design integration solutions, and demonstrate clear ROI for AI initiatives that directly impact Veterans’ access to healthcare and benefits.

Remote within the US supporting ET working hours.

Data Source Evaluation & Gap Analysis

• Conduct comprehensive assessments of existing data sources to determine fitness for AI/ML applications
• Perform gap analysis identifying data quality issues, completeness problems, and integration challenges
• Evaluate data source reliability, consistency, and availability for operational AI use cases
• Document data lineage, dependencies, and transformation logic for governance and auditability
• Assess technical debt and recommend remediation strategies for data infrastructure improvements

Data Governance & Standards

• Implement metadata tagging standards ensuring discoverability and traceability across data assets
• Apply data classification schemes aligned with federal security requirements and VA policies
• Establish and enforce minimal data standards for AI/ML readiness across operational systems
• Collaborate with Chief AI Office (CAIO) and data governance teams on compliance requirements
• Design data cataloging approaches that support self‑service discovery for analytics and AI teams

ML Operations & Value Demonstration

• Support ML model development by preparing training datasets with appropriate feature engineering
• Build and maintain data infrastructure supporting ML experimentation, training, and deployment
• Implement data versioning and lineage tracking for ML reproducibility and auditability
• Calculate and communicate ROI for data integration initiatives, demonstrating value through operational metrics
• Identify opportunities where improved data integration can accelerate AI adoption or enhance model performance

Stakeholder Collaboration & Technical Communication

• Partner with SREs, Data Scientists, and Analytics teams to understand data requirements and constraints
• Translate technical data challenges into understandable terms for government stakeholders
• Provide technical guidance on data feasibility for proposed AI initiatives
• Document data integration patterns, best practices, and lessons learned for knowledge sharing
• Support executive briefings by providing data‑driven insights on AI readiness and capability gaps

• Master’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, or related technical field. 10 years of relevant experience may be substituted for the degree requirement.
• 10+ years professional experience in data engineering, data integration, or ML operations roles.
• Hands‑on experience designing and implementing data pipelines for analytics or AI/ML applications.
• Demonstrated experience…