Overview As Senior Lidar Systems & Geospatial Engineering Lead, you will steer lidar system characterization, QA/QC, and advanced geospatial analyses for large airborne lidar programs like 3DEP. You'll guide method development, scalability, and standards support, with opportunities to publish results and present at conferences. You'll work with cross-functional teams to improve data quality and enable national-scale 3D mapping efforts. This is a technical leadership role with a strong research and collaboration focus.
Compensation / Benefits- 401K plan with company match
- medical
- dental
- vision
- paid time off
- flexible work schedule
Responsibilities- Lead QA/QC and characterization of airborne lidar datasets to meet 3DEP, ASPRS, and contract requirements
- Develop advanced methods for evaluating point density, spatial distribution, and completeness (including Voronoi-based approaches)
- Perform vertical accuracy assessments using GNSS, TLS, terrestrial laser scanning, and UAS reference datasets
- Investigate lidar anomalies to identify root causes across acquisition, calibration, processing, and product-generation workflows
- Build scalable Python tools for processing tens of millions of points per tile and thousands of datasets (NumPy, SciPy, GeoPandas, Shapely, PDAL, laspy, Rasterio)
- Design automated QA/QC workflows, metrics, and defect reporting for project-level oversight
- Conduct applied research to improve lidar quality metrics and evaluate traditional raster density/accuracy methods
- Perform sensitivity analyses on point-return selection, edge effects, resolution, and algorithm configuration
- Support development and interpretation of ASPRS lidar density and positional accuracy standards and guidance
- Evaluate emerging lidar technologies for national-scale 3D mapping and coordinate with stakeholders
- Provide technical review of methodologies, statements of work, and contractor deliverables
- Lead and mentor multidisciplinary teams and communicate findings to program managers and partners
- Collaborate with USGS (EROS and NGTOC) to embed data quality into standards and specifications
- Support ECCOE System Characterization with commercial data quality analysis
Key requirements- MS in physics, mathematics, remote sensing, geospatial science, geomatics, environmental science, or related field
- 8+ years of lidar-related experience
- Fundamental programming skills
- Strong communication skills
- Technical leadership
- Collaboration and teamwork
- Airborne Lidar
- 3DEP QA/QC
- ASPRS Standards
