Summary (Role Overview):

AquaGuard Technologies is seeking an Applied EO/AI Engineer (AI/ML + Geospatial Analysis) to help develop our Trident GEOINT platform — a dual-use maritime and environmental intelligence system that fuses satellite, aerial and AI analytics.

The platform focuses on automated detection and classification of ADVs (Abandoned, Derelict Vessels) and SUSVs / MUSVs (Small / Medium Uninhabited Surface Vessels), and on identifying maritime anomalies that are hard to detect with conventional systems. These targets can present both environmental and security risks, including smuggling, illegal fishing, espionage, human trafficking, illegal dumping, and the potential weaponisation of uncrewed craft.

Success in this role means building robust ML workflows and data pipelines that improve detection accuracy and provide actionable, responsibly governed situational awareness for environmental agencies and authorised maritime security users.

Key Responsibilities:

• Acquire, preprocess, and analyse multi-source EO data (SAR, optical, and aerial) to support vessel and anomaly detection.
• Design and automate scalable data pipelines for ingestion, transformation, and versioned storage.
• Develop, train, and optimise deep-learning models for detection and classification of ADVs, SUSVs/MUSVs, and related maritime anomalies.
• Implement and monitor evaluation metrics (precision, recall, F1-score, confidence thresholds) to ensure detection reliability.
• Contribute to threat pattern and risk characterisation, differentiating environmental targets (e.g. derelict vessels) from potential security-related anomalies.
• Curate and manage datasets using DVC/GitHub for reproducible ML workflows.
• Integrate models into cloud-based systems (AWS, GCP) for near-real-time processing and inference.
• Collaborate with software and GIS engineers to integrate detection outputs into the Trident GEOINT SaaS platform.
• Prepare concise technical documentation, validation reports, and visualisations for internal reviews and project milestones.

Qualifications & Experience:

• MSc or PhD in Geoinformatics, Computer Vision, Data Science, or related field.
• Demonstrated programming experience in Python, including libraries such as GDAL, NumPy, TensorFlow, PyTorch, and OpenCV.
• Proven experience working with EO data sources (Sentinel-1/2, Maxar, ICEYE, PlanetScope, or similar).
• Familiarity with SAR and optical image analysis, including change detection and anomaly detection methods.
• Knowledge of computer vision and object detection applied to maritime, environmental, or surveillance domains.
• Experience with cloud computing (AWS/GCP) and containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes) preferred.
• Practical understanding of data governance, privacy, and responsible AI in dual-use or sensitive applications.
• Familiarity with data versioning and workflow management tools (DVC, GitHub).
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Self-motivated, curious, and comfortable working independently in a remote, high-impact start-up environment.
• Passionate about leveraging AI and EO to address real-world challenges at the intersection of sustainability and security.