Senior Frontend Geospatial Developer

Role & responsibilities

About the Company:

Our German startup client from Munich is a nature-based solutions project developer building advanced data services that combine satellite imagery, field data, and on-the-ground operations. Their work supports sustainability projects in carbon credits, ecotourism, and green supply chains.

Role Overview & Mission:

We are seeking a Senior Frontend Geospatial Developer for a freelance engagement (on contract basis). The role focuses on designing and developing interactive web dashboards for visualization and analysis of large-scale geospatial and multimedia datasets. The project also includes building an AI-powered chatbot using Google Gemini and a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipeline.

You'll collaborate with the clients data science and backend teams to transform massive spatial data into intuitive, real-time visual experiences.

Key Responsibilities:

• Architect and implement React-based dashboards for large geospatial datasets
• Integrate interactive maps and data layers using or similar libraries
• Build a story map-style web app that combines multimedia content with maps
• Develop a prototype chatbot using Google Gemini and RAG architecture
• Advise on cloud architecture and best practices for GCP-based deployments
• Create documentation for architecture and roadmap recommendations

Key Deliverables:

Phase 1: Large-Scale Dashboard

• Build a React-based geospatial interface for interactive client data visualization
• Provide a technical document advising on GCP architecture and data handling

Phase 2: Storytelling and AI Integration

• Develop a linear story map dashboard combining media and map layers
• Implement chatbot integration prototype with RAG support

Phase 3: Long-Term Strategy Consultation

• Design a roadmap for handling multimedia data (videos, images, IoT feeds)
• Support functional testing and refinement of dashboard features

Candidate Requirements:

Essential Skills:

• Expert proficiency in React
• Proven experience with or equivalent libraries
• Hands-on experience visualizing very large geospatial vector datasets
• Proficiency in creating and serving raster tiles
• Knowledge of formats like Geoparquet and DuckDB for in-browser analytics
• GCP fundamentals with strong understanding of front-endcloud interactions
• Familiarity with Google Gemini APIs and chat-based geospatial data integration

Desirable Skills:

• Advanced knowledge of BigQuery, service accounts, secret management
• Experience with formats like Zarr
• Prior work creating "story map"-style data narratives
• Multimedia data integration (geo + image/audio/video)
• Experience with IoT or field data collection platforms (e.g., OpenForis)

Soft Skills:

• Excellent communication and adaptability
• Proactive and autonomous work style suitable for startup environments

Ideal Candidate Profile (Skills & Experience)

Primary Hiring Criteria: A portfolio with demonstrable, hands-on examples of building interactive web dashboards that handle large-scale geospatial data is the most important evaluation factor.

Technical Skills (Must-Haves):

Expert-level proficiency in React

Deep experience with a high-performance web-mapping library, with a strong preference for

Proven experience visualizing very large vector datasets (millions of features) efficiently in the browser.

Proven experience creating and serving raster tiles.

Experience with modern, efficient geospatial formats like Geoparquet and in-browser databases like DuckDB.

Foundational knowledge of Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and an understanding of how front-end applications interact with cloud services.

Ability to understand and interact with a backend built on Python and Google Earth Engine.

Knowledge of Google Gemini for retrieval, function calling, and geospatial integrations into dashboards.

Technical Skills (Nice-to-Haves):

Advanced knowledge of GCP services, including BigQuery, service accounts, secret management, and general security best practices.

Experience with emerging formats like Zarr

Specific experience building "story map" style applications, or geospatial storytelling/presentation experience

Past work involving the integration of geospatial data with other multimedia formats (video, audio, images).

Experience with ground collection smartphone apps and IoT devices, with preference for OpenForis or similar devices like game cameras.

Soft Skills / Working Style:

We are a start-up, so we appreciate clear communication and flexibility