GIS Architect 2

ATTAINX INC•Herndon, VA

13h•Remote

About The Position

The GIS Architect 2 is a senior-level architecture position responsible for providing technical architecture leadership for geospatial systems and GIS capabilities across the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) IT ecosystem. This role leads GIS architecture decisions, drives AWS cloud migration of geospatial infrastructure, coordinates across SAFe Agile Release Trains and the solution train, and manages large-scale GIS development and staffing efforts. The GIS Architect 2 serves as the lead technical architect for assigned release trains, ensuring that geospatial architecture aligns with FPAC enterprise standards, GeoBranch architecture, the Technical Guidance Framework (TGF), and the Cloud Memo while meeting NRCS conservation mission needs.

Requirements

Twelve (12) or more years of professional experience in geospatial application development, GIS architecture, or spatial data management.
Five (5) or more years of experience in a GIS architect or technical lead role directing enterprise geospatial solution design.
Five (5) or more years of experience with ESRI ArcGIS Enterprise (ArcGIS Server, Portal) architecture, configuration, and administration.
Three (3) or more years of experience supporting federal IT programs or government agency environments.
Demonstrated experience architecting and leading AWS cloud migration of geospatial systems.
Experience managing and mentoring geospatial development teams.
Experience with spatial database architecture (ESRI geodatabases, PostgreSQL/PostGIS, SQL Server, Oracle SDE).
Bachelor’s degree in Geography, GIS, Computer Science, Environmental Science, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
ESRI ArcGIS Enterprise (ArcGIS Server, Portal, ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online)
ESRI ArcGIS API for JavaScript, ArcGIS API for Python,ArcPy
JavaScript/TypeScript, React, WebAppBuilder, ArcGIS JavaScript API
Python (spatial automation, ETL, scripting),JupyterNotebooks
C#/.NET for geospatial and non-spatial web applications
Spatial databases: ESRI geodatabases, PostgreSQL/PostGIS, SQL Server, Oracle SDE
ArcGIS Enterprise architecture: service publishing, security, multi-machine deployments
Geodatabase schema design, spatial data versioning, mosaic datasets
AWS services: EC2, RDS, S3, Lambda, API Gateway, Route 53
CI/CD and DevOps: Jenkins, Git-based source control, automated deployment scripts
Security scanning: SonarQube, Fortify SCA/WebInspect
SAFeAgile methodologies; Jira, Confluence
Mobile GIS architecture (ArcGIS field applications, Collector)
FME for geospatial data transformation (preferred)
Must be able to obtain and maintain a USDA security background investigation (FBI fingerprint check and eQIP).
Must comply with all NIST, USDA, and HSPD–12 security training and reporting requirements.
Must complete mandatory training: Information Security Awareness (annually) and Section 508 (within 45 days of assignment).

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field is preferred.
Experience with USDA NRCS or FPAC geospatial systems and FPACGeoBrancharchitecture.
Experience coordinating across multipleSAFeAgile Release Trains and solution trains.
Experience with Geospatial Data Act of 2018 (GDA) compliance and geospatial metadata management.
ESRI technical certifications (ArcGIS Enterprise Administration, ArcGIS Developer, or equivalent).
AWS certifications (Cloud Practitioner, Solutions Architect, or equivalent).
SAFecertification (SAFeArchitect,SAFePractitioner, or equivalent).
Experience integrating geospatial components with Pega, .NET, orEntellitrakbusiness applications.
Experience with Geocortex or similar web GIS configuration platforms.
Experience with NIST SP 800–53, FISMA, FedRAMP compliance frameworks.
Experience with Terraform or CloudFormation for infrastructure as code.
Experience with Section 508 accessibility architecture for geospatial interfaces.
Experience with ServiceNow ITSM, ITOM, CMDB.
ITIL certification ordemonstratedexperience with ITIL service management processes.
Experience with ArcGIS Online administration and organizational management.

Responsibilities

Serve as the lead technical architect for assigned SAFe Agile Release Trains, providing architectural guidance across up to 100+ staff and 10+ scrum teams.
Define and enforce GIS architecture standards, patterns, and best practices for enterprise geospatial application development and spatial data services.
Architect multi-tier geospatial solutions including ArcGIS Enterprise infrastructure (Server, Portal), web mapping applications, spatial databases, and geospatial service tiers.
Design and implement enterprise ArcGIS Enterprise architecture, including service publishing strategies, security configurations, multi-machine deployments, and high-availability patterns.
Architect integration patterns between GIS components and NRCS business applications (e.g., Pega, .NET, Entellitrak), ensuring loose coupling and maintainability.
Drive consistency of geospatial solution architecture across the enterprise, aligning with USDA/FPAC mandates, GeoBranch architecture, and industry best practices.
Ensure key architecture decisions are documented and stored in an agreed repository for the life of the product.
Validate and maintain geospatial Business Domain/Sub-domain definitions; map geospatial components to domains/sub-domains, capturing technical debt.
Lead a systems review within the first 30 days to identify and categorize geospatial technical debt and establish a transparent backlog.
Use existing geospatial services provided by FPAC GeoBranch when available; integrate supported applications with those services in alignment with Conservation Section priorities.
When new GIS services are required, design and build them with and for the GeoBranch GPM; adhere to GeoBranch architecture, design, and standards.
Coordinate closely with the NRCS GEO Branch to ensure alignment with agency geospatial standards and practices.
Ensure geospatial integrations meet performance, accuracy, and interoperability requirements, including appropriate coordinate reference systems and caching strategies.
Document geospatial dependencies and data sources and maintain them in Government-designated repositories.
Ensure accessibility (Section 508) and usability considerations are incorporated for geospatial user interfaces and outputs.
Architect and lead the migration of geospatial applications and ArcGIS Enterprise infrastructure from on-premises Government servers to AWS.
Provide cross-train coordination and leadership for dependencies between NRCS AWS, GEO AWS, and EDAPT migration efforts.
Design cloud-native and cloud-ready geospatial architectures using approved AWS services (EC2, RDS, S3, Lambda, API Gateway, Route 53) within the FPAC General Support System (GSS).
Ensure alignment with the FPAC Cloud Memo and Technical Guidance Framework for all geospatial cloud adoption and migration activities.
Re-architect geospatial applications for scalability and resilience in AWS environments.
Lead and manage geospatial development teams as a member of release train leadership.
Conduct hiring activities including developing staffing plans, creating job descriptions and technical challenges, and leading interviews.
Mentor developers in GIS development, data management, and software architecture best practices.
Lead GIS knowledge-sharing initiatives (e.g., GIS Community of Practice) to improve GIS as a discipline across the organization.
Coordinate with technical architects from other SAFe Agile Release Trains, the solution train, platform team, Government product owners, and business owners.
Communicate and enforce enterprise geospatial standards and best practices across all delivery teams through documented governance, review, and approval processes.
Coordinate with Federal Architects, contractor architects, and other stakeholders to harmonize geospatial interfaces and manage cross-dependencies.
Contribute to the comprehensive inventory of supported geospatial systems and components, including technology stack, dependencies, and operational status.
Evaluate modernization options for geospatial systems (refactor, re-platform, replace, retire) using structured scoring models based on technical debt, compliance risk, cost to maintain, and business impact.
Leverage AI-enabled platforms (e.g., Rhino.ai or equivalent) for legacy geospatial system analysis and code remediation as authorized by the Government.
Propose strategies to decouple tightly coupled geospatial web services and monolithic spatial databases that hinder modernization and scalability.
Ensure architectures are forward-compatible with ML/GenAI integration while maintaining compliance and auditability.
Develop and maintain a plan to resolve gaps in automated testing and document timeline trade-offs for technical debt remediation.
Maintain a technology intake and review function for geospatial technologies; review recommendations before elevating to the GPM per the Cloud Memo process.
Design and enforce secure architecture patterns for geospatial applications and services in alignment with NIST SP 800–53, USDA secure coding standards, FPAC SDLC, FISMA, and Zero Trust principles.
Ensure new geospatial solutions and features are compliant with Zero Trust architecture; identify gaps for remediation.
Implement and maintain security configurations for ArcGIS Enterprise infrastructure, including authentication, authorization, and service-level access controls.
Ensure supported applications meet Section 508 accessibility requirements and maintain compliance with the Privacy Act, FedRAMP, and Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) requirements.
Ensure all work products meet or exceed the Acceptable Quality Levels (AQLs) defined in the applicable contract attachments.
Drive adoption of automated testing, regression testing, and CI/CD practices for geospatial applications and services.
Develop and implement DevOps scripts and processes for geospatial service publication, application deployment, and configuration management using Git-based source control.
Improve geospatial architecture to reduce interdependencies and enable smaller, more frequent releases.
Ensure load and performance testing plans exercise all critical geospatial components; communicate gaps to the GPM.
Provide Tier 3 architectural guidance for production geospatial issues, including root cause analysis and systemic remediation recommendations.
Establish mechanisms to detect and correct geospatial architectural misalignments; provide mentoring to development teams.
Participate in risk identification and mitigation activities; contribute to the risk and issue log.
Support ITIL-aligned incident, problem, and change management processes consistent with FPAC standards.
Provide knowledge transfer sessions to Government personnel and incoming vendors during transitions.
Maintain architectural documentation, decision records, and knowledge articles in Government-designated repositories.
Architect spatial database solutions including ESRI geodatabases, PostgreSQL/PostGIS, SQL Server spatial types, and Oracle SDE.
Design and implement ETL processes for geospatial data ingestion, transformation, and synchronization across multiple schemas, formats, and coordinate systems.
Develop and maintain automation for spatial data modeling, service deployment, and data processing using Python (ArcPy, ArcGIS API for Python), FME, and related tools.
Support the Geospatial Data Asset Catalog (GDAC) and ensure compliance with Geospatial Data Act of 2018 (GDA) requirements.
Ensure alignment with USDA’s cloud-native Lakehouse Data Strategy and FPAC data governance practices.