Data Manager

NGA MAVEN PROGRAM • EO/SAR DATA OPERATIONS • SENIOR • KEY POSITION

NGA Maven's overhead satellite data pipeline doesn't run itself - it runs because someone with serious technical depth and steady leadership keeps it compliant, accurate, and moving. As the Data Manager, you'll own the pipeline from acquisition through preprocessing, lead the GEOSPI data operations team, and serve as the primary interface between the government and the contractor team executing the mission.

Role Overview

The Data Manager is responsible for oversight of other GEOSPI contractors who manage the pre-processing data pipeline. You'll provide technical and managerial leadership to maintain overhead satellite imagery preprocessing operations, provide technical recommendations, and monitor and support implementation of the data operations pipeline - integrating data acquisition, preprocessing, and data management. You serve as the Government's main communication interface to the GEOSPI team to relay tasks and requirements and ensure successful work execution.

Source-Derived Role Summary

The Data Manager is responsible for oversight of other GEOSPI contractors who manage the pre-processing data pipeline. The Data Manager will provide technical and managerial leadership to maintain overhead satellite imagery preprocessing operations. The Data Manager serves as the Government's main communication interface to the GEOSPI team to relay tasks and requirements and ensure successful work execution.

A Day in the Life

• Review pipeline health and QC flags across all sensor modalities (EO, SAR, FMV, HMI); triage non-compliant datasets and route corrective actions to the right team members
• Sync with government customer to receive tasking, communicate data holdings compliance status, and surface pipeline blockers
• Lead the data operations team: assign work, provide technical guidance on ETL challenges, and keep documentation (data dictionaries, ERDs, software comments) current
• Identify non-compliant datasets - metadata completeness gaps, schema drift, format inconsistencies - and drive corrective action before they impact downstream model development
• Apply engineering best practices to optimize pipeline efficiency and performance; assess and recommend architectural improvements to the cloud-based data infrastructure
• Prepare and deliver written and oral status reports on Maven data holdings compliance to government stakeholders

Why This Role Matters

Mission Impact

NGA Maven's AI/ML models are only as good as the data that feeds them. The pipeline you manage is the foundation - clean, compliant, consistently processed overhead imagery that enables the intelligence products and decision advantage warfighters depend on.

Geo Owl Impact

As a Key Position on this program, you represent Geo Owl's technical credibility at the customer interface. Your leadership directly shapes how the government sees our team's performance.

Your Growth

You'll deepen expertise in cloud-native data pipeline architecture, geospatial data governance, and AI/ML data readiness at scale - while building your leadership track record on a high-visibility national security program.

Core Responsibilities

• Oversee and manage databases and pipelines supporting NGA Maven's satellite data acquisition, curation, and preprocessing - ensuring compliance with all specified requirements and priorities
• Conduct regular QC across the full data pipeline; identify and remediate non-compliant datasets including metadata completeness, accuracy, and schema consistency issues
• Apply engineering best practices to optimize pipeline efficiency and performance across all sensor modalities (EO, FMV, HMI, SAR)
• Lead and develop other GEOSPI data operations team members; provide technical expertise and project management guidance for data creation and management initiatives
• Ensure data dictionaries, Entity Relationship Diagrams (ERDs), and all software documentation are regularly maintained and current
• Manage the end-to-end data operations pipeline: imagery acquisition and ingest, preprocessing and transformation, and bi-directional data movement between platforms
• Assess and report Maven data holdings compliance status through written documentation and oral presentations to government stakeholders

Required Qualifications

• Active TS/SCI clearance
• Minimum 10 experience points required (see experience point calculation below)
• 3+ years of people management experience (team lead, project lead) with a track record of independently driving technical projects to completion
• 4+ years of quantitative analysis experience: data manipulation, ETL procedures, and working knowledge of SQL and NoSQL database technologies; demonstrated experience managing databases and operational data pipelines
• Experience working with cloud architectures
• 2+ years of experience working with large, complex geospatial data files and formats

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Agile/SAFe methodologies
• Experience with NGA enterprise technology systems (NGA enterprise platforms)
• GEOINT Professional Certification - Fundamentals (GPC-F)
• Experience working with AI/ML technologies applied to geospatial data

Experience Point Requirement

This is a Senior-level (Level 4) position requiring a minimum of 10 experience points. Points are calculated as follows:

• Education: Associate's = 2 pts • Bachelor's = 3 pts • Master's = +2 pts • PhD = +3 pts
• Professional / Military Experience: 1 pt per year of relevant experience
• Certifications: 0.5 pts each
• Specialized Training: 0.25 pts per relevant course
• Professional Impact (publications, presentations, patents): up to 3 pts total

Tools, Technologies & Tradecraft

SQL NoSQL ETL Pipelines Cloud Architecture EO/SAR Data Data Visualization NGA Enterprise Platforms [Preferred] NGA Enterprise Platforms [Preferred] Agile/SAFe [Preferred]

What Makes Someone Successful in This Role

• You lead with technical authority - your team trusts your judgment and the government trusts your word
• You're a systems thinker who sees how acquisition, preprocessing, and data management integrate - and proactively closes the gaps
• You communicate with precision: you can brief a government PM and debug a pipeline schema in the same afternoon
• You hold the line on data standards - compliance is a discipline, not a bottleneck
• You're calm under operational pressure and decisive when the pipeline needs rapid corrective action

Is This Role For You?
• Great Fit

You thrive at the intersection of technical depth and people leadership. You have a track record of owning complex data pipelines end-to-end, managing geospatially-focused teams, and building trusted relationships with government customers. High standards and operational accountability energize you.

✘ May Not Be For You

This may not be the right fit if you prefer individual contributor work without customer-facing or team leadership responsibility, or if cross-functional coordination and government reporting feel like distractions rather than core to the job.

Career Growth & Professional Value

This role builds leadership equity on one of the most technically demanding geospatial AI programs in the intelligence community. You'll deepen expertise in cloud-native data pipeline architecture, geospatial data governance, and AI/ML data readiness - while establishing your reputation as a trusted technical leader at the customer interface. Managing data operations at this scale and sensitivity is a significant career differentiator in the GEOINT and national security space.

Benefits:

Health Insurance (Geo Owl pays 80%+ of the premium).

401k matching.

Dental, Vision, and other supplemental insurance plans available.

Company-paid short-term and long-term disability and life insurance.

Peer-to-Peer spot bonuses.

120 hours of PTO per year plus federal holidays.

Fully Paid Military Leave: *You make your full Geo Owl salary while you are on military duty*

Exiting the Military? Apply to our Military Transition Program for key insights into making the transition to civilian life from people who have been there before!

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