Lead 3D Geospatial Engineer

NGS; Charleston (SC); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible health insurance

Life and short-term disability

401(k) retirement plan

Four weeks paid time off, increasing

Job summary

NGS in Charleston, SC seeks a senior GIS engineer to lead 3D data processing, services, and integrations. You will craft pipelines using Golang, implement 3D outputs in CesiumJS/OpenLayers, and guide the team in using Open Geospatial Consortium specs and open-source tools.

The role emphasizes independent work, DoD-aligned projects, and delivery of secure, scalable GIS solutions in a fast-paced environment. You will collaborate with a distributed team and deploy in containerized environments.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional GIS software engineering experience.
• Strong Golang or equivalent systems languages (C/C++/Java/Rust).
• Experience with Linux, Git and modern CI/CD workflows.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain 3D data pipelines and GIS services.
• Integrate 3D capabilities from open source libraries and partner platforms via APIs and data streams.
• Develop front-end components for operator views and configuration of 3D processing pipelines.
• Deploy and troubleshoot services in Docker and Kubernetes environments.
• Collaborate with distributed teams across sprint planning, reviews, and releases.
• Support demos, tests, and secure coding practices.

Skills

GIS expertise

Golang

Senior software engineer

Network programming

Linux

Git

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

PostGIS

GDAL

PDAL

CesiumJS

GeoServer

OpenLayers

OpenCV

Unreal Engine

Job description

Senior-level engineer to lead 3D data processing, services, and integrations — OGC specifications, Golang pipelines, and 3D output displayed in CesiumJS, OpenLayers, or similar.

About NGS

NGS builds modern geospatial and C5ISR software for the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal customers. We've been at this since 2009, and we've supported programs at DIA, NGA, the U.S. Army Geospatial Center, INSCOM, SOCOM, and DHA. We're headquartered in the Charleston, SC area and we hold a GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract.

We leverage open-source technology and deep mission expertise to deliver secure, scalable systems that solve real problems for warfighters and government agencies. Our flagship platform, CoreSpatial, is built on GeoServer, PostGIS, GDAL, MapStore2, and CesiumJS. We're serious about open source and contribute upstream.

We are a small, focused team with a strong track record of delivering complex solutions under real constraints. Our customers rely on us to cut through the noise, move fast, and deliver results that work. More on who we are, the team, and what we do for government customers.

The Role

Geographic Information Systems engineer with 3D systems creation and support experience. Experienced in design and delivery of software built on Open Geospatial Consortium specifications and working bodies; examples, 3D Tiles, 3D scenes I3S, 3DPS, WPS, WCPS. Experienced with open source libraries and end products such as GDAL, PDAL, MDAL, GEOS, Open3D, and PostGIS.

React front end library experience is preferred but not a hard requirement. Does require fundamental understanding of technologies underpinning Cesium ion, OpenCV, Unreal Engine, or similar applications. This is a senior level role for an engineer who can work independently within an organization, turning a vision for 3D data processing into products.

We're hiring a Lead 3D Geospatial Engineer for customers looking to implement 3D data processing, services, and integrations ultimately displayed using popular front end visualizations in CesiumJS, OpenLayers or similar. This is a deep expert level role crafting data pipelines from sources into information that can be conveyed via 3D outputs in GIS systems. Data modeling, systems architecture, services design, specification implementations — this role has it all.

The work is primarily done using Golang backends but this is a flexible requirement depending on the stage of processing, or analysis in a pipeline. You will build and maintain services running in containers and orchestrated by Kubernetes; there you will find a team of people to help deploy your solutions continuously and securely.

You will be working alongside a distributed development team but as the lead in all 3D subject matter, often independently tasked.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain data pipelines for 3D source or finished products, parsing, routing, translation, display
• Integrate 3D capability from custom code, open source libraries, and partner platform integrations via APIs, message brokers, database
• Build and extend, or recommend for development, front-end components for operator-facing views and configuration of your 3D processing pipelines
• Deploy and troubleshoot your work in containerized environments (Docker, Kubernetes) as you go
• Work day to day with a distributed partner engineering team: sprint planning, code reviews, joint debugging, release coordination
• Support integration events, demos, and test activity, including occasional troubleshooting under time pressure
• Follow secure coding practices and support local security and configuration requirements

Required

• Professional software engineering experience building production level GIS services. Subject matter expert in GIS: 8+ years.
• Strong Golang or equivalent systems-level experience in C/C++/Java/Rust with demonstrated ability to pick up languages quickly
• Comfort with network programming: TCP/UDP, multicast, binary protocols, byte-level message formats
• Linux, Git, and modern CI/CD workflows
• U.S. citizenship. Active Secret or Top Secret clearance preferred, otherwise ability to obtain and maintain one.

Preferred

• Full-stack software engineering experience
• Kubernetes and container orchestration in production
• Experience working remotely on a distributed or multi-company development team
• Prior DoD or IC program experience
• Flexible health insurance. Choose from a range of options that fit your situation.
• Life and short-term disability coverage.
• 401(k) retirement plan with competitive options.
• Four weeks of paid time off, moving to five weeks with tenure.