Sr Geospatial Data Scientist & QA Engineer

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• Sr Geospatial Data Scientist & QA Engineer

• Serves as the primary test and quality lead for a cloud-based geospatial data lake and its components (ingestion pipelines, data services/APIs, search interfaces, and GIS client integrations).
• Works directly with government customers and the cloud development team to plan and execute testing, find and track defects through resolution, lead user acceptance testing, and ensure the product is usable, documented, and effective for mission users.
• Develop and execute test strategies, plans, cases, and traceability matrices mapped to requirements/user stories across the ingestion, transformation, storage, API, and GIS client layers of the geospatial data lake.
• Identify, reproduce, document, and triage defects with developers and government stakeholders; track to resolution, verify fixes, and report defect trends and release readiness to program leadership and customers.
• Plan, coordinate, and lead User Acceptance Testing (UAT) events with government customers, acting as the end-user advocate within the development team.
• Validate geospatial data quality (geometry validity, coordinate reference systems/projections, attribute completeness, spatial query accuracy) and test REST APIs/data services for correctness, error handling, security controls, and performance.
• Build and maintain data dictionaries, user guides, release notes, and test reports; design and deliver end-user training; and support documentation required for accreditation, audits, and release approvals.

Basic Requirements

• Active TS/SCI clearance
• Hands-on experience planning/executing integration, end-to-end, regression, and UAT testing; writing test plans, cases, and reports from requirements or user stories.
• Proficiency with defect/test management tools (Jira, Xray, Zephyr, Test Rail, or similar) and REST API testing (Postman, curl, or scripted tests).
• Working knowledge of SQL for data validation and back-end verification.
• GIS fundamentals: coordinate reference systems, projections, datums, vector/raster data models; common formats (GeoJSON, Shapefile); desktop GIS (Esri ArcGIS Pro and/or QGIS).
• Familiarity with AWS-hosted applications and services (Lambda, ECS, SQS/SNS, Aurora PostgreSQL) sufficient to isolate failures; multi-environment release pipelines and Git.
• Demonstrated ability to work directly with government/end-user customers, run test events, and communicate technical issues to non-technical audiences; strong technical writing.
• Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Information Systems, GIS, Geography, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience); typically 3+ years of software testing/QA, including data-intensive or geospatial systems.

Preferred Requirements

• Test automation (Python/pytest, Selenium, Playwright, or similar).
• PostGIS and spatial SQL.
• Performance/load testing (JMeter, Locust, k6).
• Experience supporting software in DoD/IC accreditation environments (RMF, ATO documentation).
• Certifications such as ISTQB (Foundation or Advanced), CSTE, AWS Cloud Practitioner, or Esri technical certification.
• DoD 8140 baseline certification (e.g., CompTIA Security+) if the role requires privileged system access.