Big Data Engineer; Hadoop​/Athena​/Trino

Software Guidance & Assistance, Inc., (SGA), is searching for an Big Data Engineer (AWS/Hadoop) for a CONTRACT assignment with one of our premier Regulatory clients in Tysons, VA/Rockville, MD/Jersey City, NJ/Woodbridge, NJ (Hybrid) .

Hybrid – 3x a week on-site

Sr. Big Data Engineer – AWS, Hadoop, Athena, Glue (Catalog), Lake Formation, Trino, EKS, AI, CI/CD & MCP Server

We are looking for a Senior Big Data Engineer who thinks beyond tickets and task execution. This role is for someone who questions the “why,” modernizes tech stacks, optimizes performance, and drives outcomes, not just a task executor.

• Design and build scalable data lakes and pipelines on AWS using cloud-native and automated solutions.
• Enable fast, federated analytics using Amazon Athena and Trino, with performance tuning for large-scale queries.
• Manage metadata, schemas, and discovery using AWS Glue Data Catalog.
• Implement fine-grained data access and governance using AWS Lake Formation, KMS encryption, and SSL.
• Build and operate data services on EKS (Kubernetes).
• Work with the Hadoop ecosystem (Spark, Hive, HDFS) using partitioning, bucketing, and columnar formats (Parquet, ORC).
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex big data issues across pipelines, clusters, and queries.
• Design, implement, and maintain CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins or similar tools.
• Monitor and observe pipelines and clusters using Cloud Watch and Grafana.
• Prepare high-quality datasets for AI/ML use cases.
• Build, configure, and operate an MCP server for AI/ML integration.
• Collaborate in Scrum teams; proactively identify gaps and propose out-of-the-box, scalable solutions.

• 8 years of experience in Big Data / Data Engineering.
• Strong hands-on experience with AWS (S3, Glue Data Catalog, Lake Formation, Athena, EMR, EKS).
• Proven experience with Trino (or Presto) and optimizing query performance.
• Working knowledge of Kubernetes / EKS for data workloads.
• Strong SQL, Python, and shell scripting skills.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and Jenkins.
• Experience building and configuring MCP server for AI/ML integration.
• Ownership mindset – problem solver, not a task executor.

• AI/ML data pipeline exposure
• Cloud-native data modernization experience

SGA is a technology and resource solutions provider driven to stand out. We are a women-owned business. Our mission: to solve big IT problems with a more personal, boutique approach. Each year, we match consultants like you to more than 1,000 engagements. When we say let’s work better together, we mean it. You’ll join a diverse team built on these core values: customer service, employee development, and quality and integrity in everything we do.

Be yourself, love what you do and find your passion ase find us at .

SGA is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of Race, Color, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Religion, National Origin, Disability, Veteran Status, Age, Marital Status, Pregnancy, Genetic Information, or Other Legally Protected Status. We are committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, and our services, programs, and activities.

Please visit our company to request an accommodation or assistance regarding our policy.