Data Engineer (Geospatial & Agricultural Data Platform）

About KGAI4Ag:

Advancing Knowledge-guided AI to Develop Agricultural Digital Twins for Singapore’s Climate Resilience (KGAI4Ag) is a research program of the Illinois Advanced Research Center at Singapore (Illinois ARCS), a research institute funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore under the CREATE program.KGAI4Ag sits within the Southeast Asian Innovation Alliance for a Global Model of Future Agri-Food Systems (SIGMA), a U.S.–Singapore academic research alliance co-led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) to enhance food security, sustain the environment and build resilient communities across Southeast Asia.

KGAI4Ag is developing first-of-its-kind digital twins for ASEAN agroecosystems by advancing knowledge-guided AI (KGAI), which integrates scientific principles with machine learning. The program is organized around three research thrusts:(1) Characterizing Physical Reality, which combines low-cost IoT field sensors, cameras and satellite remote sensing into analysis-ready datasets; (2)Developing Digital Twins, which couples dynamic 4D plant models with biogeochemical modelling through KGAI-based data assimilation at the field scale, and upscales these to the regional scale through a Bridge Model framework; and (3)Decision-Making, which turns digital twin outputs into AI-driven decision support for farm management, food trade, and measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of agricultural carbon outcomes. Field work currently focuses on rice systems in Vietnam and cacao agroforestry in Indonesia.

About This Role:

KGAI4Ag seeks a Data Engineer to build and maintain the project’s data platform, which underpins all three research thrusts. The successful candidate will integrate field, sensor, satellite and model data into analysis-ready databases, support AI and process-model workflows, and develop public web portals and dashboards that present data and digital twin outputs to researchers, partners and the public.

Key Responsibilities:

• Build and maintain scalable databases and pipelines for field, IoT sensor, satellite and model data.

• Design and manage geospatial data stores and orchestrated ETL/ELT workflows that produce analysis-ready datasets.

• Develop APIs, web portals and dashboards that present data and digital twin outputs.

• Support AI and process-model workflows on HPC and cloud infrastructure, including containerization and CI/CD.

• Implement data quality testing and document systems, pipelines and data standards.

• Support researchers across the UIUC, NUS and Singapore-based teams with data access and tooling.

Qualifications and Experience:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, software/data engineering, geoinformatics or a related field.

• At least 3 years’ experience building production data pipelines and databases for large geospatial or scientific datasets and deploying web applications or dashboards.

• Strong skills in Python and SQL.

• Excellent communication and writing skills in English, the working language of the US–Singapore team, publications and reports.

Preferred:

• Experience with PostgreSQL/PostGIS and geospatial data formats (raster and vector).

• Experience with workflow orchestration tools and cloud data platforms.

• Experience with Docker, CI/CD and API development.

• Experience supporting research or scientific computing environments, including HPC.

• Willing to participate in online meetings outside of regular working hours to ensure timely communication and continuity of business, in view of the strategic and affiliated relationship between the Illinois ARCS and the UIUC, as well as the time zone differences between the two locations.

Application Process:

Interested candidates should submit their resume/CV together with a cover letter outlining their qualifications and relevant experience for the position to Gabriel Tan ([email protected]) with the subject line “KGAI4Ag Data Engineer (Geospatial and AgriculturalData Platform) – Singapore”. Please also include the transcripts of undergraduate studies, the names and contact details of three professional referees.

Applications will be considered until the corresponding position has been filled. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.