Remote Sensing Engineer

Riverside Research Institute•Fair Oaks, VA

5d•$115,000 - $200,000

About The Position

Riverside Research is an independent National Security Nonprofit dedicated to research and development in the national interest. We provide high-end technical services, research and development, and prototype solutions to some of the country’s most challenging technical problems. All Riverside Research opportunities require U.S. Citizenship. Position Overview Riverside Research's Cognitive Intelligence Solutions Group (CISG) is seeking a Remote Sensing Engineer to support cutting-edge geospatial intelligence, autonomous sensing, and AI/ML-driven data exploitation efforts for the U.S. Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. The successful candidate will serve as a technical lead responsible for the automated verification and validation (V&V), test and evaluation (T&E), and performance assessment of remote sensing data pipelines, AI/ML models, and third-party vendor capabilities. This role bridges rigorous scientific methodology with production-grade engineering, enabling CISG to deliver validated, mission-ready geospatial intelligence products. The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing with hands-on experience applying machine learning to operational geospatial workflows.

Requirements

Active U.S. Citizenship (required for all Riverside Research positions).
Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance with SCI access; ability to obtain program-specific clearances as required. Candidates with an active TS/SCI are strongly preferred.
Bachelor's degree in Remote Sensing, Geospatial Science, Earth Systems, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a closely related STEM field.
A minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree, 6 years with a Master's degree, 3 years with a PhD, or equivalent combination of education and experience. Graduate research experience counts toward this threshold.
Demonstrated expertise in multispectral and/or hyperspectral remote sensing data analysis, including atmospheric correction, spectral indices, spectral unmixing, and feature extraction.
Proficiency in Python for geospatial data engineering, including experience with rasterio, rioxarray, xarray, GDAL, geopandas, NumPy, and scikit-learn.
Hands-on experience with machine learning and statistical modeling applied to remote sensing or geospatial datasets (e.g., classification, regression, anomaly detection, change detection).
Experience developing and executing V&V or T&E processes for data products, software systems, or AI/ML models, including design of test plans, performance metrics, and acceptance criteria.
Familiarity with geospatial platforms and tools: ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, ENVI, and/or Google Earth Engine.
Experience with cloud-based geospatial workflows (AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure) and version control practices (Git/GitLab/GitHub).
Strong written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated ability to present complex technical findings to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Nice To Haves

Active Top Secret/SCI clearance — candidates who already hold an active TS/SCI will be given strong preference and can expect an accelerated onboarding timeline.
Experience supporting DoD, Intelligence Community, or national security remote sensing programs (NRO, NGA, AFRL, ARO, or equivalent).
Familiarity with hyperspectral sensing platforms (e.g., AVIRIS, PRISMA, orbital hyperspectral systems) and hyperspectral analytics pipelines including mineral characterization and vegetation health assessment.
Experience applying deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face) to geospatial or computer vision tasks, including fine-tuning foundation models or geospatial FMs (e.g., Prithvi, SatMAE, Clay).
Background in SAR processing, LiDAR analysis, or multi-modal sensor fusion for environmental or intelligence applications.
Experience with automated testing frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, and MLOps practices for geospatial AI/ML systems.
Track record of peer-reviewed publication, conference presentations (e.g., IGARSS, AGU, SPIE), or technical reports in remote sensing or geospatial AI.
Demonstrated experience in a lead or senior individual contributor role, including mentorship of junior technical staff and coordination across multi-disciplinary teams.
Familiarity with GEOINT tradecraft, NSDI standards, or DoD geospatial data standards (NTM, NITF, STANAG imagery formats).

Responsibilities

Design, develop, and implement automated V&V and T&E frameworks to assess the accuracy, performance, and operational readiness of remote sensing data products, AI/ML models, and vendor-delivered geospatial capabilities.
Lead the technical evaluation of commercial and government remote sensing platforms, sensors (multispectral, hyperspectral, SAR, LiDAR), and associated data products against mission-specific requirements.
Develop and maintain scalable, production-grade machine learning pipelines for geospatial applications including change detection, land cover classification, object detection, and environmental monitoring.
Apply state-of-the-art AI/ML techniques — including deep learning, transfer learning, self-supervised learning, and large vision/language models — to automate remote sensing data exploitation and analysis workflows.
Conduct rigorous uncertainty quantification, validation metric development, and statistical performance benchmarking across multi-source, multi-temporal geospatial datasets.
Architect and execute data quality assessment (DQA) protocols for ingested satellite, airborne, and in-situ sensor data; document and communicate findings to program teams and stakeholders.
Collaborate with program managers, government customers, and interdisciplinary engineering teams to translate operational requirements into validated technical solutions.
Evaluate and integrate emerging remote sensing technologies and open-source AI/ML frameworks; assess vendor claims, algorithm documentation, and technical data packages.
Contribute to IRAD initiatives advancing CISG's remote sensing and autonomous sensing capabilities, including development of novel approaches for environmental monitoring, target detection, and geospatial change analytics.
Author technical reports, white papers, and briefings documenting methodology, V&V results, and performance findings for government sponsors.
Provide technical mentorship to junior engineers and researchers on remote sensing methods, ML best practices, and geospatial data science.
Stay current with advances in foundation models, multi-modal geospatial AI, and emerging remote sensing sensor modalities relevant to national security applications.