Principal Engineer- Geospatial Platforms

External Job Description

About the Opportunity

FADA is seeking a Geospatial Developer to design and develop a next-generation geospatial imagery and intelligence platform using open-source technologies and open standards. The role focuses on building scalable geospatial services, data pipelines, and modern mapping applications that support mission-critical operations.

The ideal candidate brings strong experience with Python, React, PostGIS, GeoServer, GDAL, QGIS, STAC, OGC APIs, OpenLayers, Leaflet, GeoPandas, and Rasterio, with knowledge of Esri technologies considered a plus. You will work across application development, cloud-native architectures, geospatial data management, DevOps, and AI-enabled geospatial solutions.

Key Responsibilities

* Develop geospatial applications, APIs, imagery pipelines, and visualization tools using Python and React.
* Build 2D/3D mapping interfaces using Leaflet, OpenLayers, MapLibre GL, Cesium, or Deck.gl.
* Design and manage PostGIS databases and geospatial services using STAC, OGC APIs, WMS/WMTS/WFS, GeoServer, and related technologies.
* Implement cloud-native architectures, microservices, CI/CD pipelines, Docker, Kubernetes, and Infrastructure-as-Code.
* Build and maintain EO, SAR, multispectral, and hyperspectral data processing workflows.
* Integrate external satellite, GIS, ISR, and geospatial data sources.
* Collaborate with Data Science teams to deploy AI/ML and computer vision capabilities.
* Support platform security, scalability, performance optimization, and engineering best practices.

 Education & Qualifications

* Bachelor's or Master's degree in Geospatial Science, Remote Sensing, Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
* 5+ years of experience developing geospatial software solutions.
* Strong experience with Python geospatial libraries (GDAL, Rasterio, GeoPandas, Shapely, Pyproj, xarray) and FastAPI/Flask.
* Hands-on expertise with PostgreSQL/PostGIS and modern geospatial web technologies.
* Experience with React.js, JavaScript/TypeScript, and geospatial visualization frameworks.
* Knowledge of geospatial standards including STAC, OGC APIs, GeoJSON, COG, and Zarr.
* Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Git, and collaborative software development practices.

Preferred Skills

* Contributions to open-source geospatial projects.
* Experience building end-to-end geospatial platforms using Python, React, PostGIS, and GeoServer.
* Knowledge of AI/ML frameworks, geospatial analytics, and large-scale data processing.
* Experience with QGIS, remote sensing workflows, EO/SAR data processing, and cloud geospatial platforms.
* Familiarity with Terraform, GitHub Actions/GitLab CI, AWS, Azure, or GCP.
* Understanding of defense-focused geospatial systems, secure architectures, and engineering governance.