We hope that you’re interested in joining Element 84 and if so we can’t wait to talk to you - in January 2022.  We’re taking a break from interviewing so that our team can take some down time, either at work or at home taking time off.  Send us your contact information and we look forward to reaching out after the first of the year! 

     Top 5 reasons to work for Element 84:

• Our mission is to change the world
• We are in remote sensing and Earth Science
• We cover 99% of your health benefits
• Inclusion and Diversity are critical to us
• 4.9 rating on Glassdoor

About Element 84 

Element 84 is here to help accelerate and scale projects that have a positive impact on people and the planet. We solve challenging problems across a wide range of industries, but our super power is cloud-based geospatial data processing, remote sensing, and Earth science systems. We were founded by husband-and-wife engineers in 2010 and have grown into a skilled group of practitioners building high-performance systems for the biggest corporate and government clients in the world. Our main office is located in Alexandria, VA but we support a large remote workforce from Michigan to Texas and Pennsylvania to California.

A Few Other Things You Should Know

1. Element 84's values are: We Invest in Each Other, We are Reliable, and Our Work Benefits our World.
2. Element 84 works on meaningful projects that are challenging—from a technical, people, and team perspective. We make an impact on large projects through our leadership and expertise, both formal and informal.
3. Element 84 pays well but we care more about working on projects that matter.
4. Element 84 values life outside of work. We offer parental leave for everyone and support each other through family challenges like medical problems, adoptions, and new babies.
5. Element 84 has had a flexible work schedule since our founding in 2010.
6. Element 84 has made a commitment to diversity. We expect the entire team to share that same commitment. 

About You

You are curious about the world, are constantly learning, driven to lead (formally or informally), and have a strong work ethic. You're interested in solving impactful problems in science, medicine, and other projects that have a societal good. You can work independently or with a team, prioritize your projects, and be effective without micromanagement.

About the Job

Element 84 is hiring a Geospatial Data Scientist/Engineer to join our team in building software that uses the latest cloud-based capabilities and technologies for meaningful projects.  You'll join a small team of multidisciplinary designers and front-end engineers working to solve challenging problems in geospatial, healthcare, disaster response, and transportation. We're a small company with big roles, and you'll be able to make an impact on day one.

This position is to support the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center (http://eros.usgs.gov/), located near Sioux Falls, SD.  Remote applicants welcome!

The successful candidate will become an integral part of the Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC, https://lpdaac.usgs.gov), a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) funded project, located at the USGS EROS Center. The LP DAAC operates as a partnership between the USGS and NASA and is a component of NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Geospatial Data scientists, system engineers, user service representatives, and outreach staff work together to support LP DAAC activities and distribute data to the science user community. The Geospatial Data Scientist will utilize Geographic Information System (GIS) software and scripting techniques against a broad spectrum of remote sensing data to evaluate and provide quality assurance of LP DAAC science data.

The selected candidate will identify and develop practical solutions to science application problems. Additionally, the Geospatial Data Scientist will investigate innovative and emerging technologies and author technical reports and scientific media. If you have a related skillset/background and are interested in an exciting and challenging career in this field, we invite you to apply for this position.

You'll care about writing. Our team is remote and written communication is essential. In addition to caring about a well-crafted email and a succinct conference abstract, you understand that good writing is good design and engineering.

Please submit your information, resume and cover letter if you are interested in this permanent position.  This role can be performed in person in the Sioux Falls, SD area or completely remote with occasional travel to SD and various other corporate events elsewhere in the US.  

Here are the guidelines we're looking at to gauge experience and skillset:

Education:  

• Bachelor’s degree in remote sensing, geography, environmental science or equivalent.
• Master’s degree is preferred.

Experience:  

• 3 years of directly related professional experience.

Responsibilities:

• Participates in research and data evaluation activities as part of a multidisciplinary team which includes task leads, system development teams, communications and outreach, and user services
• Uses GIS software and scripting techniques to analyze the specifications of new products and metadata, determine whether their results are expected and accurate
• Works closely with data providers and science teams, documenting the characteristics of new products and provides relevant to science teams and users, user guides, web content and publications
• Applies scientific methods in research projects and contributes to the writing, editing, and review of publications.
• Evaluate and communicate strategies for routine quality assessment of LP DAAC datasets and products
• Gains and expands product knowledge in conjunction with science teams so that user questions can be adequately addressed and answered
• Authors web content and presentation materials for conferences and workshops as opportunities are available
• Prepares and presents project results and methodology to customers as requested.
• Maintains regular communication with staff, customers, and managers

Required Skills:

• Fundamental understanding of the characteristics and applications of instruments such as LIDAR, MODIS, VIIRS, ASTER and Hyperspectral
• Demonstrable knowledge of GIS techniques, remote sensing principles, and related science applications
• Demonstratable knowledge of processing and analyzing imagery with GIS and remote sensing software packages, such as ArcGIS, ArcGIS Pro, ERDAS, ENVI and QGIS
• Demonstratable knowledge with scripting languages, such as Python and/or R.
• Familiarity with raster and vector data processing techniques
• Familiarity with metadata standards
• Ability to communicate regularly, professionally, and clearly at general, technical and management levels to inform team members, science teams and the science user community
• Strong attention to organization, detail and record keeping
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including effective questioning, listening, and presentation skills
• Self-starter with an ability to multi-task

Desired Skills:

• Demonstrable proficiency with using GDAL for science data transformations and metadata validation
• Ability to write and publish project work in highly visible outlets
• US Citizenship

Candidates must have strong technical abilities, excellent communication skills, and a teamwork emphasis. Candidates must also be able to integrate into a highly-skilled Information Technology Team.

The candidate must be able to obtain and maintain a national agency check and background investigation after hire to obtain a badge for facility access and user accounts.  

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. At this time, Element 84 will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.

Benefits

Paying attention to who we are as a company–people, family members, friends, and colleagues–is our primary focus at Element 84. There are lots of ways to run a company and for us, it's wanting to come to work, being around people we enjoy, taking on big things with people you trust, and sharing our achievements as a team.

• You’ll get credit when things go right and we’ll have your back when things go wrong.
• We only take on work that is challenging and right for us. There are projects we will turn down and the team has a say.
• We may be a small company, but we have big company benefits meant to support the idea that we're here for the long term and happiness comes from much more than where you work. 
• We have an extraordinary retention rate because we hire extraordinary people. We hope that’s you.

Element 84 is an equal opportunity employer, with a company culture that values diversity.

We embrace inclusivity and believe that diversity of thought, perspective, and experience helps us reach higher and think bigger. Element 84 is committed to hiring the best person for the team and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class.

As required by the Colorado Equal Pay Transparency Act, Element 84, Inc. provides a reasonable range of minimum compensation for roles that may be hired in Colorado. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including, but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and specific office location. For the state of Colorado only, the range of starting annual compensation for this role is $75,000.00 - $130,000.00. In addition, Element 84 may pay annual performance bonuses.

Benefits for full time employees include: Health insurance, 401(k), 401(k) company contribution, Dental insurance, Employee assistance program, Flexible schedule, Flexible spending account, Health savings account, Life insurance, Short & Long Term Disability, Paid time off, Referral program, Vision insurance, Paid parental leave after 12 months of employment and Bonuses for key industry certifications (ex: AWS).