Junior Database Developer at OPENDataJobs in Washington, DC

About Peregrine

Peregrine Advisors is a rapidly growing AI and data innovation hub helping government solve hard problems and deliver better outcomes. We work across the full lifecycle—from strategy and governance through architecture, engineering, analytics, AI, visualization, and training—for clients including the SEC, PCAOB, DDOT, and DCAA.

Our clients describe our support as “absolutely excellent” and our people as “instrumental to organization’s success.” Winner of the United Nations COP27 Datathon, our work has earned all Exceptional CPARS ratings, SEC Chair’s Awards, the SEC Vision Award, and recognition from FDA leadership.

We are also built differently. Peregrine is the first and only social enterprise organized as a Benefit Corporation and SBA 8(a) company focused on AI and data for government. We believe business success should create client value, social value, and opportunity for our people.

As we enter our next stage of growth, we need dependable, motivated, and skilled people who have a combination of intellectual curiosity and intellectual courage. With new clients, larger programs, and expanding responsibilities, the people joining Peregrine now will have the opportunity to help shape the company we become.

People first. Ownership always.

We solve problems through people, process, and technology—in that order. Technology matters, but people make transformation happen. That principle defines our culture. Trust and motivation come before competence. We hire people we can trust, who care deeply about what they do, take ownership, learn quickly, help one another, and refuse to walk past a problem because it belongs to someone else.

At Peregrine, you are not joining simply to fill a position. You are joining a team, taking ownership of a mission, and helping build a company. If that excites you, we should talk.

At Peregrine Advisors, you will build and maintain the queries, stored procedures, and views that make a federal agency's enterprise data platform useful. But we hire people, not seats. As the work evolves, you will move to where the hardest problems are.

This is a full-time W-2 position with a salary of $80,000 to $95,000 per year. It is a hybrid work arrangement based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, and the commuting cadence varies by assignment. The initial engagement is expected to be one to two days a week on site in DC. The initial engagement requires United States citizenship and the ability to obtain a Public Trust determination.

Your first assignment

In your first assignment, a senior developer will guide you as you take on your assigned components. Depending on the assignment, you may:

• Build and maintain Structured Query Language (SQL) queries, stored procedures, and views in Amazon Aurora (PostgreSQL-compatible).
• Work with data from Amazon DynamoDB and Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3).
• Contribute to logical data models and database-design decisions within the established platform architecture, with reviews that explain what to change and why.
• Build reliable data loads from S3, tune queries with guidance, and work within governed access.

Over time, you will grow toward responsibility for physical design. The work is real and hard, and it matters. This first assignment is a starting point, not the shape of your career here.

• 1+ years of database development, software development, or comparable practical experience
• Bachelor's degree
• Working knowledge of SQL, stored procedures, and views on Amazon Aurora (PostgreSQL-compatible)
• Familiarity with Amazon DynamoDB and Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)
• Query tuning with guidance from a senior developer
• Exposure to extract, transform, and load (ETL) and extract, load, and transform (ELT) patterns and data integration across Amazon Web Services (AWS) data services
• Awareness of data security controls, including encryption, access management, and auditing
• Basic exposure to loading data from S3 into the platform stores and to Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) and Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)
• Introductory familiarity with logical data modeling and the ability to contribute to database-design decisions within an established platform architecture
• Proficiency in writing, PowerPoint, and Excel

Preferred

• An entry-level AWS certification, such as Cloud Practitioner, or the interest in earning one
• Exposure to query blocking, locking, and deadlocks
• Interest in cloud-native application support in AWS using continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) and development, security, and operations (DevSecOps) practices
• Exposure to physical design, including Aurora and DynamoDB schema and index design, or the motivation to grow into it
• Federal information technology or high-volume transaction experience
• Interest in artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted developer tooling

Who you are

You care about getting data right and want a career in database development. You ask for help when you need it and put feedback to use quickly. You experiment, fail, learn, and repeat quickly. You would rather own an outcome than be handed a task.

What you bring

• A foundation in SQL and relational databases, with working knowledge of stored procedures and views on Amazon Aurora (PostgreSQL-compatible) and a desire to deepen it across DynamoDB and S3.
• Practical habits in query tuning, data loading, and connectivity, applied with guidance and improved on feedback.
• Clear communication about what you have finished, what is blocking you, and where you need support.
• Careful execution in work where accuracy and auditability are essential.

When we talk

Be prepared to discuss a difficult problem you worked through, the decisions you made, what happened, and what you learned.

Medical, dental, and vision with the employee premium fully paid and half of dependent premiums; employer-paid life, accidental death, and short-term and long-term disability insurance; a 401(k) matched 100% up to 4% of salary, vesting immediately; unlimited paid time off; and sponsored professional certifications and continuing education.

What we offer

You will work alongside developers, engineers, data scientists, architects, and strategists, on work ranging from strategy to implementation. We support your development across assignments with onboarding, sponsored training, and professional development.

What we commit to

As a Benefit Corporation, our commitment runs three ways: real, measurable value for our clients; government that works better for the public; and a team that makes everyone in it better.

We hire people who want to help build the firm, not just work at it. If that is you, apply.

Peregrine Advisors is an equal opportunity employer.

Peregrine exclusively works with OPEN Data Jobs to recruit our team. Register with OPEN Data Jobs to be considered for this and future openings.