Reality Capture Manager

LaBella Associates•Rochester, NY

17h•$120,000 - $150,000

About The Position

If you're passionate about the design and function of the built environment, find beauty in and want to protect the natural environment, and want to work with others that feel the same, join our team! LaBella’s multi-disciplinary team of architects, designers, engineers, managers, and environmental scientists work every day to make our world more functional, beautiful, and safe. LaBella is an employee-owned firm with annual accolades for workplace culture, growth, ethics, and philanthropy. We cultivate each employee’s growth, expand our expertise, and bring out the best in every client project. We are seeking a Reality Capture Manager to lead and scale our reality capture capabilities in our Rochester, Poughkeepsie, or Albany, NY offices. This is a unique opportunity to build and manage a forward-looking program that integrates drone operations, terrestrial scanning, and advanced spatial data workflows into high-impact projects. In this role, you will drive the strategy, standards, and day-to-day operations of our remote sensing program, working at the intersection of technology, data, and project delivery. You’ll collaborate with cross-functional teams across geospatial, geomatics, GIS, BIM, and engineering to deliver innovative, safe, and efficient data capture solutions.

Requirements

Experience in drone operations, remote sensing, or geospatial technologies
FAA Part 107 certification (or ability to obtain quickly)
Strong understanding of photogrammetry, LiDAR, and reality capture workflows
Experience managing programs, operations, or technical teams
Excellent communication, organization, and problem-solving skills

Nice To Haves

Experience in AEC, infrastructure, or geospatial sectors
Familiarity with tools such as Pix4D, DroneDeploy, RealityCapture, ReCap, or similar
Experience integrating data into GIS, BIM, or digital twin platforms
Background in building standards, workflows, or enterprise technology programs
Experience leading programs, teams, or technical initiatives
Ability to operate both strategically and tactically in a fast-growing environment
Strong communication, leadership, and organizational skills

Responsibilities

Define, build and lead a comprehensive drone and remote sensing program from the ground up
Establish standards, workflows, and governance to support scalable, high-quality data capture
Align program capabilities with business goals and project delivery needs
Partner with leadership to identify growth opportunities and expand service offerings
Coordinate with IT, Operations, and Divisions to ensure alignment of tools, workflows, and priorities
Maintain collaboration with geospatial, geomatics, GIS, BIM, and project teams
Monitor utilization, performance and costs to support effective resource planning and allocation of assets
Support project teams in meeting client, contractual, and regulatory requirements related to remote sensing and data capture
Oversee all drone operations, including pilot management, certifications, inventory, flight planning, and mission execution
Ensure compliance with FAA Part 107 regulations and all applicable federal, state, and local requirements
Manage certifications, waivers, insurance, and operational risk
Maintain visibility into equipment, workflows, and data systems across the firm
Support consistent use and deployment across offices
Track utilization, performance, and allocation of assets
Oversee processing workflows including photogrammetry and LiDAR data pipelines
Support integration of reality capture data into GIS, BIM, and digital twin environments
Collaborate with IT and technology teams to manage storage, access, and data lifecycle
Ensure alignment and interoperability across geospatial, BIM, and enterprise systems
Develop and deliver training programs for pilots and internal teams
Create standards, best practices, and user guidance materials
Serve as a subject matter expert and mentor across the organization
Promote safe, consistent, and effective adoption of technologies
Support coordination across Practice Technology & Geospatial leadership
Evaluate emerging technologies, platforms, and workflows
Recommend and implement tools to enhance capabilities and competitiveness
Stay current on industry trends and advancements in reality capture
Support procurement and standardization decisions