DataStaff, Inc is seeking an AI and Data Product Director for a direct hire opportunity with one of our direct clients located in Cary, NC Job Description: The Director of Data, Analytics & AI product will act as the Chief Data Officer (CDO) of the organization. The CDO is responsible for defining and executing the enterprise data strategy, a Data as a Service (DaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) company serving the North American freight rail industry. The role owns the complete data landscape of the company—how data is collected, organized, governed, analyzed, operationalized, and commercialized.
The CDO will leverage the company’s extensive freight rail and network data assets to drive both operational excellence and commercial growth, expanding the company’s product portfolio and increasing revenue through data-driven solutions. CDO will use our vast database of freight rail data, applying machine learning, artificial intelligence and general information technology tools and techniques. The role requires balanced expertise in AI/ML, advanced analytics, and conventional information technology, with the judgment to apply appropriately based on business value, risk, and maturity.
This position works closely with customers and internal senior IT, product, and business leaders, as well as project managers and software engineers, to ensure data strategy is used efficiently and productively in design, product delivery, and customer outcomes.
The position will be Director level, reporting to the Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Information Technology.
Own and execute the enterprise data strategy aligned with company growth, product roadmaps, and customer commitments
Maintain a comprehensive understanding of all enterprise data assets
Define how data should be structured, integrated, and governed to support mission-critical operations and DaaS and SaaS products serving other rail-interested parties
Establish clear frameworks for selecting AI/ML, optimization techniques, or traditional analytics based on effectiveness and reliability
Lead the strategic use of freight rail network data to drive improvements in: safety and risk reduction; network efficiency and performance; customer service reliability and satisfaction
Ensure network data is trustworthy, explainable, and scalable for enterprise customers
Translate complex operational data into actionable insights and product capabilities
Own enterprise data architecture, including ingestion, integration, storage, APIs, and data services
Establish standards for data models, schemas, interfaces, and domain ownership
Implement practical data governance, quality management, lineage, and stewardship
Partner with Security and Legal to ensure compliance with customer contracts, privacy requirements, and access controls
Lead analytics, data science, and AI/ML initiatives supporting forecasting, optimization, decision support, and automation
Ensure AI/ML solutions are production-ready, governed, explainable, and monitored
Apply engineering discipline to analytics and data science, including testing, versioning, and lifecycle management
Partner with Product Management, Sales, and IT leaders to expand the company’s data-driven product portfolio
Identify opportunities to monetize and/or create customer value from the company’s data through new analytics-based features, data products, and services
Partner with software engineers to ensure data requirements are engineered into platforms and products
Act as a translator between business needs and technical execution
Set priorities, standards, and performance expectations for a team of at least eight (8) personnel
Develop talent and mentor technical and analytical leaders
Ensure effective collaboration across data engineering, data science, analytics, and QA
Key Measures:
A clear, enterprise-wide data strategy aligned to real freight rail operating needs
Data platforms and practices that are scalable, trusted, and audit-ready
Measurable improvements in safety, efficiency, and customer satisfaction
Expansion of data-driven products and increased commercial revenue
Achieves and maintains a comprehensive, end-to-end understanding of the company’s data assets, including network, operational, customer, and product data
Establishes clear ownership, standards, and accountability for data across the enterprise
Builds, leads, and develops a multidisciplinary team of engineers, data scientists, analysts, and QA professionals
Simplifies and rationalizes a complex data landscape so that leaders, engineers, and customers trust and rely on the data
Successfully leverages network data to drive measurable improvements in: safety and risk reduction, network efficiency and performance, service reliability and customer satisfaction; revenue growth and product portfolio growth
Ensures analytical insights are actionable, not academic, and embedded into operational workflows and DaaS and SaaS products
Applies AI/ML, optimization, and advanced analytics only where they produce clear value, while appropriately using deterministic or conventional analytic approaches when they are more effective
Ensures AI solutions are explainable, governed, production-ready, and appropriate for enterprise customers
Ensures data systems meet enterprise expectations for resiliency, performance, and auditability
Ensures data initiatives are aligned with enterprise priorities and delivery timelines
Establishes clear expectations, delivery standards, and accountability
Balances hands-on technical credibility with executive-level leadership
Implements practical governance that enables speed while protecting customer and company interests
Ensures data quality, lineage, security, and compliance are enterprise-ready
Anticipates and manages data risk in safety-critical and customer-facing use cases
Education, experience, certification/training:
Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology or similar relevant technical concentration required
Minimum of 10 years’ experience in the information technology arena with at least 5 years of recent experience as a mid to senior manager focused on data architecture and data management
Familiarity with agile methodologies (or similar Development Methodologies) required
Possess a natural curiosity to experiment with new technologies and systems
Strong leadership and people management skills required
Possess a strong commitment and dedication to accomplish established objectives
Requires excellent communication and interpersonal skills
This opportunity is available as a W2 position with a competitive benefits package.
Java Developer
Location:Cary, North Carolina
Remote:Hybrid
Type:Contract To Hire
Job#12345
DataStaff, Inc is seeking a Java Developer for a contract-to-hire opportunity with one of our direct clients located in Cary, NC *This role is hybrid; 3 days per week will be on-site (Monday and Fridays remote)
Job Description: Responsibilities include the ability to work independently and as part of the leadership group of a larger team to deliver quality solutions across all phases and layers of the software lifecycle.
Job Accountability/Responsibilities:
Quality:
Meet or exceed test coverage goals set for the project through creation of unit and functional tests.
Minimize the number of production escapes.
Support user acceptance testing.
Support and conduct system/performance/volume/stress testing.
Usability/User Experience:
Collaborate with business and/or UX team to create appropriate user interfaces.
Assist with mock-ups and user interface design.
Incorporate UX components into applications.
Provide feedback to UX teams.
Product Reliability & Response:
Ensure the system can meet or exceed defined SLAs.
When acting as the primary on-call, respond to pages within 15 minutes and resolve or escalate issues as necessary.
Resolve production issues and communicate resolutions to appropriate stakeholders.
Development:
Complete stories within estimates and with quality to ensure release dates are met.
Conduct analysis and design work.
Prepare technical documentation.
Estimate work effort (story pointing) and task-out development effort for a given story or task.
Follow the development process and suggest improvements.
Work with infrastructure services to make configuration changes and deploy applications.
Leadership (Technical):
Evangelize common practices and development procedures.
Exhibit technical leadership in a given technical subject domain.
Identify new technologies and approaches that may improve our quality, productivity, and capabilities.
Mentor peers and junior developers.
Delegate and coordinate functional development tasks as needed.
Drive innovation in the development, release, and operations processes.
Ability to provide technical expertise to others and explain concepts to technical staff.
Ability to operate independently of supervision with extreme accuracy and attention to detail.
Experience in defining requirements, designing, and illustrating process flows, and training users.
Ability to communicate and follow up professionally (written and oral) both internally and externally within the organization – including documentation of application requirements.
Demonstrated ability to identify and resolve issues effectively.
Ability to mentor others.
7 years of Java experience.
Comfortable with front-end, middle tier and back-end technologies.
Experience in front-end technologies like Angular or equivalent.
Expertise in Spring and Spring Boot.
Hands-on experience building containerized applications; Kubernetes experience a plus.
Knowledge of networking concepts such as DNS, HTTP APIs, and managing REST services.
Experience with Agile software development methodology.
Expertise in using version control software like Git.
Experience with handling deployment processes, deployment environments, production application troubleshooting techniques etc.
Experience working with AWS cloud native services like S3, CloudFront, Lambda, ELB, SNS, SQS and Route53 is a plus.
Experience deploying application components in AWS EKS clusters.
Experience using relational and NoSQL databases. Experience with Aurora RDS, PostgreSQL, and DynamoDB is a plus.
Experience with security concepts such as handling JWT tokens and understanding OIDC flows.
Experience working with messaging and MQ brokers is a plus.
Experience in using Infrastructure-as-Code technology, like Terraform, is a plus.
Education, experience, certification/training:
Bachelor’s degree in computer science or equivalent field desired and 7 years of technical experience or
Master’s degree in computer science or equivalent field desired and 3 years of technical experience.
Minimum of 7 years of experience in a development environment.
AWS Developer or Solutions Architect certification will be a plus.
This opportunity is available as a W2 position with a competitive benefits package. DataStaff, Inc. offers medical, dental, and vision coverage options as well as paid vacation, sick, and holiday leave. As many of our opportunities are long-term, we also have a 401k program available for employees after 6 months.
Product Development Manager
Location:Cary, North Carolina
Type:Direct Hire
Job#12344
Salary:$130,000 Hourly
DataStaff, Inc is seeking a Product Development Manager for a direct-hire opportunity with one of our direct clients located in Cary, NC *This role is hybrid; 4 days per week will be on-site (Fridays remote)
Job Description: The Manager, Product Development, is responsible for leading the end-to-end delivery of SaaS products, from product strategy and roadmap definition through development, release, and post-implementation support. This role blends product leadership and technical project delivery.
Project Planning, Project Management and Maintenance Prioritization:
Lead the prioritization of user stories, features, new products, projects, and process improvements to ensure alignment with business strategy and customer value.
Partner with customers and industry stakeholders, including representatives serving on AAR committees, task forces, and Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs), to gather requirements and inform product and project planning decisions.
Facilitate the development of business cases and high-level estimates to support product and project portfolio planning, prioritization, and investment decisions.
Develop and maintain comprehensive project plans, including scope, schedules, budgets, risks, issues, action items, and status reporting, in accordance with internal methodologies.
Lead release planning activities and coordinate cross-functional readiness to ensure timely, high-quality product releases.
Lead development teams by maintaining strong technical understanding of systems, promoting sound engineering practices, and ensuring high-quality delivery.
Identify, assess, and manage product and project risks; develop mitigation strategies and ensure adherence to quality standards throughout the delivery lifecycle.
Support ongoing maintenance prioritization by balancing new capability delivery with operational stability, defect remediation, and continuous improvement needs.
Portfolio Strategic Planning/Road-Mapping, and Execution:
Own and manage an assigned portfolio of software products, with a clear understanding of how products deliver customer value and support critical business processes.
Partner with customers and internal stakeholders to define, prioritize, and deliver new industry value through new products, enhancements, productivity improvements, and cost-saving initiatives.
Establish portfolio goals and strategies aligned with the mission, vision, and annual strategic objectives.
Define, secure, and manage investment for portfolio initiatives, including business cases, ROI analysis, budget allocation, and resource planning.
Lead planning and execution of initiatives from business case through post-implementation, managing scope, timelines, budgets, dependencies, and risks.
Balance resources and forecasts across multiple concurrent initiatives while maintaining delivery commitments, quality standards, and Agile execution.
Lead cross-functional teams in the design, development, integration, release, and ongoing support of software products and systems.
Maintain strong technical understanding of products and systems, promoting sound engineering practices and high-quality, reliable releases.
Identify, track, escalate, and mitigate delivery, technical, and operational risks throughout the product lifecycle.
Provide ongoing operational oversight, ensuring timely issue resolution, system stability, and continuous improvement.
Build, lead, and develop high-performing product-aligned teams, fostering T-shaped skills, collaboration, accountability, and professional growth.
Communicate portfolio and delivery status, risks, and outcomes effectively to stakeholders and leadership.
Strong understanding of software development principles, technologies, and the full software development lifecycle.
Demonstrated strength in project and product delivery, including planning, prioritization, and execution in Agile or similar frameworks.
Ability to understand customer needs from a business perspective and translate them into effective technical and product solutions.
Proven analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience developing business cases and ROI analysis.
Strong leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across technical and business stakeholders at all levels.
Ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously in a fast-paced, deadline-driven, cross-functional environment.
Highly organized, flexible, and self-directed, with strong initiative and adaptability to changing priorities.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office tools, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and project planning tools.
Preferred:
Experience in product management and/or technical project leadership with demonstrated people-management responsibilities.
Experience leading cross-functional and geographically distributed teams, including offshore development teams.
Knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS or similar), multi-tier application architectures, and enterprise systems (e.g., Java, high availability, disaster recovery).
Experience delivering market analysis and applying business analysis tools and techniques.
Familiarity with transportation, logistics, or similarly complex, regulated industries.
Advance understanding of Agile, Scrum, or modern software delivery practices.
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Computer Science, or a related field (or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience).
Minimum of seven (7) years of relevant experience in software development, product development, or technical project delivery.
At least two (2) years of experience in technical leadership, people management, or team lead role.
Practical experience working in Agile/Scrum or similar iterative development environments.
Preferred:
MBA or advanced degree.
Product management, project management, Agile, Scrum, or PMP certification.
Agile certification through PMI, Scrum Alliance, or equivalent (PMP may be required within the first 12 months, if applicable).
Experience in both technical and business-facing roles supporting complex software products.
This opportunity is available as a W2 position with a competitive benefits package.
Product Delivery Manager
Location:Cary, NC
Remote:Hybrid
Type:Direct Hire
Job#12204
Salary:$130,000 Annually
DataStaff, Inc is seeking a Product Delivery Manager for a direct-hire opportunity with one of our direct clients located in Cary, NC *This role is hybrid; 4 days per week will be on-site (Fridays remote)
Job Description:
Project Planning, Project Management and Maintenance Prioritization:
Lead the prioritization of user stories, features, new products, projects, and process improvements to ensure alignment with business strategy and customer value.
Partner with customers and industry stakeholders, including representatives serving on AAR committees, task forces, and Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs), to gather requirements and inform product and project planning decisions.
Facilitate the development of business cases and high-level estimates to support product and project portfolio planning, prioritization, and investment decisions.
Develop and maintain comprehensive project plans, including scope, schedules, budgets, risks, issues, action items, and status reporting, in accordance with internal methodologies.
Lead release planning activities and coordinate cross-functional readiness to ensure timely, high-quality product releases.
Lead development teams by maintaining strong technical understanding of systems, promoting sound engineering practices, and ensuring high-quality delivery.
Identify, assess, and manage product and project risks; develop mitigation strategies and ensure adherence to quality standards throughout the delivery lifecycle.
Support ongoing maintenance prioritization by balancing new capability delivery with operational stability, defect remediation, and continuous improvement needs.
Portfolio Strategic Planning/Road-Mapping, and Execution:
Own and manage an assigned portfolio of software products, with a clear understanding of how products deliver customer value and support critical business processes.
Partner with customers and internal stakeholders to define, prioritize, and deliver new industry value through new products, enhancements, productivity improvements, and cost-saving initiatives.
Establish portfolio goals and strategies aligned with the mission, vision, and annual strategic objectives.
Define, secure, and manage investment for portfolio initiatives, including business cases, ROI analysis, budget allocation, and resource planning.
Lead planning and execution of initiatives from business case through post-implementation, managing scope, timelines, budgets, dependencies, and risks.
Balance resources and forecasts across multiple concurrent initiatives while maintaining delivery commitments, quality standards, and Agile execution.
Lead cross-functional teams in the design, development, integration, release, and ongoing support of software products and systems.
Maintain strong technical understanding of products and systems, promoting sound engineering practices and high-quality, reliable releases.
Identify, track, escalate, and mitigate delivery, technical, and operational risks throughout the product lifecycle.
Provide ongoing operational oversight, ensuring timely issue resolution, system stability, and continuous improvement.
Build, lead, and develop high-performing product-aligned teams, fostering T-shaped skills, collaboration, accountability, and professional growth.
Communicate portfolio and delivery status, risks, and outcomes effectively to stakeholders and leadership.
Strong understanding of software development principles, technologies, and the full software development lifecycle.
Demonstrated strength in project and product delivery, including planning, prioritization, and execution in Agile or similar frameworks.
Ability to understand customer needs from a business perspective and translate them into effective technical and product solutions.
Proven analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience developing business cases and ROI analysis.
Strong leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across technical and business stakeholders at all levels.
Ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously in a fast-paced, deadline-driven, cross-functional environment.
Highly organized, flexible, and self-directed, with strong initiative and adaptability to changing priorities.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office tools, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and project planning tools.
Preferred:
Experience in product management and/or technical project leadership with demonstrated people-management responsibilities.
Experience leading cross-functional and geographically distributed teams, including offshore development teams.
Knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS or similar), multi-tier application architectures, and enterprise systems (e.g., Java, high availability, disaster recovery).
Experience delivering market analysis and applying business analysis tools and techniques.
Familiarity with transportation, logistics, or similarly complex, regulated industries.
Advance understanding of Agile, Scrum, or modern software delivery practices.