Geospatial Scientist

Lynker Corporation; Boulder (CO); On-site; USD 85,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

PTO

401(k) matching

Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)

Tuition assistance

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Job summary

Lynker Corporation is seeking a Geospatial Scientist to join our weather and climate science-focused team in Boulder, CO. You will work on DEM acquisition, terrain modeling, and hydrography QA within scalable pipelines, leveraging Rust-based tooling and Python automation.

We value expertise in GIS, cloud-optimized formats, and reproducible workflows, with in-person collaboration across the Colorado Front Range expected. This role offers comprehensive benefits and growth opportunities.

Qualifications

• Master's in geospatial science, geography, engineering, earth science, computer science, or related field; or Bachelor's + 2 years of relevant experience; or equivalent hands-on experience with DEMs, raster/vector geospatial data, or hydrologic/terrain datasets.
• Proficiency in Python for geospatial data processing and automation.
• Experience with Rust, or ability to work within a Rust codebase; core processing tooling is in Rust; contribute to unit tests and validation.
• Experience with GIS and geospatial tooling (ArcGIS, QGIS, GDAL, PDAL) and standard raster/vector formats.
• Strong grasp of coordinate reference systems, reprojection, QA/QC practices.
• Comfort with Git, Linux, and command-line workflows.

Responsibilities

• DEM acquisition from public and partner sources with provenance tracking.
• Process and clean DEMs: mosaic, reproject, resample, void filling, and terrain surface creation.
• Design and maintain storage for large raster and vector datasets; use cloud-optimized formats like COG.
• Contribute to geospatial processing tools and write unit tests for terrain products.
• Perform QA/QC on vector hydrography and derived features; ensure topology and attributes are complete.
• Design reproducible terrain-processing pipelines that adapt as data evolves.
• Document methods, data sources, and QA results; collaborate across teams.

Skills

Python

Rust

Geospatial data processing

Education

Master's in geospatial science

Bachelor's + 2 years of relevant experience

equivalent hands-on experience with DEMs

Tools

ArcGIS

QGIS

GDAL

PDAL

Linux

Git

Job description

Overview

Lynker Corporation is a leading provider of innovative solutions in weather and climate science. With a commitment to excellence and a passion for innovation, Lynker leverages cutting-edge technologies and scientific expertise to support the creation and delivery of improved operational weather forecasts.As part of our ongoing growth and expansion, we are seeking a dynamic and experienced Geospatial Scientist to join our growing team.

Responsibilities

Duties of the Geospatial Scientist will include the following:

• DEM acquisition: national and regional digital elevation models from public and partner sources; track provenance, versions, licensing, and coverage.
• Processing & cleaning: clean, mosaic, reproject, resample, and condition DEMs (void filling, hydro-enforcement, sink handling) to produce analysis-ready terrain surfaces.
• Data storage & management: design and maintain storage for large raster and vector datasets, including tiling, cloud-optimized formats (COG), and efficient access patterns for downstream modeling.
• Code quality & validation: contribute to and validate our geospatial processing tools, much of it written in Rust, writing thorough unit tests and numerical validation of derived terrain products to keep results correct and numerically stable.
• Vector QA/QC: perform quality assurance and quality control on vector hydrography and derived features (topology, geometry validity, attribute completeness, alignment against reference data).
• Automation & reproducibility: design reproducible terrain-processing pipelines that can regenerate products consistently as source data evolve.
• Documentation & collaboration: document methods, data sources, and QA results; collaborate across the Science, Modeling, and Platform teams to keep terrain and hydrography products fit for purpose.

Qualifications

The Geospatial Scientist selected should have the following:

• Master's in geospatial science, geography, engineering, earth science, computer science, or a related field; or a Bachelor's plus 2 years of relevant experience; or equivalent hands-on experience with DEMs, raster/vector geospatial data, or hydrologic/terrain datasets.
• Proficiency in Python for geospatial data processing and automation.
• Experience with Rust, or the demonstrated ability and interest to work within a Rust codebase; our core geospatial processing tooling is written in Rust, and you will help write and maintain its unit tests and validation suites.
• Experience with GIS and geospatial tooling (e.g., ArcGIS, QGIS, GDAL, PDAL) and standard raster/vector formats.
• Strong grasp of coordinate reference systems, reprojection, and geospatial data QA/QC practices.
• Comfort with Git, Linux, and command-line workflows.

The Ideal Geospatial Scientist will have the following:

• Experience with hydrologic terrain conditioning (hydro-enforcement, flow direction/accumulation, watershed delineation) and hydrography datasets.
• Familiarity with cloud-optimized geospatial formats (COG, GeoParquet) and large-scale tiled data pipelines.
• Exposure to hydrologic or flood-inundation modeling (e.g., DEM-driven simulation, flood inundation mapping).
• Experience with SQL and spatial databases (e.g., PostGIS).
• Track record of scientific writing, presentation, or open-source contribution.
• Colorado Front Range presence for periodic in-person collaboration.

About Lynker

Lynker is a growing, employee owned business, specializing in professional, scientific and technical services. Our continually expanding team combines scientific expertise with mature, results-driven processes and tools to achieve technically sound, cost effective solutions in hydrology/water sciences, geospatial analysis, information technology, resource management, conservation, and management and business process improvement.

We focus on putting the right people in the right place to be effective. And having the right people is critical for success. Our streamlined organization enables and empowers our talented professionals to tackle our customers' scientific and technical priorities – creatively and effectively.

Lynker offers a team-oriented work environment, and the opportunity to work in a culture of exceptionally skilled professionals who embrace sound science and creative solutions. Lynker's benefits include the following:

• Comprehensive healthcare for the employee at no monthly cost
• Healthcare benefit covers medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision
• Personal Time Off (PTO) Policy plus paid holidays
• Highly competitive compensation plan regularly calibrated against industry and location benchmarks
• 401(k) retirement plan with company-matching
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) – we're all company owners!
• Flexible spending accounts
• Employee assistance program (EAP)
• Short- and long-term disability insurance
• Life and accident insurance
• Tuition assistance/Training/Workforce improvement reimbursement per year
• Spot bonuses for exceptional performance
• Annual Employee Recognition Awards with bonuses
• Employee Referral Program
• Free centralized, self-directed Learning Management System to learn at your own pace
• Personalized career growth plans for every employee

Lynker is an E-Verify employer.

Lynker is an equal opportunity employer and makes all employment decisions based on merit, qualifications, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other legally protected status under federal, state, or local laws.