Data Scientist (Virginia)

Kestrel Intelligence; Virginia (MN); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Crystal City / Herndon sites

TS/SCI clearance

Job summary

Kestrel Intelligence seeks a Data Scientist to architect and deploy production-grade AI/ML subsystems powering national security missions. You will lead high-fidelity data processing pipelines and geospatial tooling, wrapping models into operator-ready capabilities for commercial and government customers.

The role emphasizes bleeding-edge geospatial science, adaptability, and engineering rigor, with an expectation of US citizenship and proficiency across multiple Geo domains.

Qualifications

• Proven experience building geospatial data preprocessing pipelines for raster and vector data.
• Production-grade AI/ML and agentic subsystems development in at least two domains.
• Must be a US citizen.

Responsibilities

• Architect end-to-end production-ready AI/ML and agentic subsystems.
• Build robust geospatial preprocessing pipelines for raster and vector data (GDAL, SNAP, rasterio, PostGIS).
• Integrate GeoFMs and autonomous route planning into a cohesive operational picture.

Skills

Geospatial pipelines

GeoAI/ML

GeoFMs

SAR/ISCE2

Autonomous systems

DEM formats

Optimization

Economics models

Tools

GDAL

SNAP

rasterio

PostGIS

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)