Senior LiDAR & Geospatial Scientist

Prairie Engineers, P.C.; Champaign (IL); On-site; USD 80,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k)

Medical insurance on day one

Paid time off

Professional development

Job summary

Prairie Engineers is seeking a Senior LiDAR Mapping Scientist to own LiDAR production from acquisition through classified point clouds, surfaces, and accuracy reporting. You will mentor UAV pilots and mapping staff, set methods and QC, and deliver repeatable production standards for multidisciplinary projects.

The role involves leading office production, estimating level-of-effort, and collaborating with hydrographic, GIS, and engineering staff to ensure high-quality mapping products for

Qualifications

• 8+ years producing mapping-grade LiDAR products for design or engineering clients.
• Demonstrated classification, surface modelling, and written accuracy reporting.
• Experience with Python, scripting, batch processing or geospatial workflow automation.
• Experience estimating mapping scopes for government and private clients.
• Comfort working directly with licensed surveyors, pilots, and design engineers.
• ASPRS CMSLiDAR or CP certification is strongly preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in geomatics or related field preferred; equivalent production experience accepted.

Responsibilities

• Own LiDAR production from acquisition through classified clouds, surfaces, accuracy reporting, and client delivery.
• Lead office production and mentor UAV pilots and mapping staff.
• Set methods, tool selection, QC, and level-of-effort estimates; report to Mapping Discipline Lead.
• Support land survey, hydrographic surveying, and engineering staff on multidisciplinary projects.
• Develop repeatable production standards and provide cross-disciplinary support.

Skills

LiDAR mapping

Classification

Surface modelling

Python scripting

Estimating scopes

Survey coordination

CMSLiDAR

CP certification

Education

Bachelor's degree in geomatics

Tools

Terrasolid Suite

ArcGIS Pro

Civil 3D

Recap

Pix4Dmatic

Global Mapper

LP360

TopoDOT

Bentley Open Roads

Job description

SENIOR LiDAR MAPPING SCIENTIST

Prairie Engineers is a small business engineering, surveying and mapping, and natural resources firm serving federal, state, and private clients nationwide.

We are hiring a Senior LiDAR Mapping Scientist to own LiDAR production - from acquisition specifications through classified point clouds, surfaces, accuracy assessment, and client delivery - and to build that capability into a repeatable practice.

You will lead office production and mentor UAV Pilots and existing mapping staff who already field collect LiDAR and perform basic geospatial production. You will set methods, tool selection, quality control, and level-of-effort estimates and will report directly to our Mapping Discipline Lead (who additionally oversees hydrographic survey, Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE), and Geospatial practices). You also will support land survey, hydrographic surveying, and engineering staff on multidisciplinary projects.

The Opportunity

Field acquisition and partner manned-aerial collection are in place. This role industrializes classification, surface production, accuracy reporting, and production standards so Prairie can deliver mapping-grade products consistently across UAV, mobile, terrestrial, SLAM, and partner aerial datasets. Anticipated salary range is $80,000/year to $135,000/year depending on ability, experience, certifications, and education.

What You Will Do

• Specify internal acquisition methods and vendor/flight requirements for UAV, airborne, mobile, SLAM, and terrestrial LiDAR and limited photogrammetry projects.
• Process, calibrate, classify, and deliver point clouds and derived surfaces (DEM/DSM, breaklines, contours, hydroflattening).
• Design Quality Control workflows; assess vertical/horizontal accuracy against ASPRS Positional Accuracy Standards and project specifications.
• Diagnose failed trajectories, weak control, datum issues, classification errors, and surface artifacts. Identify root causes and implement practical corrections before data delivery.
• Prepare levelofeffort and cost estimates for mapping task orders and proposals.
• Mentor junior mapping scientists and technicians and develop repeatable production standards along with support for hydrographic, GIS, engineering, and other staff on multidisciplinary projects.

Tools and Deliverables

Prairie acquires data with NDAA-compliant LiDAR sensors flown on Blue List sUAS platforms, plus mobile, terrestrial, and SLAM systems. We partner with other mapping firms for larger manned-aerial LiDAR and imagery.

Current production tools include the Terrasolid Suite (TerraScan and related modules), Spatial Explorer Pro, Phoenix Lidar Mill, LP360, Global Mapper, TopoDOT, Pix4Dmatic, ArcGIS Pro, Civil 3D and Recap, Bentley Open Roads Designer, HyPack/HySweep, Applanix PosPac. You will own recommendations to improve this suite for efficiency and accuracy.

Deliverables include design-scale topographic mapping, transportation corridor mapping, levee/flood mapping, and occasional topo-bathymetric LiDAR tied to in-house hydrographic survey.

What You Bring

• 8+ years producing mappinggrade LiDAR products for design or engineering clients not visualization alone. Additional photogrammetric experience a plus.
• Demonstrated classification, surface modelling, and written accuracy reporting. Additional experience with Python, scripting, batch processing, or other geospatial workflow automation is a plus.
• Experience estimating mapping scopes for government and private clients.
• Comfort working directly with licensed surveyors, pilots, and design engineers. Federal AE or state DOT mapping experience is a plus.
• Bachelor's degree in geomatics, photogrammetry, surveying, geography, or a related field preferred; equivalent production experience accepted.
• ASPRS Certified Mapping ScientistLiDAR (CMSLiDAR) or ASPRS Certified Photogrammetrist (CP) strongly preferred.

How you Align

• People Focused: Professional, respectful, and teamoriented, with a strong work ethic and the ability to collaborate internally and externally.
• Can Do Attitude: Positively engages with challenges, facilitates problemsolving, and takes initiative to deliver solutions.
• Responsive: Communicates openly, proactively, and promptly, with excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Why Prairie

Prairie Engineers is small enough that this role shapes our mapping practice and large enough to pursue substantial, technically complex mapping work. We hold prime surveying and mapping contracts in multiple USACE Districts, prime state DOT and DNR contracts, and have performed mapping work in 37 states and U.S. territories in the last three years with in-house nationwide survey and engineering licensure. In-house transportation, water resources, land survey, hydrographic survey, and geospatial practices generate steady mapping demand.

Prairie Engineers is a certified Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise in multiple states, with documented safety, quality, and cybersecurity programs appropriate for federal and large industry work. This role may sit in any existing office or be fully remote, with periodic travel to project sites and team meetings, and working closely with our field data acquisition and mapping staff.

including 401(k), medical insurance on day one, generous paid time off, professional development, and to find out why employees chose to join our team.

Prairie Engineers is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified individuals will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, genetic information (including family medical history), or any other legally protected status.

We are interested in every qualified candidate who is authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. Please note, however; we are not able to sponsor current or future visas for this position.