Senior Geospatial Data Scientist

SynMax; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

SynMax, Inc. is seeking a Senior Geospatial Data Scientist to join Theia's data science team in Washington, DC. You will fuse satellite imagery with vessel-tracking data to build detection and prediction models, taking work from prototype to production on cloud infrastructure and explaining your reasoning clearly to stakeholders.

The role emphasizes strong Python skills, geospatial analysis, and experience with EO/SAR data, with collaboration across engineering and analytics teams.

Qualifications

• Strong geospatial analysis background with experience in spatial data, coordinates, and geospatial techniques.
• Experience with earth observation data (EO/SAR) and related workflows.
• Proficient in Python and practical experience across the machine learning lifecycle (modeling, evaluation, iteration).
• Ability to explain reasoning and approach clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Develop and improve geospatial models and pipelines that fuse AIS-like data with satellite imagery to detect vessel behavior and anomalies.
• Apply computer vision techniques to satellite imagery for vessel detection and attribution.
• Work with large-scale geospatial datasets and time-series data to build validation and prediction models.
• Take models from prototype to production, coordinating with eng to deploy on GCP or equivalent cloud platforms.
• Investigate new data sources and methods to close gaps in maritime domain awareness.
• Communicate findings and model behavior clearly to stakeholders, including customers.

Skills

Geospatial data science

Python

Earth observation data

Computer vision

ML lifecycle

Tools

GeoPandas

GDAL

PyTorch

QGIS

Job description

About SynMax, Inc.

SynMax is a geospatial intelligence company. We fuse multi-sensor satellite imagery with signals, vessel-tracking and proprietary machine learning models, and apply trained analysts to produce finished intelligence on activity in low-transparency environments across the maritime and energy domains.

Our product suite: Theia, Hyperion, Vulcan and Leviaton - is used by commercial energy traders, financial institutions, government agencies, and defense and intelligence organizations.

Founded in 2021, we are around 130 people across Houston, London and Washington, D.C.

About The Role

The Senior Geospatial Data Scientist sits within Theia's data science team, working on the models and pipelines that turn satellite imagery and vessel-tracking data into a verified picture of activity. Day to day, that means fusing optical and SAR imagery with AIS and other data sources and building the detection and prediction models behind capabilities like dark vessel detection, AIS spoofing, ship-to-ship transfers, and vessel attribution. You'll take work from prototype through to production on GCP alongside engineering, and you'll be expected to explain your reasoning clearly.

What You'll Do

• Develop and improve geospatial models and pipelines that fuse AIS data with optical and SAR satellite imagery to detect vessel behavior, anomalies, and deceptive activity at sea.
• Apply computer vision techniques to satellite imagery for vessel detection, classification, and attribution.
• Work with large-scale geospatial and time-series datasets (AIS tracks, imagery, vessel metadata) to build and validate detection and prediction models.
• Take models from prototype through to production, working with engineering to deploy on GCP.
• Investigate new data sources and methods to close gaps in maritime domain awareness.
• Communicate findings and model behavior clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including customers.
• Collaborate closely with the wider Theia data science and engineering teams on shared infrastructure, data pipelines, and tooling.

What We’re Looking For

• Strong geospatial data science background, with demonstrated experience working with spatial data, coordinate systems, and geospatial analysis techniques.
• Experience working with earth observation data, e.g. electro-optical or synthetic aperture radar (SAR).
• Some computer vision experience (e.g., object detection/classification applied to imagery).
• Strong Python skills and practical experience with the machine learning lifecycle: predictive modeling, classification, evaluation, and iteration.
• Comfortable working independently, thinking through ambiguous problems, and explaining your reasoning and approach to others.

Nice to Have

• Experience working with AIS (vessel-tracking) data - desirable, but not a deal-breaker if the rest of your background is strong.
• Familiarity with GCP (BigQuery, Vertex AI) or equivalent cloud data platforms.
• Experience with geospatial tooling and libraries (e.g., QGIS, GDAL, GeoPandas).
• Experience with PyTorch, scikit-learn, or similar ML frameworks.
• Background in maritime, defense, intelligence, or energy domains.