Exploitation Specialist / Data Manager

Riverside Research Institute•Fairfax, VA

About The Position

Riverside Research is seeking an experienced Exploitation Specialist / Data Manager to provide advanced exploitation support, lead data management workflows, and drive mission-critical GEOINT production. This senior role combines deep tradecraft expertise with technical leadership, ensuring analytic teams have fast, reliable access to high-quality datasets and exploitation-ready imagery. The ideal candidate excels at structuring large data ecosystems, enhancing exploitation pipelines, mentoring junior staff, and partnering directly with DoD and Intelligence Community stakeholders.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Data Management, Remote Sensing, Geography, Image Science, a related field or equivalent experience
7+ years of GEOINT data management, imagery exploitation, or related analytical experience
Demonstrated expertise in cataloging, metadata standards, and structured GEOINT data ecosystems
Hands-on experience with exploitation tools (ENVI/IDL, ArcGIS, QGIS, ERDAS, or similar)
Proficiency in workflow automation or scripting (Python preferred)
Proven ability to lead technical tasks, mentor junior personnel, and engage with senior stakeholders
Strong understanding of IC/DoD production standards, data policies, and mission priorities
Active TS/SCI clearance

Nice To Haves

Experience managing large-scale data environments within DoD or IC operations
Familiarity with SAR and EO exploitation workflows
Experience with database systems, cloud-based data environments, or data-governance frameworks
Knowledge of ML/AI-assisted data categorization or exploitation tools
Excellent communication skills and ability to lead cross-functional teams

Responsibilities

Lead the management, organization, and curation of large, multi‑sensor GEOINT datasets, including SAR, EO, IR, multispectral, and specialized collections
Oversee structured data workflows, enforce metadata standards, and ensure consistent lineage and traceability across analytic products
Perform advanced exploitation tasks, generating high-quality products such as change detection, feature extraction, environmental assessments, and multi-sensor fusion outputs
Supervise and optimize mission data workflows, identifying inefficiencies and implementing improved processing, cataloging, and automation techniques
Conduct data-quality validation, anomaly resolution, and compliance checks against DoD and IC standards
Guide developers and engineering partners on data requirements, exploitation impacts, and collection strategy optimization
Lead the development, documentation, and refinement of SOPs for exploitation, cataloging, ingestion, and multi-mission data management
Mentor junior analysts and data managers, providing technical direction and tradecraft instruction
Prepare mission briefings, status reports, and technical documentation for senior leadership and external stakeholders
Ensure timely delivery of high-value datasets and exploitation support to ongoing operations and long-term analytic missions
Other duties as assigned