Senior Database Engineer (Contingent Upon Contract Award)

This position is contingent upon Genex Systems being awarded this contract. Candidates selected for this role will be considered pending the outcome of the award decision, and Genex will follow up with next steps as soon as it's finalized.

Anticipated start date: On or about March 25, 2027 (dependent on contract award)

Lead the Database Behind the World's Largest Pavement Study

Every highway agency that designs a road to last draws, directly or indirectly, on decades of real-world pavement data. That data lives in one place: the Federal Highway Administration's LTPP Information Management System. As our Senior Database Engineer, you'll be the technical lead keeping it accurate, secure, and available, and you'll guide it through its move from a legacy platform to a modern one.

About the Program

The Long-Term Pavement Performance program began in 1987 under the Strategic Highway Research Program, and FHWA has run it since 1992. It is the largest pavement performance monitoring effort in the world, tracking roughly 2,500 in-service highway test sections across the United States and Canada. Its database holds more than 35 years of pavement performance, materials, traffic, and climate data, and researchers and engineers worldwide access it through LTPP InfoPave, FHWA's official public portal for the data. The work is based at FHWA's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, VA, the agency's federally owned national research facility, home to 15 laboratories. FHWA is now moving the LTPP database off a legacy relational platform onto a modern, cost-effective one, and this role leads the database side of that transition.

What You'll Do

• Lead technical and database administration support for the LTPP database and related pavement research databases
• Plan and execute the database work for the migration from the legacy platform to the new one
• Design, build, and maintain tools for data upload, validation, quality control checks, processing, and extraction
• Implement and maintain security, backup, and recovery procedures, and support the system's security authorization (Certification & Accreditation) and Data Quality Act compliance
• Prepare the annual public LTPP Standard Data Release for InfoPave, including computed parameters, metadata, and outside data sources such as NASA MERRA-2 weather data
• Design schema enhancements and new data tables, and integrate new data sources
• Mentor database engineers and coordinate with FHWA IT and the InfoPave team

What You'll Need (Required)

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, or Engineering (or equivalent technical experience)
• 8 years of relevant experience across database design, data warehousing and related programming, database administration, and data validation and processing
• Expert-level proficiency with Oracle RDBMS and Microsoft SQL Server

Nice to Have (Preferred)

• Experience with LTPP data, InfoPave, or other large engineering or scientific research databases
• Experience migrating legacy Oracle systems to cloud databases (AWS RDS/Aurora, PostgreSQL, Azure SQL)
• Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) or a cloud database certification
• Python-based ETL and data pipeline development

Compensation & Benefits

Salary: Competitive salary based on education level and years of applicable experience.

Genex Systems offers a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer matching
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Employer-paid life insurance and dependent life insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability
• Paid time off (PTO) and paid federal holidays
• Tuition assistance programs

Location & Work Arrangement

• Location: McLean, VA
• Arrangement: Hybrid, combining remote work with onsite work at FHWA's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center
• Expected start date: On or about March 25, 2027

Additional Requirements

• Background investigation: You must successfully complete a U.S. Department of Transportation background investigation.
• Work Authorization: Visa sponsor available for qualified candidates.
• Key Personnel Commitment: This is a Key Personnel position. The selected candidate will be named in our proposal and in the resulting contract. Candidates will be asked to approve the use of their resume and to sign a letter of intent to accept the position if Genex wins the award (expected Feb 2027). Once awarded, changes to Key Personnel require FHWA Contracting Officer approval. We're looking for candidates who can commit for the long term.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Genex Systems, LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Genex Systems does not discriminate in employment on account of race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship status, ancestry, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.