Senior Geospatial Data Engineer

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System Title: Project Manager IV

Functional title: Sr. Geospatial Data Engineer

Houston (Clear Lake), TX

Full-time

TCWP (Texas Community Watershed Partners) Product team

Position open until filled. Interviews will be scheduled on a rolling basis.

9 years of progressively responsible project and data engineering experience.

Key words: Azure, geospatial, databases, Online Transaction Processing (OLTP), Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), Extract-Transform-Load (ETL), web mapping, cloud platforms, GIS (Geographic Information Systems), Python, Java, SaaS (Software as a Service), data services, Natural Language Processing (NLP), machine learning (ML), Application Programming Interface (API), PostGIS, orchestration, data visualization, urban planning, scenario planning, flood mitigation

Salary range: $110k-$130k

Pay Grade: 15

Position Description – Senior Geospatial Data Engineer

WHAT WE DO

Are you driven to develop data products that have tangible, positive impacts on community life and well-being? Motivated to build data products for communities and decision makers across the nation? Excited about engaging users, government, and industry to improve visualizations and applications?

For more than a decade, the planning team at TCWP (Texas Community Watershed Partners) has used interactive scenario planning technologies to advance data-driven, collaborative, and holistic approaches to community planning. These tools are designed for ordinary citizens, elected officials, and decision makers to engage in ‘what-if’ analysis of future growth, development, and hazards. An incredible array of data products is used to support these tools and sustain our organization’s mission of community outreach, education, and planning.

As a senior geospatial data engineer with TCWP, you will collaborate with a cross-functional team to build a next generation planning platform that raises people’s voices and gives them more influence about the communities they live in. As a founding member of the product team, you will have the opportunity to guide our product, culture, and overall business of our team.  We look forward to partnering your passion for data with empowering community decision-making.

YOUR ROLE

We are looking for a tenacious problem solver who loves a challenge and is excited by the pace of startup located within a university setting. Candidate should be a highly motivated, extremely organized, and solutions-oriented candidate, with strong spatial, conceptual, analytical, and reasoning abilities. As an early team member, candidates should be adaptable to the growth of the team and work well in virtual teams.

To excel in this role, you will possess a solid foundation in geospatial data technologies, data visualization, and implementing scalable data management solutions. Your designs and working tools will gather, integrate, and process data from diverse sources. These data products form the backbone of our applications, and you will ensure that our data products are accurate, secure, and accessible to our end-users. Your ability to collaborate and distill technical concepts are an essential part of this role, and you will be supported with both in-house and contract support.  

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Geospatial Data Engineering

• Design and lead implementation of a geospatial data strategy for architecture, services, and maintenance of geospatial data pertaining to products and projects.
• Define and enforce data standards, best practices, and quality assurance processes to maintain high-quality geospatial information.
• Lead the integration of planning, hazard, and natural resource related geospatial data for inclusion in data products and project data libraries.
• Manage, query, and manipulate geospatial data within databases.
• Create and maintain detailed documentation for data processes and sources.

Product Development Team Member

• Be an early team member, with the opportunity to guide our product, our culture, and the overall business.
• Use your passion for technology and solving users’ problems to drive product outcomes.
• As a member of the product team, collaboratively develop overall product vision, strategy, and roadmap.
• Engages with end users and external stakeholders to bring forth product vision, customer insights and feedback.
• Works as a member of the product team to apply insights to defining features and user stories in support of development activities.
• Communicate product related data strategies and governance issues to internal and external product stakeholders.
• Enhances product outcomes through efficient utilization of data resources.
• Document requirements for data compilation and storage for team members and external users.

Project and Operational Management

• Drive and plan multiple projects and contracts simultaneously and communicate status to partners and stakeholders.
• Lead brainstorming sessions with key stakeholders to learn about client needs and identify product solutions.
• Manage expectations across stakeholders, communicate prioritization and ROI, and surface any issues promptly.
• Develop contractor workplans as part of an overall strategic project plan; develop acceptance criteria documentation for deliverables; receive and review deliverables from contractors.
• Applies best practices in vendor selection, contract negotiation, and project lifecycle.
• Directs and coordinates activities of project personnel to ensure project progresses on schedule and within prescribed budget.

Additional Responsibilities

• Other Duties as assigned
• Supervision of assigned staff

Required Education and Experience

Bachelors degree or equivalent combination of education and experience. Nine years of related experience in geospatial data management.

Required knowledge, skills, and abilities

• Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Strong understanding of geospatial data management principles, including data quality, metadata, and data governance.
• Proficiency in using geospatial software and tools, both proprietary (ESRI ArcGIS) and open source (QGIS, GRASS GIS).
• Experience with geospatial databases (e.g., PostGIS) and SQL.
• Proficiency in python, arcpy, and other development languages.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., Azure) and their geospatial services.
• Ability to work collaboratively in cross-functional teams and communicate effectively with team members and external stakeholders.

Additional desired skills

• Core areas of expertise in one or more of the listed fields: Digital Transformation, SaaS, Low-Code/No-Code solutions, Emerging Technologies, Data analytics and Visualization, Information Assurance, Cloud Solutions, and Business Process Re-Engineering.
• Machine Learning, Large Language Models, and/or Natural Language Processing methodologies.
• Artificial intelligence and ChatGPT API(s) and use cases.
• Continuous Integration (CI) and/or Continuous Delivery (CD) approach
• Various programming languages: SQL, Python, Java

Other requirements.

• Occasional work-related overnight travel