Motivate Venture Capital

Data Engineer

The defense market is surging, but the data that drives it hasn’t kept up. Companies, government, and investors are forced to perform heavily manual processes and piece together hundreds of disparate sources to make decisions. Obviant is building a data source of truth and AI tools for defense acquisition to solve this. We fuse information from thousands of sources – structured + unstructured – to provide a cohesive picture of budget, programs, the organizations running them, and much more. Whether it’s a company navigating GTM or a program manager developing capabilities, we’re providing all sides with the intelligence they need to execute effectively. We’re growing fast and backed by top funds and DoD/national security veterans.

We believe that public sector mission sets matter above anything else. If you feel the same way, we’d love for you to join us. You'll be building the next generation of tools that are fundamentally changing how government technology works. We move fast, ship often, and solve complex problems with elegant solutions.

The Role

We’re looking for a Data Engineer to build and maintain data pipelines that turn messy, complex information into clean, usable data that powers our entire product. You’ll work closely with different teams to create reliable systems that make sure data is accurate and easy to access, helping our customers make better decisions.

Responsibilities

• Ingest and extract data from diverse sources (APIs, databases, web scraping, documents, PDFs) and transform raw, unstructured information into clean, structured formats

• Collaborate with product, engineering, and customer success teams to understand data requirements and translate them into technical solutions

• Design and build robust ETL/ELT pipelines that automate data extraction, validation, and loading processes

• Develop data parsers and extraction logic for complex, unstructured sources (PDFs, contracts, procurement documents, budgetary reports)

• Assist in the build of scalable data pipelines using modern orchestration tools

• Create and optimize data models and schemas in data warehouses (Postgres, Clickhouse) that enable downstream analytics

• Implement data quality checks and validation frameworks to ensure accuracy and consistency across all pipelines

• Monitor pipeline performance, troubleshoot data issues, and implement alerting for pipeline failures

• Document data flows, pipeline architecture, and transformation logic for team knowledge sharing

Qualifications

• 2+ years of hands-on experience building ETL/ELT pipelines and data extraction systems

• Proven ability to extract and parse unstructured data from documents, PDFs, APIs, and web sources

• Experience designing scalable data schemas that support analytical workloads and business intelligence

• Track record of automating manual data workflows and reducing operational overhead

• Comfort working with ambiguous requirements and translating business needs into technical data solutions

• Passionate about defense and the mission

• Comfortable with the pace and impact of a fast-growing startup

Our Working Style – Why We Might Work Well Together

• You care about government & are mission-oriented - Our work is important, and is critical to improving a system that impacts us all.

• Perseverance and endurance - Hard problems are worth solving, and solving them can take a long time. There is no such thing as exhausting all options, it’s just time to look for new ones.

• Empowerment > micro-management – We’re building a culture of high-performers. Our job is to equip them with what they need and eliminate roadblocks for them to succeed. We trust their judgment, skills, and experience from there.

• We’re collaborative and communicate well - Constructive dialogue that takes all viewpoints into account is the only way we get to the right decision. Respect, trust, and complete transparency with each other is critical - keep it all in the open

• You’re really good at what you do… but it speaks for itself – High output, no ego. Being humble is extremely important to us

• You don’t mind change and are comfortable with uncertainty - We’re deliberate about setting goals, but we’re comfortable changing course and dealing with discomfort to get there. We’re still figuring things out, and that demands being flexible and iterative.

• Work doesn’t feel like “work” to you – We’re passionate about what we’re going after, and we devote more time to it than a typical 9-5. That often means putting in extra time at night and occasionally on weekends. However, maintaining your own personal balance comes above all else, and you should establish that however you need to - flexible schedule, taking advantage of time off, or anything else you need.

• You like to move fast and have a bias towards action - Our roadmap is directional at this stage - speed and a feeling of urgency is key to prove it out. We expect each other to proactively determine what needs to get done and go for it.

• Integrity is never negotiable – Transparency, honesty, and respect comes above all else.

Benefits & Structure

• We’re a tight-knit team headquartered in Arlington, VA. We work in the office together most days, and believe being in the same place is a competitive advantage.

• Flexible schedule - We all have other things going on in our lives. Doctor visits, kids’ activities, dog walks - take care of it whenever you have to. And work from home when you need to.

• Competitive compensation + Sizeable equity - We’re building something with massive upside potential, and you’ll have ownership in that. This is ours.

• Flexible vacation time - Use what you want, as long as you’re taking care of what needs to get done.

• Full health, dental, and vision insurance.

• And more…