Principal Data Engineer - Geospatial Platforms
Palo Alto, California
Engineering – Platform Engineering /
Full Time /
Hybrid
About AiDash
AiDash is making critical infrastructure industries climate-resilient and sustainable with satellites and AI. Using our full-stack SaaS solutions, customers in electric, gas, water utilities, transportation, and construction are transforming asset inspection and maintenance - and complying with biodiversity net gain mandates and carbon capture goals. Our customers deliver ROI in their first year of deployment with reduced costs, improved reliability, and achieved sustainability goals. Learn more at www.aidash.com
We are a Series C climate tech startup backed by leading investors (including National Grid Partners, G2 Venture Partners, Lightrock, BGV, Marubeni, among others), and by our customers-turned-advocates (Duke Energy & National Grid Partners, among others)! We have been recognized by Forbes two years in a row as one of “America’s Best Startup Employers”. We are also proud to be one of the few climate software companies in Time Magazine’s “America’s Top GreenTech Companies2024”.
Join us in creating a greener, cleaner, and safer planet from space!
The Role:
The Platform Team at AiDash is responsible for building and managing the data pipelines that ingest, clean, and transform vast amounts of satellite imagery and enterprise data. As a Principal Data Engineer for Geospatial Platforms, you will take a hands-on role in building, optimizing, and scaling our data pipelines and models. You’ll work closely with Data Science and Engineering teams to implement solutions for complex business challenges while ensuring our data infrastructure is robust, efficient, and scalable. Your deep technical expertise and problem-solving skills will directly influence how we manage data at scale.
How you'll make an impact:
- Design and Build Scalable Platforms: Design and implement scalable platforms to manage large-scale geospatial data, including satellite imagery, LiDAR, weather data, and enterprise datasets
- Optimize Data Management: Ensure efficient ingestion, storage, and processing of diverse data types, supporting both operational workflows and analytical needs
- Ensure Data Quality and Integrity: Implement validation, cleaning, deduplication, and quality control measures to maintain high data integrity across all datasets
- Propose Big Data Solutions: Architect solutions for hosting and processing imagery, LiDAR, and vector data, leveraging cloud or hybrid environments.
- Collaborate Across Teams: Partner with data scientists, analysts, and stakeholders to align platforms with business objectives, enabling data-driven insights and decisions
- Lead Cross-Functional Optimization Initiatives: Drive efforts to enhance code efficiency, runtime performance, and resource utilization, while continuously scaling system architecture
- Stay Ahead of Industry Trends:Monitor emerging technologies, tools, and best practices, recommending improvements to enhance data infrastructure
- Provide Technical Leadership: Offer guidance to product engineers in building scalable, reliable systems that support current and future data demands
What we're looking for:
- Minimum of 12 years of overall professional experience, including at least 5 years in data engineering, with a proven track record of designing, building, and operating large-scale data systems
- Experience in building platforms for storing and processing large volumes of geospatial data – including satellite and LiDAR images
- Hands-on experience in designing and implementing image processing systems, along with performing complex operations on geospatial data
- Experience in building and maintaining modern data pipelines in cloud or hybrid environments
- Strong experience with big data technologies (e.g., Hadoop, Spark), database systems (e.g., SQL, NoSQL), geospatial toolkits and ETL tools
- Strong experience with modern data cataloging and warehousing technologies (e.g., Iceberg, Spark, Athena, Sedona).
- Expertise in at least one programming language, such as Scala, Java, or Python
- Deep understanding of data modeling, data warehousing solutions, and data architecture strategies for both transactional and analytical systems
- Experience with cloud services (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), and a solid understanding of the data pipeline tools and services available on these platforms
- Exceptional problem-solving, analytical, communication, and teamwork skills
- Leadership experience with the ability to collaborate effectively across teams to achieve company objectives
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field
What you'll love:
- Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage: 100% coverage for employees and 80% for their spouses and children
- Health Reimbursement Account (HRA): 100% funded by AiDash to cover medical deductibles
- 401(k) Plan: Begin contributing after three months of employment to prepare for your future. Currently, no company match is offered
- Parental Leave: Supportive parental leave with 16 weeks for primary caregivers and 4 weeks for secondary caregivers
- Generous Vacation Policy: Accrue 20 vacation days per year, plus enjoy your Birthday off!
Position Location: This position is available in Palo Alto, CA. We operate as a hybrid company, with twice a week in-office days in our Palo Alto, CA office location.
We are proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. We are committed to embracing diversity and inclusion in our hiring practices, and we promote a work environment where everyone, from any race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, can do their best work.
We offer a competitive base pay range for this full-time position, which is between $180,000 and $230,000 per year. This range reflects the anticipated base salary for new hires. We strive to ensure our compensation packages are equitable and aligned with industry standards. Your recruiter can share more about compensation during the hiring process.
We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible interview experience for all candidates. Please let us know if you require any accommodation during the interview process, and we will make every effort to meet your needs.
