Data Engineer for Asset Management
Job Description
Job Description
The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) is a political subdivision established by Chapter 1230 of the 2020 Acts of Assembly. VPRA is responsible for promoting, sustaining, and expanding the availability of passenger and commuter rail services in the Commonwealth, including all administrative and fiduciary responsibilities for Virginia's state-supported passenger rail services. The VPRA also funds Virginia Railway Express (VRE) and administers all capital expansion projects, infrastructure, and land acquisitions related to the $3.7 billion Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative, which will double Amtrak and VRE service in Virginia over the next decade. The VPRA acts as a "responsible public entity" for the acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance, or operation, or any combination thereof, of a "qualifying transportation facility" under the Public Private Partnership Act of 1995.
Are you a data engineering professional looking to build intelligent, asset-focused data solutions? If so, VPRA is looking for you! The Program Management team is seeking a Data Engineer to provide expert analytical support and transform complex data into business intelligence tools that enhance asset decision‑making. Reporting to the Asset Management Senior Manager, this role focuses on developing and maintaining database architecture, GIS solutions, and data visualization tools for VPRA's large and dynamic rail infrastructure program. This new position will play a key technical role in creating data‑driven asset management systems, including backend databases and user‑facing interfaces, as well as supporting the development of GIS‑based Enterprise Asset Management tools for new and existing assets. The Data Engineer will collaborate closely with Engineering and Construction, Planning, IT, and Rail Services teams, serving as VPRA's subject‑matter expert in asset‑focused data solutions.
This full-time position may be based in Alexandria or Richmond, Virginia.
Responsibilities
- Build, automate, deploy, and support software solutions for the purposes of asset management using contemporary programming practices and DevOps methods; use Git effectively; participate in code reviews; and collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver resilient, maintainable applications.
- Contribute to the improvement and development of operational workflows.
- Design, implement, and maintain secure, efficient, and scalable database solutions for asset management data, including creating logical and physical data models, query optimization, and automation.
- Implement and maintain data integration processes (ETL/ELT pipelines, data imports/exports) utilizing relevant languages, use version control for database scripts, automate deployment workflows, and ensure all database work meets and follows VPRA's security and compliance standards
- Provide technical oversight and quality review for contractors on the EAM development team, guide decisions related to data architecture and tech stack, and serve as a liaison with the Asset Management Senior Manager.
- Mine, translate, and prepare data sources to determine what data is available on new or conveyed assets; convert data into usable tables or geospatial data, and integrate the new data into the asset management databases.
- Develop, oversee, and maintain extract, translate, load (ETL) processes for various data sources and execute that process or modify it as needed when new assets require data extraction.
- Support the creation of business processes and workflows for asset data collection or handover; identify automation opportunities; ensure efficiency and quality of results; and contribute to streamlining or improving existing workflows that enhance efficiency and quality.
- Transform raw data into meaningful information using data-oriented programming languages and visualization software; support testing of data mining, modeling, natural language processing, and machine learning techniques; and contribute to dashboards and other decision-support tools.
- Provide technical guidance to ensure that analysis of asset data is accurate and identifies emerging needs.
- Conduct statistical analysis, predictive analytics, and geospatial analysis (including GIS techniques) to support asset management questions and validate analytical approaches.
- Recommend new analytical methods, GIS techniques, and other emerging technologies to develop decision-support tools for asset management.
- Other duties as assigned by the manager.
Required Education:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, Applied Mathematics, Engineering, Data Science, Geospatial Data Science, or similar field.
Preferred Education:
- Master's degree in any of the fields listed above.
Required Experience:
- At least 3 years of professional experience in:
- Programming and Scripting experience in Python, Java, or Scala.
- Database Management in SQL and understanding of relational databases (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL).
- Pipeline development utilizing Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) concepts.
- Experience working in Microsoft Power Platform and Microsoft Azure or AWS.
- At least 1 year of professional experience in ESRI software.
Preferred Experience:
- Five years of combined professional experience in the tasks listed above (programming and scripting, database management, etc.).
- One year of experience working on transportation or railroad data models, including geospatial databases.
- Professional experience in transportation or infrastructure asset management.
Are you interested in this position, but you don't meet every single requirement? At VPRA, we are dedicated to building a talented team and an inclusive, authentic workplace. So, if you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be the right candidate for this or other positions.
Applicants must fully and accurately represent their qualifications and work history on the application or resume. The decision to interview an applicant is based on the information in the application, resume, or other relevant documents; therefore, applicants must supply detailed information. Submitting an incomplete application/resume or an application/resume lacking in detail may impact your interview eligibility. This website will confirm receipt when the application is submitted successfully. Reasonable accommodations are available to individuals with disabilities during the application and interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. VETERANS, PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, AMERICORPS, PEACE CORPS, AND OTHER NATIONAL SERVICE ALUMNI ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY. Equal Opportunity Employer