Senior Geospatial Data Scientist (54662)

Who We Are

The Center for Geospatial Solutions (CGS) is a self-sustaining nonprofit enterprise. Founded to help bridge the gap between policy and practice, our mission is to enable people and the planet to meet the pace of change by expanding access to new technologies that power more sustainable and equitable outcomes.

We are a fully remote team of award-winning professionals with decades of applied expertise and end-to-end GIS capabilities. By embracing whole-system thinking and state-of-the-art technology, we enable partners across public, private, and nonprofit sectors to tackle complex, real-world challenges—like housing affordability, ecosystem conservation, water management, and sustainable infrastructure—with greater clarity. Our work liberates and connects key information, creates nuanced pictures of complex situations, and makes land, water, and social data easier to use, understand, and act on. We use tools like satellite data and artificial intelligence to deliver insights for impact.

At CGS, we believe that technology can be a tool for positive change. We are dedicated to building a diverse team that represents the communities and systems we live and work in. If you’re excited about this role but don’t meet every listed qualification, we encourage you to apply. We value potential, curiosity, and lived experiences, and know a more inclusive team makes us a stronger organization.

About the Lincoln Institute

CGS was established in 2020 at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, which seeks to improve quality of life through the effective use, taxation, and stewardship of land. A nonprofit private operating foundation whose origins date to 1946, the Lincoln Institute researches and recommends creative approaches to land as a solution to economic, social, and environmental challenges. Through education, training, publications, and events, the Lincoln Institute integrates theory and practice to inform public policy decisions worldwide and has office locations in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Washington, DC; Phoenix, Arizona; and Beijing, China.

Position Overview

The Center for Geospatial Solutions (CGS) is seeking a Senior Data Scientist to provide technical expertise for complex geospatial data science, remote sensing, and environmental modeling projects. This role will help design, improve, and oversee end-to-end analytical workflows that turn large and varied geospatial datasets into reliable, decision-ready information.

Reporting to the Associate Director of Data Science, the Senior Data Scientist will work closely with data scientists, AI engineers, cloud engineers, project managers, and subject-matter experts. The position will collaboratively lead technical planning, guide implementation, troubleshoot difficult problems, and ensure that methods, validation, and documentation meet a high standard of scientific and client-facing quality.

The successful candidate will combine deep applied expertise with the ability to enable and empower others. They will translate complex scientific and technical questions into practical workflows, mentor technical contributors, and advance research and development that improves our methods, efficiency, and impact across wetlands, water, conservation, infrastructure, and other mission-motivated applications.

What You Will Do

Technical Expertise and Workflow Design

• Lead collaboratively the design of end-to-end geospatial data science and remote sensing workflows, from problem definition and data acquisition through modeling, validation, interpretation, and delivery.
• Translate project goals and scientific questions into clear plans, technical requirements, milestones, and quality standards.
• Guide the selection and use of authoritative datasets, remote sensing products, geospatial methods, statistical approaches, and machine learning techniques.
• Anticipate risks, resolve complex technical issues, and make pragmatic discernments that balance scientific rigor, delivery needs, and available resources.
• Support technical members to refine common processes and establish repeatable methods across projects.

Scientific Quality and Validation

• Design or oversee accuracy assessments, validation strategies, sampling approaches, uncertainty analyses, and other quality-control methods.
• Ensure methodologies are reproducible, well documented, and appropriate for the intended use and context.
• Review code, models, data products, technical reports, and client deliverables for scientific and analytical quality.
• Clearly communicate methodological limitations, uncertainty, and appropriate interpretation of results to technical and non-technical audiences.

Team Enablement and Technical Delivery

• Enable data scientists and other technical contributors to execute defined processes independently and consistently.
• Provide hands-on troubleshooting, code review, technical guidance, and mentoring across multiple projects.
• Develop templates, reusable code, documentation, and training materials that strengthen team capability and reduce delivery risk.
• Work closely with project managers to estimate effort, plan technical work, manage dependencies, and keep delivery aligned with scope and schedule.

Research, Development, and Organizational Impact

• Foster, or contribute to, research and development that improves CGS methods, model performance, processing efficiency, and data products.
• Evaluate emerging datasets, geospatial foundation models, cloud capabilities, and systematic methods for practical use at CGS.
• Contribute technical expertise to proposals, scopes of work, client presentations, publications, and strategic partnerships.
• Represent CGS in technical discussions with clients, partners, funders, government agencies, and the broader scientific community.