Senior Data Engineer, Public Sector
Scale AI
Washington, DC · $180k–$225k a year · Posted July 11, 2026
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Where Washington, DC ranks
Where Washington, DC placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #1Cities hosting the most business conferences in the Mid-Atlantic104 conferences · of 12
- #1Cities hosting the most government & public sector conferences18 conferences · of 29
- #1Cities hosting the most accounting & audit conferences8 conferences · of 14
- #1Cities hosting the most finance conferences9 conferences · of 24
- #1Cities hosting the most legal conferences10 conferences · of 10
- #2Best cities for sales pay after cost of living$169k · of 45
Rankings about data & analytics jobs
- Best cities for data and analytics jobs #1 New York (1,713 openings)
- Best cities for data and analytics pay after cost of living #1 Foster ($232k)
- Most requested AI skills in data and analytics jobs #1 Machine learning engineering (17.1%)
- AI tools named most often in data and analytics jobs #1 Databricks (7.6%)
- Employers with the most data and analytics jobs #1 Amazon (711 roles)
Data & Analytics jobs · Top Data & Analytics employers · All rankings
Pay compared with the market
This listing pays about $202,500 a year. Across 42 open senior data engineer listings that state pay, the middle half runs $149,000 to $204,500 and the median is $179,500. That is inside the middle half of those listings, 13% above the median.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
How AI is used in this kind of work
Among database architects, AI is already used for a large share of the tasks. Measured exposure for database architects: 58% (high).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
Skills this job asks for
Say which you have and which you want to build. We use it to match you to jobs like this one.
About the job
Senior Data Engineer, Public Sector
As a Data Engineer for the Public Sector business unit, you will build Scale's analytical and business-intelligence infrastructure. Scale's customers process millions of tasks through our APIs, and we're looking for a talented Data Engineer to build scalable solutions to support this growth. You will have widespread purview, with responsibility for understanding, mining, aggregating, and exposing data across the entire business unit to support timely and efficient decision-making and data exploration. You will also implement Scale's data warehouse, data mart, and business intelligence reporting environments, and help users transition their workflows to these systems.
This role requires collaboration with leadership and cross-functional teams to solve complex problems and develop sustainable, scalable data solutions. Your responsibilities will include both ad-hoc analyses and the creation of core data models and pipelines, directly impacting how Scale operates and evaluates its performance.
You will:
Work with operations, finance, and engineering to drive the development of pipelines that provide single-source-of-truth foundational accuracy
Continually improve ongoing data pipelines and simplify self-service support for business stakeholders
Perform regular system audits, and create data quality tests to ensure complete and accurate reporting of data/metrics
Develop repeatable, scalable analytical solutions, such as data models, improved pipelines, or better underlying tables
Have an active Secret security clearance (Top Secret preferred)
Ideally You’d Have:
5+ years of relevant work experience in a role requiring application of data modeling and analytic skills
Ability to create extensible and scalable data schema and pipelines that lay the foundation for downstream analysis
Mastery of SQL and relational databases; experience with programming languages (e.g., Python/R)
Experience building a reliable transformation layer and pipelines from ambiguous business processes using tools such DBT to create a foundation for data insights
Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position and may be inclusive of several career levels at Scale; it will be determined during the interview process based on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process, and confirm whether the hired role will be eligible for equity grant. You'll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO. Additionally, this role may be eligible for additional benefits such as a commuter stipend.
The base salary range for this full-time position in the location of Washington DC is: $180,000 — $225,000 USD
PLEASE NOTE: Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role. This allows us to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation of all applicants.
About Us:
At Scale, our mission is to develop reliable AI systems for the world's most important decisions. Our products provide the high-quality data and full-stack technologies that power the world's leading models, and help enterprises and governments build, deploy, and oversee AI applications that deliver real impact. We work closely with industry leaders like Meta, Ernst & Young, Mayo Clinic, Time Inc., the Government of Qatar, and U.S. government agencies including the Army and Air Force. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications.
We believe that everyone should be able to bring their whole selves to work, which is why we are proud to be an inclusive and equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, gender identity or Veteran status.
We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and mental disabilities. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation in the application or recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at accommodations@scale.com. Please see the United States Department of Labor's Know Your Rights poster for additional information.
We comply with the United States Department of Labor's Pay Transparency provision .
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