Position: Practice Lead, GIS & Geomatics
Technical leadership of PRI's GIS & Geomatics practice
Location: Kelowna, Vancouver, or Surrey, BC
Reports To: Chief Technology Officer
Full-time · Senior leadership
About the opportunity
PRI is seeking an experienced Practice Lead to provide technical leadership for our GIS & Geomatics practice. This is a senior leadership role for a seasoned geospatial professional who is energized by raising the technical bar, mentoring the next generation of practitioners, and building a practice known for the quality, accuracy, and innovation of its work.
As Practice Lead, GIS & Geomatics, you will own the technical excellence, quality, and capability of our geospatial disciplines — GIS and spatial analysis, remote sensing and photogrammetry, UAV and reality capture, and geospatial data management and delivery. You will be the senior technical authority the team turns to on complex projects, the mentor who develops emerging practitioners into confident professionals, and the standard-bearer who ensures every deliverable is accurate, defensible, and delivered to standard. You will work in close partnership with our commercial leaders, who own client relationships and business growth, so that you can focus your energy where it matters most: the quality of the data and the strength of the team.
PRI's GIS & Geomatics team supports every part of our multidisciplinary firm — from geotechnical, civil, environmental, and natural sciences to transportation and infrastructure — and partners with municipalities, provincial and federal agencies, Indigenous communities, developers, utilities, and private-sector clients across Canada. The practice delivers spatial analysis, mapping and cartography, remote sensing and imagery analysis, LiDAR and point-cloud processing, UAV data capture, 3D modelling and digital delivery, and geospatial data management.
How this role works at PRI
PRI operates through a matrix of technical practices and commercial sectors. Practice Leads own the technical axis: technical excellence, quality management, discipline capability, staffing, and people development. Commercial sector leaders own client relationships, pursuits, and business growth. This structure means our Practice Leads can concentrate on what drew them to the profession in the first place — excellent work and strong teams — while being genuinely supported on the commercial side. As Practice Lead, you'll be a senior technical resource on major pursuits and client relationships, but you won't carry sales targets or sole commercial accountability.
What you'll own
Technical leadership and quality
- Serve as the senior technical authority for the GIS & Geomatics practice, providing expert oversight on complex projects, technically challenging assignments, and demanding accuracy or data-quality requirements.
- Provide senior technical review and sign-off on GIS analyses and models, cartographic products, remote sensing and imagery deliverables, LiDAR and point-cloud products, UAV survey outputs, 3D models, and geospatial datasets.
- Ensure all deliverables meet PRI's quality standards, positional accuracy requirements, metadata and data-integrity standards, and applicable client and regulatory specifications.
- Own and continuously improve the practice's technical standards, data standards, workflows, coordinate systems and datum management, and quality-control processes.
- Establish and lead consistent technical review and QA/QC processes at key project milestones, working alongside Project Managers who own project delivery.
Discipline capability and resourcing
- Own the technical capability of the practice — the software, platforms, skills, and methods the team needs to deliver excellent work now and as the practice grows (including the Esri/ArcGIS environment, remote sensing and photogrammetry toolsets, and UAV programs).
- Maintain labour forecasts, utilization targets, and workload planning to ensure the right technical resources are available across offices, in coordination with commercial sector leaders and Project Managers.
- Coordinate geospatial resources across multidisciplinary teams, partner firms, and subconsultants to staff projects for success — and act as the geospatial backbone that supports PRI's other practices.
- Lead regular practice meetings that build technical community, share knowledge, and maintain alignment across offices.
- Advise on geospatial software licensing, platform strategy, and infrastructure (including cloud and hosting considerations) in partnership with IT and the CTO.
People and team development
- Mentor, coach, and develop GIS analysts, geomatics technologists, remote sensing specialists, and UAV operators across multiple offices and specializations.
- Support recruitment and hiring of technical staff for the practice, and lead succession planning for key technical roles.
- Identify training needs and contribute to internal technical training and professional development programs.
- Support professional development toward designations, certifications, and credentials for emerging professionals in the practice.
- Foster a collaborative, accountable, high-performing team culture aligned with PRI's values.
Technical support to business development
- Serve as the senior technical resource on major pursuits and proposals, providing technical strategy, credibility, and content that helps win work.
- Support strong client relationships as a trusted technical advisor, working alongside the commercial leaders who own the client relationship and the pursuit.
- Identify emerging geospatial service opportunities and capability gaps, and advise leadership on where the practice should invest to grow.
- Contribute to thought leadership and marketing that showcases PRI's geospatial expertise and multidisciplinary capabilities.
Innovation and continuous improvement
- Champion the adoption of new methods, tools, and technologies — including AI and machine-learning approaches to spatial analysis, feature extraction, and imagery classification — that improve the quality, efficiency, and value of the practice's work.
- Advance the practice's automation and digital-delivery capabilities, from scripted geoprocessing workflows to web mapping, dashboards, and 3D/digital-twin delivery.
- Stay current with evolving geospatial technology, platforms, sensors, and industry best practices, and bring that knowledge back into the practice.
Who we're looking for
We are looking for a geospatial leader who combines deep technical expertise, a genuine passion for developing people, and the judgment that comes from years of practice. You care about the accuracy of the data and the growth of the team, and you find real satisfaction in raising the standard of both.
Required qualifications
- Diploma or degree in Geomatics, Geographic Information Systems, Geography, Remote Sensing, Geospatial Engineering, or a related discipline. Advanced credentials an asset.
- Minimum 10 years of GIS/geomatics experience, with progressively increasing technical responsibility.
- Minimum 5 years of technical leadership or team leadership experience, including mentoring, technical review, resource planning, or practice development.
- Deep expertise in the Esri/ArcGIS platform (ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Enterprise/Online), spatial databases, and geospatial data management.
- Strong working knowledge of one or more of: remote sensing and imagery analysis, photogrammetry and LiDAR/point-cloud processing, UAV data capture and processing, and 3D modelling / digital delivery.
- Solid understanding of coordinate systems, datums, projections, positional accuracy, and geospatial data quality and metadata standards.
- Demonstrated experience leading technical teams and providing senior review across multiple concurrent projects.
- Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex geospatial concepts for varied audiences.
- Proven leadership, sound professional judgment, and a genuine commitment to technical excellence and client service.
Preferred qualifications
- Professional designation or certification such as GISP, CET/AScT, P.Eng./P.Geo. (geomatics), or equivalent.
- Experience supporting multidisciplinary infrastructure, municipal, transportation, environmental, natural resource, or land development projects.
- Programming or automation skills relevant to geospatial workflows (e.g., Python, ArcPy, SQL, FME) and web mapping / application development.
- Familiarity with survey principles and coordination with licensed survey professionals.
- Experience applying AI/machine learning to geospatial problems such as feature extraction, land-cover classification, or change detection.
- Experience working collaboratively with Indigenous communities and supporting Indigenous engagement and data-sovereignty initiatives.
- Experience developing quality management systems, technical standards, and internal training programs.
- Valid UAV/RPAS pilot certification (Transport Canada) is considered an asset.
Why PRI
At PRI, we believe exceptional consulting begins with exceptional people. We empower our technical leaders with meaningful responsibility, the support to succeed, and the opportunity to shape the future of their practice — without asking them to carry sales quotas at the expense of the work they love.
As Practice Lead, GIS & Geomatics, you'll find:
- A structure designed to let technical leaders lead technically, with genuine commercial support so you can focus on the data and the team.
- A practice that sits at the centre of a multidisciplinary firm — your work supports engineering, environmental, natural sciences, and infrastructure teams across the company.
- The opportunity to shape a growing practice, set its technical direction, and build its reputation for quality and innovation.
- Meaningful career growth aligned with your expertise, leadership, and ambition.
- A firm that is actively investing in innovation, including AI-enabled tools and modern geospatial methods that make our people's work better.
- Competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, and genuine support for ongoing professional development.
PRI is a multidisciplinary engineering and natural sciences consulting firm with offices across British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. We are an equal-opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates, and we particularly encourage applications from Indigenous professionals.
