Team Lead - Geospatial Image Engineering

At Near Space Labs we design, build and operate a fleet of stratospheric robots to image the earth. We launch our proprietary, balloon-based imaging robots to heights between 40,000 and 60,000 feet. From this vantage point, we capture petabytes of imagery for a variety of use cases.

We seek an experienced technical leader to own the day-to-day engineering and development of our petabyte-scale geospatial imagery pipeline. This role will be instrumental in ensuring the seamless flow of data and the improvement of our imagery processing mechanisms, including color correction and orthomosaicing. You will lead subject matter experts and coordinate with other software and infrastructure teams to deliver high-quality imagery to customers with optimal speed and reliability.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Own end-to-end the performance of our proprietary data pipeline for batch imagery processing, a core part of the company tech stack.
• Lead other engineers developing and improving processing algorithms based on photogrammetry, computer vision and machine learning.
• Lead engineers in implementing algorithms for Image Correction, including color correction, geometric correction and radiometry when needed.
• Create the right tools and processes to observe processing performance and reliability.
• Liaise with infrastructure and software engineering teams to adequately dimension the required infrastructure and anticipate needs.
• Contribute to new sensor design and support camera calibration tests, working closely with our Flight Vehicle Engineering unit and payload engineers.
• Provide technical expertise and guidance to internal teams on geospatial data processing.

Location

This is a position for Spain work permit holders based in Barcelona. You can work from home or the office as needed.

Our Stack

• Python & Typescript
• Distributed system, gRPC services, Protobuf, REST
• Kubernetes, Istio
• Google Cloud Platform, Docker, Pub/sub
• PostgreSQL, MongoDb, Google Cloud Storage
• GDAL, Shapely, Spatio-Temporal Asset Catalogs

Your Skills

• 10+ years of experience
• 2+ years experience as a technical leader or engineering manager
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Remote Sensing, Geomatics, Computer Science, Software engineering or a related field.
• Deep understanding of Remote Sensing and Earth Observation data collection and processing techniques.
• Proficient in Python, with a strong understanding of data structures, algorithms and geospatial data.
• Knowledge of GDAL and geospatial Python libraries (Shapely, rasterio…)
• Experience working in a professional software development environment.
• Familiarity with aerial imagery analysis, and geospatial data handling.
• Familiarity with imagery processing libraries such as OpenCV.
• Familiarity with cloud-based imagery or data pipelines.
• Familiarity with computer vision and Machine Learning techniques applied to imagery.

What We Offer

• An exciting startup culture where you will have the opportunity to play a critical role in building and scaling a one-of-a-kind technology and organization.
• You will be part of an enthusiastic, international and motivated team of professionals who are committed to building unique technologies, being rigorous, and finding novel solutions to interesting problems.
• A diverse and inclusive workplace where we welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.
• A commitment that you will never be bored.

Equal employment opportunity:

Near Space Labs is committed to diversity in our organization and building an equitable and inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and experiences. Near Space Labs provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics.