Senior Image Processing Engineer (Earth Observation for Hydrology)

About

Based in the heart of Europe’s aerospace valley, you will bridge the gap between raw satellite imagery and actionable hydrological intelligence. As a Senior Engineer, you won't just write code; you will architect the pipelines that monitor global water quality, basin health, and resource availability. Your work directly empowers policymakers to make data-driven decisions in a rapidly changing climate.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Algorithm Design: Prototype and deploy production-level CV and image processing models to extract hydrological features and biophysical parameters from multi-spectral and SAR data.
• Architect Scalable Pipelines: Build and optimize high-throughput EO data chains capable of processing large-scale datasets.
• Software Excellence: Write production-grade, well-documented, and testable Python code following industry best practices.
• Product Validation & Integrity: Lead the validation of EO-derived hydrological products against in-situ station data and gauge networks.
• Technical Leadership: Act as the bridge between Hydrological Science and Software Engineering, mentoring junior staff and setting CI/CD and testing standards.

Background & Experience

• Education: MSc or PhD in Remote Sensing, Signal Processing, Computer Science, or Physics.
• Industry Context: Deep familiarity with the Copernicus Ecosystem (Sentinel-1, 2, and 3).
• Soft Skills: You are a "translator" — able to explain complex radiometric calibration to a Hydrologist and API rate-limiting to a Stakeholder.
• Mindset: You are solution-oriented. You care more about the accuracy of the water-level measurement than the elegance of the math used to get there.

Technical Profile

Requirements

Software

• Expert Python. Proficiency in the scientific stack (NumPy, Xarray, Dask) and production tools (Docker, Git, REST APIs).

Geospatial

• Deep experience with GDAL/OGR, Rasterio, Shapely, and PySTAC.

Science

• Mastery of Atmospheric Correction (specifically for inland waters), Radiometry, and Geometric correction.

Cloud/Big Data

• Experience with distributed processing and OGC standards (WMS, WFS).

Soft Skills

• Analytical Thinking: A methodical approach to debugging complex image-processing issues.
• Effective Communication: Ability to translate complex technical concepts to non-specialist stakeholders and teammates.
• Autonomy: Proactive problem-solving skills with the ability to lead activities in a fast-paced environment.
• Collaboration: A team-oriented mindset, thriving in multidisciplinary environments (data scientists, GIS experts, hydrology, dev-ops).
• Solution-Oriented: Focused on delivering actionable data that solves real-world water scarcity or quality issues.

Bonus Points

• Direct experience with Satellite Altimetry (Sentinel-3, Jason, or the SWOT mission).
• Fluency in French (useful for the Toulouse ecosystem), though English is our working language.
• Contributions to open-source geospatial projects.