Freelance Geospatial Data Engineer Jobs in Kentucky

About Code Metal

Code Metal is redefining code translation for mission-critical industries, helping defense partners move more quickly and reliably from algorithm to silicon. Our platform accelerates deployment of DSP, RF, communications, and embedded signal processing algorithms onto heterogeneous compute targets, including GPUs, FPGAs, ASICs, and edge SoCs. We also support automotive, aerospace, and semiconductor partners deploying complex algorithms onto constrained hardware with speed and rigor.

About the Role

Code Metal is looking for a Senior Engineering Manager to lead our Modeling & Simulation organization.

This is a role for an engineering leader who can build and run a high-performing 10 to 30 person technical organization. You will lead engineers building scalable simulation, evaluation, data, and decision-support systems used to test complex algorithms, model operational environments, and support high-consequence decisions.

The ideal candidate has managed strong software teams before, has a high bar for engineering quality, and knows how to turn ambiguous technical goals into durable systems, clear execution plans, and healthy teams. Experience in simulation, autonomy, robotics, logistics, planning, geospatial systems, or defense is helpful, but the core need is engineering leadership: architecture, execution, quality, hiring, coaching, and operational rigor.

This role is equal parts people leadership, technical judgment, and delivery ownership. You will set direction, grow the team, establish engineering standards, and work closely with product, AI, systems, and customer-facing teams to build platforms that scale.

What You’ll OwnEngineering Leadership

• Lead and scale a Modeling & Simulation engineering organization of roughly 10 to 30 engineers across backend, data, simulation, infrastructure, and frontend/platform surfaces.

• Set the technical direction for simulation infrastructure, scenario systems, data models, evaluation pipelines, and decision-support workflows.

• Create a strong engineering culture around code quality, clear ownership, system design, testing, observability, documentation, and pragmatic execution.

• Raise the bar for architecture and implementation quality while keeping the team focused on shipping useful systems.

• Help the team make the right long‑term technical investments without losing urgency or customer focus.

Execution and Delivery

• Convert ambiguous customer, product, and research needs into executable engineering plans.

• Own delivery across multiple workstreams, balancing speed, quality, technical debt, and long‑term platform leverage.

• Build lightweight but effective operating rhythms for planning, reviews, prioritization, incident response, and cross‑team coordination.

• Partner with product, AI, systems engineering, design, and customer-facing teams to deliver integrated capabilities.

• Identify execution risks early and create clarity around tradeoffs, sequencing, and staffing.

Engineering Quality and Systems

• Establish and enforce strong software engineering practices across reviews, testing, CI/CD, schema management, migrations, observability, and release hygiene.

• Drive better abstractions across simulation services, data pipelines, APIs, persistence layers, and user‑facing workflows.

• Improve reliability, scalability, and maintainability of systems used for large‑scale simulation, evaluation, and analysis.

• Ensure the team can reason carefully about domain logic, edge cases, data correctness, and how operational rules map into software.

• Build systems that are durable enough for serious users, not just demos.

People and Organization

• Manage, mentor, and develop a team of engineers, including senior ICs and potential team leads or managers.

• Recruit and close strong engineering talent from high‑performing software, autonomy, simulation, data infrastructure, and platform teams.

• Build a strong technical bench and create clear growth paths for engineers.

• Run effective performance management, feedback, career development, and team health processes.

• Create an environment where strong engineers can do their best work without excessive process or ambiguity.

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of software engineering experience and 3+ years of engineering management experience.

• Experience managing teams of 8+ engineers, with a path toward leading a 10 to 30 person organization.

• Strong software engineering foundation across backend systems, distributed systems, data systems, infrastructure, or full‑stack product/platform development.

• Demonstrated ability to set technical direction, make architecture decisions, and guide teams through complex implementation work.

• Strong track record building engineering cultures with high standards for code quality, testing, reliability, and maintainability.

• Experience partnering across product, design, research, data, systems engineering, or customer‑facing teams.

• Ability to operate in ambiguous environments and turn loosely defined goals into concrete execution plans.

• Strong communication skills with engineers, executives, customers, and cross‑functional stakeholders.

• Comfort reviewing technical designs, asking good questions, identifying risks, and helping teams make better tradeoffs.

Technical Depth We Value

• Experience with Python, C++, TypeScript, or similar production languages.

• Experience with relational databases such as PostgreSQL, including schema design, constraints, query performance, and migrations.

• Strong understanding of APIs, typed contracts, service boundaries, data models, and versioned interfaces.

• Experience with data ingestion, transformation, normalization, lineage, or evaluation pipelines.

• Familiarity with distributed systems, event‑driven architectures, workflow systems, or large‑scale compute infrastructure.

• Experience building platforms used by other engineers, analysts, operators, researchers, or technical customers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in simulation, autonomy, robotics, mapping, logistics, planning, geospatial systems, infrastructure, or decision‑support platforms.

• Experience from companies or teams with strong engineering cultures such as Uber, Waymo, Cruise, Zoox, Aurora, Anduril, Palantir, Stripe, Databricks, Snowflake, SpaceX, Applied Intuition, NVIDIA, or similar.

• Experience building simulation or evaluation systems for autonomous vehicles, robotics, operational planning, gaming, digital twins, or large‑scale system testing.

• Familiarity with PostGIS, geospatial data, event sourcing, provenance, versioned datasets, or replay systems.

• Experience with API schema design and typed contracts such as Pydantic, JSON Schema, protobuf, GraphQL, or OpenAPI.

• Experience working with government, defense, aerospace, or other high‑consequence customers.

• Familiarity with SBIRs, OTAs, direct government programs, classified environments, or security‑sensitive deployments is helpful but not required.

Target Backgrounds

Strong candidates may come from simulation infrastructure, autonomy, robotics, logistics optimization, geospatial platforms, data infrastructure, developer platforms, payments infrastructure, or large‑scale product engineering teams.

We are especially interested in managers who have led teams building complex systems where correctness, reliability, and operational maturity matter. Relevant backgrounds include Uber marketplace or autonomy‑adjacent infrastructure, Waymo or other AV simulation and evaluation teams, Stripe infrastructure or platform teams, Palantir ontology or operational application teams, Databricks or Snowflake data systems, Applied Intuition simulation, Anduril autonomy, robotics companies, mapping platforms, and serious infrastructure teams inside large technology companies.

Benefits

• Pay depends on experience, but we strive to be at the upper end of the salary range

• Health care plan with 100% premium coverage, including medical, dental, and vision

• 401k with 5% matching

• Paid Time Off (uncapped vacation, plus sick and public holidays)

• Flexible hybrid or remote work arrangement

• Relocation assistance for qualifying employees

Wage Transparency - The salary range for this role is not a guarantee of compensation or salary, as the final offer amount may vary based on factors including, but not limited to, individual proficiency, skills, experience, and location.

We are an equal opportunity employer. US Citizenship may be required for certain project assignments involving security clearance.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.