Geospatial Subject Matter Expert (Geo SME)
Location: Suitland, MD (Hybrid)
Labor Category: Systems Engineer - SME (GeoTAM)
Position Type: Key Personnel
About Essnova Solutions
Essnova Solutions, Inc. is a technology and professional services company supporting federal government customers across complex IT, engineering, data, cybersecurity, and mission-support environments. We partner with government organizations to deliver innovative, scalable solutions that modernize critical systems, strengthen operations, and support mission success.
Essnova is seeking an experienced Geospatial Subject Matter Expert (Geo SME) to support the U.S. Census Bureau’s Geospatial Transformation and Application Modernization (GeoTAM) initiatives.
Position Overview
The Geospatial SME will serve as a senior geospatial authority providing strategic and technical leadership across geospatial architecture, MAF/TIGER modernization, address and geographic data management, geospatial application modernization, systems engineering, and geospatial operations.
This position will support geospatial capabilities critical to the Decennial Census, American Community Survey (ACS), and other Census Bureau programs. The Geo SME will collaborate with program leadership, architects, developers, data scientists, technical teams, and government stakeholders to support successful execution of Census geospatial modernization efforts.
Primary Responsibilities
- Provide subject matter expertise for Census geospatial programs, including MAF/TIGER, address data management, geocoding, boundary management, and spatial data integration.
- Guide modernization of geospatial applications and services using cloud-native and open-source technologies.
- Support the development and execution of geospatial architecture, engineering, and modernization roadmaps.
- Advise on enterprise geospatial data governance, topology management, data quality, and data standards.
- Lead requirements analysis and systems engineering activities for geospatial systems and applications.
- Support integration of geospatial data with Census operational and statistical programs.
- Provide technical leadership for GIS, spatial databases, geospatial analytics, and geospatial application development initiatives.
- Participate in architecture reviews, solution design, risk management, modernization planning, and stakeholder engagements.
- Support geospatial data management involving large, national-scale databases containing addresses, roads, boundaries, cartographic features, and geographic reference data.
- Mentor technical teams and provide guidance on industry best practices, Census standards, and emerging geospatial technologies.
Requirements
Required Qualifications
- Minimum 15 years of experience supporting large-scale federal geospatial, GIS, or geographic information programs.
- Demonstrated expertise in geospatial systems engineering, GIS architecture, geospatial databases, and spatial data management.
- Experience supporting national-scale geospatial datasets involving addresses, boundaries, roads, and geographic reference layers.
- Experience with technologies such as:
- Esri ArcGIS Enterprise
- ArcGIS Pro
- Enterprise geodatabases
- Oracle Spatial
- PostgreSQL/PostGIS
- Comparable enterprise geospatial technologies
- Experience leading geospatial modernization, cloud migration, or application transformation initiatives.
- Experience supporting multidisciplinary teams within federal IT environments.
- Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
Highly Desired Experience
Direct Decennial Census Program experience, particularly supporting one or more of the following:
- 2010 Census
- 2020 Census
- 2030 Census preparations
- Decennial operational systems
- MAF/TIGER modernization
- Address canvassing
- Geographic support systems
- Field operations support
- Geocoding and geographic processing activities
Desired Census Bureau Experience
Experience supporting U.S. Census Bureau programs or organizations such as:
- MAF/TIGER
- Geography Division programs
- American Community Survey (ACS)
- Economic Census
- Demographic Surveys
- Geographic Partnership Programs
- Geographic Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS)
Additional Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with topology data models and address standardization.
- Experience supporting federal geospatial modernization programs.
- Experience with geospatial data governance and data-quality initiatives.
- GISP, Esri, cloud, or systems engineering certifications.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Essnova Solutions, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Essnova is committed to providing equal employment opportunities and fostering an inclusive workplace for all employees and applicants.

