Technical / Data Enclave Lead | Federal Secure Data Environment
Now Hiring: Technical / Data Enclave Lead | Federal Secure Data Environment We are seeking an experienced Technical / Data Enclave Lead to oversee the architecture, operation, security, and continuous improvement of a secure virtual data enclave and restricted-use data repository supporting the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) DR-RUD Program. This is a high-impact leadership opportunity for a technical expert experienced in secure data platforms, cloud environments, analytics workspaces, and federal information security requirements. Position Overview The Technical / Data Enclave Lead will be responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining a secure research environment used to host restricted-use datasets and provide controlled researcher access. This role will lead platform architecture, secure data ingestion, workspace provisioning, system integration, technical operations, and support for statistical and analytical computing environments while ensuring compliance with federal security and privacy standards. The environment will support approximately:
- 320 existing restricted-use datasets
- 60 additional datasets by September 30, 2026
- Ongoing annual expansion of approximately 5 datasets per year
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the technical design, operation, maintenance, and optimization of the secure DR-RUD virtual data enclave
- Manage secure ingestion, validation, organization, and hosting of restricted-use datasets
- Provision and maintain secure private workspaces for approved researchers
- Implement and manage:
- Role-based access controls
- User authentication
- Secure provisioning/revocation workflows
- Audit logging and monitoring
- Data export restrictions
- Coordinate with Security and ISSO teams to ensure compliance with:
- FISMA
- NIST security controls
- Encryption and MFA requirements
- Vulnerability scanning
- Authorization documentation
- Support and maintain statistical computing environments using:
- R
- Python
- Stata
- SAS
- SQL
- Support integration of user-fee portals, payment processing workflows, and reporting systems
- Ensure platform scalability, continuity, availability, and operational performance
- Support transition-out planning and transfer of system documentation, files, and artifacts with minimal disruption
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, Data Engineering, Cloud Computing, or related technical field
- 8+ years of experience designing or managing:
- Secure data platforms
- Cloud-based analytics environments
- Virtual research enclaves
- Enterprise data systems
- Experience with:
- Identity and access management
- Workspace provisioning
- Secure data transfer
- Audit logging
- Data lifecycle management
- Hands-on experience supporting scientific or statistical computing environments
- Strong working knowledge of:
- FISMA
- NIST SP 800-series guidance
- FedRAMP
- MFA
- Encryption
- Secure system operations
- Ability to coordinate architecture, operations, governance, security, and user support requirements across complex environments
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience supporting:
- Secure research enclaves
- Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)
- Cloud analytics workspaces
- Data clean room environments
- Experience working with sensitive education, labor, census, survey, health, or social science data
- Cloud certifications such as:
- AWS
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud Platform
- Experience supporting:
- Federal ATO packages
- SSP documentation
- System architecture diagrams
- Configuration management documentation
Why Join This Opportunity?
- Lead a mission-critical federal secure data environment
- Work at the intersection of data security, cloud technology, analytics, and research enablement
- Influence platform modernization and secure research operations at scale
- Collaborate with multidisciplinary technical, research, and federal leadership teams