Frontend Engineer — React & Geospatial Applications (m/f/d)

Role Overview

TerraLens is looking for a frontend engineer to help create web applications that turn advanced satellite and geospatial data into practical input for strategic, political, and operational decisions. You will work on modern React-based products that let analysts search, process, visualize, and interpret Earth observation data through reliable, user-friendly interfaces.

This position suits someone who enjoys building substantial client-side applications, shaping clean component APIs, working with maps and geospatial visualizations, and translating complex workflows into intuitive software experiences.

About TerraLens

TerraLens is a fast-growing, profitable spin-off from the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The company develops software that transforms large Earth observation datasets into actionable intelligence for political, strategic, and tactical use. With more than two decades of experience in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data analysis, the team is expanding its platform to bring in additional data sources and make geospatial information easier to search, process, visualize, and analyze.

The software supports operational use in the SAR satellite mission environment, including human-in-the-loop analysis workflows that demand reliability, high throughput, and controlled operation in on-premise and air-gapped deployments.

TerraLens is bootstrapped, profitable, and expanding organically, with a long-term focus on product quality, customer value, and sustainable engineering.

What You Will Do

You will contribute to the web applications and frontend libraries that make complex satellite and geospatial data usable for analysts and decision-makers. This is a product-focused, data-heavy frontend role rather than a marketing or generic dashboard position.

• Build and maintain client-side React and TypeScript applications for satellite imagery and geospatial analysis.
• Create user interfaces for search, visualization, analysis, and human-in-the-loop workflows.
• Develop map-driven features that work with raster and vector layers, large imagery, 3D model overlays, and related geospatial visual components.
• Work with backend, geospatial, AI/ML, and domain specialists to translate operational workflows into practical user applications.
• Improve frontend architecture, reusable UI building blocks, usability, and long-term maintainability.
• Optimize frontend performance and support deployment in on-premise and customer-hosted environments.

Requirements

• At least 3 years of professional experience in frontend engineering.
• Strong hands-on experience delivering production-grade React and TypeScript applications.
• Good understanding of component design, hooks, state handling, and API integration.
• Experience creating complex, data-intensive interfaces.
• Strong CSS skills with attention to layout, usability, and interaction quality.
• Familiarity with modern frontend tooling, build pipelines, and TypeScript-based development.
• Ability to write maintainable, high-performance frontend code and troubleshoot issues across browser, API, and build layers.
• Excellent spoken and written English.

Preferred Experience

• Exposure to geospatial, map-based, or data-visualization products, including concepts or tools such as deck.gl, WebGL, raster/vector layers, GeoJSON, large images, or 3D views.
• Experience with state and server-state tools such as Zustand, TanStack Query, or similar libraries.
• Hands-on experience testing frontend code with tools such as Vitest, Playwright, or comparable frameworks.
• Background in building reusable UI components, internal design systems, or production-ready interfaces from Figma designs.
• Experience generating TypeScript API clients from OpenAPI specifications, for example using Orval.
• Knowledge of user authentication flows, Docker-based frontend deployment, or GitLab CI/CD.
• Familiarity with satellite imagery, GIS, remote sensing, or related geospatial workflows.
• Good German language skills.
• Based in or near Munich, or willing to travel there from time to time.

Compensation and Benefits

TerraLens offers a competitive compensation package aligned with experience and impact. Benefits may include a Wellpass membership and Deutschlandticket.

Location and Work Setup

The role is based in Germany, with Munich preferred. Remote work is possible.

Application Note

Applicants should share a CV, a LinkedIn or GitHub profile, and a brief note describing frontend applications they have built or maintained. Strong examples include React and TypeScript work, complex interfaces, map-based or geospatial products, data visualization, API-heavy applications, design systems, testing, frontend deployment workflows, or software for technical and operational environments.