Data Scientist (Colorado)

Kestrel Intelligence; Colorado Springs (CO); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Colorado Springs or DC area

TS/SCI clearance (CSP or FSP)

Job summary

Kestrel Intelligence seeks a Data Scientist to architect production-grade AI/ML subsystems powering commercial and national security missions. You will build high-fidelity geospatial data pipelines and wrap AI/ML into tools for Agentic AI, working at the cutting edge of geospatial science.

You must have deep geospatial foundations, production-grade experience in multiple domains, and US citizenship. This role is on-site at client sites in Colorado Springs or DC with potential TS/SCI clearance

Qualifications

• Master geospatial data preprocessing pipelines (raster and vector).
• Production-grade experience in at least two domains from the list: GeoAI/ML, GeoFMs, SAR/Interferometry, hyperspectral imaging, RF propagation, DEM, autonomous systems, optimization, economics.
• US citizenship is required to work on sensitive missions.

Responsibilities

• Architect and deploy production-grade AI/ML and agentic subsystems.
• Develop geospatial data preprocessing pipelines for raster and vector data.
• Integrate GeoFMs and autonomous route planning into an operational picture.

Skills

Geospatial pipelines

GeoAI/ML

GeoFM

SAR/Interferometry

Hyperspectral imaging

Autonomous routing

Optimization

US citizenship

Tools

GDAL

SNAP

rasterio

PostGIS

isce2

Job description

The Mission

At Kestrel, we are building the future of scalable autonomy across domains. Our systems enable commercial and national security customers to sense and act in support of complex missions without significant autonomous system expertise. This technology bridges domains (e.g., space, air, land, sea) and fields (e.g., AI, orbital dynamics, geospatial), requiring a team that has both breadth and depth in these related topics.

The Role

We are looking for an individual contributor to architect and deploy production-grade subsystems that power our cutting-edge products for both commercial clients and critical national security missions. As a Kestrel Data Scientist, you will lead the development of high-fidelity data processing pipelines, traditional AI/ML models, and wrapping them into tools for next-generation Agentic AI. You will work at the bleeding edge of geospatial science. This role requires adaptability, engineering rigor, and a deep respect for the mission.

Core Responsibilities:

• Architecture: Lead the end-to-end creation of production-ready AI/ML and agentic subsystems.
• Geospatial Engineering: Build robust preprocessing pipelines for raster and vector data (using GDAL, SNAP, rasterio, PostGIS).
• Innovation: Integrate emerging technologies, from Geospatial Foundation Models (GeoFMs) to autonomous route planning, into a cohesive operational picture.

You Must Be:

A master of foundational geospatial: Proven experience building geospatial data preprocessing pipelines (raster and vector) using the modern geospatial stack (GDAL, SNAP, rasterio, PostGIS, etc.).

A specialist: You must have production-grade experience in at least two (2) of the following domains:

• Traditional GeoAI/ML: Object detection/land classification (scikit, OpenCV, etc.).
• Geospatial Foundation Models: Utilizing GeoFMs like AlphaEarth, Prithvi, or Clay.
• SAR & Interferometry: Pipeline development (e.g., isce2).
• Hyperspectral Imaging: Processing (e.g., SPy).
• RF Propagation: Modeling signal data (e.g., CloudRF).
• Digital Elevation Models: Handling DEM in multiple formats (e.g., DTED).
• Autonomous Systems: Route planning for unmanned systems (e.g., Auterion, ArduPilot).
• Optimization: Complex scheduling for satellite constellations or aircraft.
• Economics: Models for resource allocation such as auction, bidding, pricing, waiting.

Must be a US Citizen

Bonus:

• Based in the Colorado Springs, CO or Washington, DC (working in customer sites in Crystal City, VA and Herndon, VA) areas
• Active Top Secret // Specially Compartmented Information (TS//SCI) clearance with counterintelligence-scope polygraph (CSP) or full-scope polygraph (FSP)