Geospatial Solutions Architect

McLean, VA

In support of a critical mission application, Freedom Technology Solutions Group is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Solutions Architect to design, implement, and sustain complex geospatial systems. This role is central to shaping and evolving the geospatial infrastructure, ensuring reliable data flow, and enabling mission objectives in secure operational environments.

This is a hands-on architecture role requiring both technical leadership and direct engagement with Linux systems, cloud infrastructure, and geospatial processing platforms. The ideal candidate brings strong experience in Linux administration, AWS cloud services (EC2, VPC, IAM, S3, Lambda, CloudWatch, RDS, and related technologies), geospatial data processing, and enterprise system administration, along with familiarity with government data standards and security requirements.

The position directly supports mission-critical geospatial processing and dissemination capabilities operating across on-premises data centers and AWS cloud environments. These platforms process and manage large volumes of imagery and metadata and demand high levels of availability, performance, and security.

Work is performed within secure government environments supporting operational mission systems. A mission-first mindset and commitment to operational excellence are highly valued and recognized.

Architecture & Platform Design

Architect, design, and deploy Linux-based infrastructure across on-premises, virtualized, containerized, and AWS cloud environments (VMware vSphere, KVM/QEMU, EC2, ECS, EKS). Ensure compatibility with evolving Linux distributions and hardened mission images while supporting automated provisioning, lifecycle management, and secure configuration of VM and container workloads. Lead cloud modernization efforts including migration, automation, performance optimization, and security hardening.

Develop, define, and document system and application architecture that optimizes the system for improved data throughput, cost efficiency, operational insight, development environments, system support, and long-term maintainability. Propose a strategy to transition from existing systems to optimized architectures and workflows aligned with organizational goals. These recommendations shall include:

• IT infrastructure to support geospatial data processing systems
• GIS environment and business intelligence integration
• Processing and storage environments for data ingestion, processing, and delivery through geospatial web services

Environment Assessment & Collaboration

Collaborate with existing project teams to:

• Understand and document existing geospatial data, metadata, workflows, and code
• Document requirements for data management and security
• Assess current IT infrastructure and platform dependencies
• Recommend short-term improvements to increase data throughput, integrity, and operational reliability, and assist with implementation

Operations, Automation & Lifecycle Management

• Lead the implementation and maintenance of medium- to large-scale government data warehouses and digital archive management systems.
• Drive automation of system provisioning, configuration, and deployment using infrastructure-as-code and configuration-management approaches. (Ansible, Terraform, CloudFormation etc.)

Develop and implement solutions adhering to Agency facility, compute, storage, and network policies and strategies.

Implement and maintain Interface Control Documents (ICDs) to support interconnection of government systems.

Monitor and report on metrics, performance, system health, and availability of large-scale, mission-critical storage and processing systems.

Administer enterprise virtualization and container platforms, including provisioning, patching, performance tuning, and lifecycle management of Linux systems in vSphere, KVM/QEMU, AWS EC2, and orchestrated container environments. Maintain golden images and automated deployment pipelines.

Operational Support

Provide escalation-level technical support for users in medium- to large-scale data center environments. Assist in diagnosing complex system issues, coordinating resolution across teams, and improving operational processes to reduce recurring incidents.

Core Platform & Infrastructure

• Extensive experience deploying and operating Apache Web Server and Linux-based web application stacks, including reverse proxy, SSL termination, routing, load balancing, and high-availability configurations for geospatial services
• Hands-on experience managing AWS compute resources, including EC2 lifecycle management, AMI creation, and workload optimization across VM and container platforms (ECS/EKS)
• Experience administering enterprise storage solutions, including NAS/SAN platforms such as NetApp, covering provisioning, snapshots, replication, mirroring, performance monitoring, and capacity planning
• Install, deploy, and maintain firewalls, switches, and routers
• Proficiency in RedHat Linux environments and Microsoft Windows Server administration, including identity management such as FreeIPA
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office Suite and Microsoft Internet Information Services

Databases, Applications & Services

• Experience with PostgreSQL/PostGIS databases (DML required; DDL a plus)
• Experience with OMAR and/or OSSIM software a plus
• Expertise in OGC Web Services (WMS, WFS, WCS)
• Experience with Google Earth Client and Electronic Light Table applications (e.g., Remote View, SOCETGxP)

Geospatial Data & Processing Technologies

• Demonstrated expertise in geospatial data standards including NITF (2.0+), JPEG, GeoTIFF, Digital Raster Graphics, Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED), and Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM)
• Proficiency in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) principles and applications
• Experience processing large geospatial imagery datasets, including transformation, tiling, and thumbnail generation using GDAL or comparable geospatial libraries
• Familiarity with various geospatial data feeds (specific feeds redacted)
• Experience with MPEG and MPEG-TS formats a plus
• User interface development experience (HTML, HTML5, or modern UI frameworks) a plus

System Administration & Security

• Manage storage maintenance and capacity planning
• Troubleshoot hardware and software issues across Linux, Windows, and cloud platforms
• Develop scripts using WSH, Linux shell, or other scripting languages
• Administer and manage audit logs for security and compliance
• Maintain and enhance system security controls and configurations

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in geospatial solutions architecture or a related technical leadership role
• Strong understanding of government data management practices and security protocols
• Ability to work effectively in collaborative government/contractor environments supporting operational mission systems
• TS/SCI clearance required

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a relevant field
• Experience working within the Intelligence Community
• Experience with automation and configuration management tools
• Relevant certifications (e.g., RHCSA, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Esri Enterprise System Design Certification)
• Advanced troubleshooting skills including log analysis, performance tuning, and root cause identification
• Strong understanding of hardware platforms, virtualization, networking (TCP/IP, DNS, VPN), and storage technologies
• Proficiency in scripting languages such as Bash, Python, or PowerShell
• Deep understanding of Linux system behavior in virtualized and containerized environments, including kernel tuning, filesystem performance, and resource isolation
• Advanced experience with geospatial image processing workflows (GDAL, ImageMagick, or similar), including reprojection, raster optimization, and automated thumbnail generation at scale