Software Developer - Big Data (Space Domain)

About the position

Peraton is looking for a Senior JAVA Developer in Herndon, VA or Aurora, CO to support Intelligence Community and DoD customers as part of a talented, high-performing team. As part of this team you will work with emerging service and distributed computing technologies for satellite situational awareness (SSA) data processing and distribution. The EMMETT program, a next gen Space Domain Awareness (SDA) Indications and Warning (I&W) system, establishes a repository of resident space objects (RSOs), finds RSOs of interest, and provides data to ground operators. The EMMETT team uses: programmatics, sensor modeling, and system engineering expertise to deliver this world-class SDA I&W system.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and implement scalable and efficient data ingestion pipelines using Apache NiFi to collect, transform, and route data from diverse sources (e.g., satellite telemetry, ground station data, sensor feeds, mission logs).
• Develop and maintain data processing applications primarily in Java, ensuring high performance, reliability, and security for mission-critical systems.
• Design and manage NoSQL databases, specifically MongoDB, to store vast amounts of heterogeneous space-domain data, optimizing for both read and write performance.
• Build and expose secure, performant Data APIs (RESTful/GraphQL) to enable internal and external applications to access and consume processed data, facilitating integration with analytics platforms, visualization tools, and other mission systems.
• Collaborate closely with data scientists, aerospace engineers, and mission specialists to understand data requirements and translate them into technical solutions.
• Implement data quality, validation, and governance processes within data pipelines to ensure data integrity and reliability.
• Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize data workflows and database performance to ensure continuous operation and efficiency.
• Contribute to the full software development lifecycle, including requirements analysis, design, coding, testing, deployment, and documentation, adhering to agile methodologies.
• Stay abreast of emerging technologies and best practices in data engineering, cloud computing, and the space industry.

Requirements

• A Bachelor's degree with 8 years of relevant experience; OR a Master's degree with 6+ years of relevant experience.
• Additional four (4) years experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• This position requires the candidate possess a minimum of Top Secret clearance with ability to upgrade to TS/SCI and pass a polygraph within 30 days of employment or at customers request.
• The candidate must maintain the clearance.
• Must be proficient in Java (Model, Entity, Data Transfer Object (DTO), Data Access (DAO)).

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with other big data technologies (e.g., Apache Kafka, Apache Spark, Hadoop).
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and their data services.
• Experience with containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Knowledge of data warehousing concepts and methodologies.
• Experience with version control systems (e.g., Git) and CI/CD pipelines.
• Understanding of satellite data formats (e.g., NetCDF, HDF5, CCSDS).
• Active CompTIA Security+ CE certification or working toward certification.

Benefits

• Heavily subsidized employee benefits coverage for you and your dependents.
• 25 days of PTO accrued annually up to a generous PTO cap.
• Eligible to participate in an attractive bonus plan.