Geospatial Backend Software Developer I (52258)

Lincoln Institute of Land Policy•Washington, DC

1d•$76,000 - $95,000•Remote

About The Position

As a Geospatial Backend Software Developer, you will architect the data infrastructure powering Center for Geospatial Solutions’ products and services. This is a systems-heavy role designed for an engineer who thrives at the intersection of geospatial data science and backend architecture. You will be building high-performance, end-to-end systems for the harmonization, integration, geoprocessing, and analysis of massive, heterogeneous datasets from diverse global sources. We expect the Software Developer to have strong foundations in software design and an eagerness to learn and solve challenging problems. You will work across a diverse technology landscape that includes conventional relational databases, Esri and open-source geospatial platforms, cloud-optimized data stores, web APIs, and knowledge graph and semantic technologies. You will conceptualize, design, build and deploy new and innovative products and applications for our infrastructure to facilitate the wide offerings, capabilities, and feedback loops for water data management. We have high standards for code quality, all forms of testing, and intelligent architecture. This is a fixed-term full-time position at 37.5 hours/week in Washington D.C., Cambridge, MA, Phoenix, AZ; or remotely. Occasional domestic and international travel up to 10% may be required. We expect the Software Developer to have strong foundations in software design and an eagerness to learn and solve challenging problems.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field or equivalent practical experience
2-4 years of API development and documentation experience, including complying with OpenAPI 3.0 or other standards-based APIs
Experience building data pipelines for large, heterogeneous datasets from diverse sources
Fluency in Python
Proficiency in relational databases and SQL
Experience with designing, developing, deploying and monitoring data systems (such as PostgreSQL, DuckDB, Snowflake, Apache Spark)
Proficiency with Docker
Experience contributing to open-source projects and using open standards
Demonstrated application of reproducible software development practices including testing, documentation, and version control
Experience with git or other source code control systems
U.S. Citizen, or legally authorized to work in the United States with no need for future sponsorship.
Collegial and able to work successfully in interdisciplinary teams with colleagues from various topical backgrounds and different skill levels and communication levels
Exceptional critical thinking skills with the ability to deconstruct complex problems, prioritize issues, and implement sensible solutions
Strong ability to communicate technical and computational concepts clearly to non-technical audiences, including domain experts, stakeholders, and partners
Self-motivated and goal-oriented with the ability to take an innovative, strategic, and analytical approach to research and collaboration
Desire to learn new skills and solve problems
Willingness and ability to learn new frameworks, data structures, and infrastructure

Nice To Haves

Understanding of large, high performance, highly scalable, highly resilient server-based architectures including replication/failover, distributed architectures, caches, auto scaling, sharding, rate limiting, and security
Familiarity with geospatial data structures and infrastructure, with emphasis on vector data (e.g., GeoPandas, GDAL, PostGIS, GeoJSON, Geoparquet), raster data management experience is a plus
Familiarity with environmental, social, administrative data
Familiarity with RDF, knowledge graphs, and JSON-LD
Familiarity with ETL orchestration tools and frameworks (e.g. Airflow, Airbyte, Dagster)
Experience with CI/CD tools and methods
Experience with public cloud providers such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and DigitalOcean, including networking and serverless infrastructure
Familiarity with the ActivityPub protocol
Familiarity with JavaScript and at least one web framework such as Rails, Django, Vue, React
Familiarity with geospatial front-end frameworks (e.g. leaflet, openlayers)
Experience with data visualization and dashboard frameworks (e.g., D3.js, Plotly, Dash, Observable)

Responsibilities

Software Development Develop and modify internal and external facing software as part of engineering teams that may include internal team staff and external collaborators and/or contractors. Focus on developing backend software components and services which interact with upstream and downstream components (including front-end user interfaces and back-end data management and transformation processes and APIs).
Develop reusable tools, libraries, and frameworks for data integration, analysis, and visualization that can be applied across multiple projects and initiatives.
Produce high-quality code and software for data management, publication, aggregation, and visualization with appropriate documentation.
Ensure reproducibility, accessibility, and sustainability of Center-developed software and data systems.
Participate in all aspects of the application development life cycle including specifications, prototypes, development, quality assurance, deployment, and operations and maintenance.
Design, develop, and maintain efficient data pipelines that extract data from various data sources, transform it into a unified data model, and push it to a destination data store through strong collaboration with water, land, and housing domain experts to understand data sources and requirements.
Develop end-to-end systems for data harmonization, geocoding, and integration of large, heterogeneous datasets from diverse sources.
Implement data validation and cleansing processes to ensure high data quality and integrity.
Identify and integrate new technologies and tools to improve data processing and storage.
Work closely with water domain experts to translate domain-specific needs into technical requirements.
Create and maintain documentation for data pipelines, including data models, ETL processes, and data flow diagrams.
DevOps and Infrastructure Assume principal responsibility for CI/CD of web services as well as software and data releases.
Support research, development, and operations by troubleshooting and resolving issues that arise.
Take technical responsibility for systems and be on the lookout for opportunities for new systems, improvement of existing systems, and work with the team to keep systems scaling and performing optimally.
Collaboration and Growth Participate in team code reviews, present your work for feedback, and provide constructive feedback to others.
Clearly communicate technical capabilities, limitations, issues, and recommendations to both technical and non-technical audiences, including stakeholders, partners, and domain experts.
Work collegially and successfully in interdisciplinary teams with colleagues from various topical backgrounds and different skill levels and communication levels.
Contribute to grant proposals, technical documentation, and reports that support CGS and Internet of Water initiatives.
Participate in training, workshops, and outreach activities to promote best practices in water data management and geospatial solutions.

Benefits

3x employer contribution towards retirement matching your employee contribution up to 15%
health insurance
dental insurance
vision insurance
100% reimbursement of the health care deductible through a health reimbursement account
short-term disability coverage
long term disability coverage
paid parental leave
voluntary insurances such as accident insurance
health care flexible spending
dependent care flexible spending
paid time off for holidays, vacation, personal, sick, bereavement, and jury duty
office closure between December 24 – Jan 1 each calendar year
flexible schedule and option for a compressed 4 day workweek
tuition and staff development reimbursement
pet insurance
Employee Assistance Program