Higher Data Scientist – Earth Observation Analyst - ( Ref : 6103 )

Natural England

Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 23rd February 2025

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Details

Reference number

390528

Salary

£30,850

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Job grade

Higher Executive Officer

Lead Adviser, NE Level 3.

Contract type

Fixed term

Length of employment

For a period of up to 18 Months

Type of role

Analytical
Environment and Sustainability
Geography
Other

Working pattern

Full-time, Job share, Part-time

Location

East Midlands (England), East of England, London (region), North East England, North West England, South East England, South West England, West Midlands (England), Yorkshire and the Humber

About the job

Job summary

This position is based nationally

Job description

The Chief Scientist Directorate (CSD) provides scientific and evidence leadership services and support to help Natural England operate as an evidence-led organisation. The Data Science Services (DSS) Team, within the Analysis Team of CSD, provides access to evidence through the provision and management of data and digital systems, and through application of data science, statistics and geospatial analysis to maintain and expand our evidence base.

Job description

This role will lead and support delivery of a range of Earth Observation (EO) projects, and the wider development of EO skills in the team and across Natural England. They will help the team act as a centre of excellence within the organisation for developing and integrating EO. A wide breadth of EO work is undertaken, including drone data capture and processing, monitoring dynamic coastlines, wildfire mapping and habitat mapping. This work is undertaken using data from drone, manned aircraft and satellite platforms, from a range of different sensors such as Aerial Photography, Multispectral, LIDAR and RADAR.  

We are seeking a technical EO analyst for this position, with significant capability in applying EO techniques. The role will support delivery of a range of EO projects, and the wider development of EO skills in the team and across Natural England. Initially the post-holder will be involved in and help lead a variety of projects to support Natural England’s programs. These may include analysis of sand dunes and coastal habitats, monitoring geomorphological change and developing projects with other teams on the use of drones, manned aircraft and satellites, such as for agri-environment monitoring.

The role may also encompass providing technical advice and support in relation to NE's Enforcement work, to include analysing and evaluating data and producing evidence to support enforcement appeals, enforcement notices and court cases. This could involve providing written witness statements and verbal evidence to help the court understand complex or technical issues.

The post holder will:

Lead EO projects - Through reporting on project progress, helping to design projects, functionally lead work and if required oversee equipment / software resources and financial aspects.

Contribute to EO Analysis. Develop and run EO analysis, including through data acquisition, handling, manipulation, integration, and analysis using a variety of tools including standard EO software, R and Python scripting, including AI techniques, on different platforms including cloud computing environments.

Maintain and develop relationships with customers and partners. Engage with partners and end users to share knowledge on EO approaches and products, build partnerships on common problems and understand customer needs for EO data products/support.

Support capability building, documentation and quality assurance. Work to help build and deliver technical skills training and create reproducible analytical pipelines and standardised products. Including through documentation of methods and quality assurance approaches.

Where appropriate, the post-holder will do this through identifying, understanding and following the instructions, policies, procedures and standards relevant to their work. They will manage and deliver their workload to meet agreed targets and deadlines and also consider the value for money and return on investment of activities, including when to seek income from our products and services. Communication of results of this work is then vital and the postholder will be expected to develop, present and share clear messages about their data / evidence, using language and techniques appropriate to the audience so the dataset's implications are understood and it can be used effectively. As an Earth Observation lead, the postholder will also be expected to help train, coach and mentor others in the use of Earth Observation-derived evidence.

Competencies

Competence 1

Professional competency

Detail Instance

Technical Skills and Knowledge

Description Instance

Highly desirable to meet most requirements:

A Masters degree in a relevant discipline (i.e. Environmental Science, Geography, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or Earth Observation/Remote Sensing) with EO/Remote Sensing modules taken, or equivalent experience.

Good experience of using and analysing data from a range of EO sensors and platforms; such as drone Aerial Photography, Multispectral and Thermal data, Manned Aircraft based Aerial Photography, Multispectral and LIDAR data and Satellites like Copernicus Sentinels 1 & 2, WorldView and Planet data. Experience of using RADAR data, in particular InSAR would be beneficial.

Confident in the use of GIS and EO analysis tools (such as ArcGIS Pro/ArcGIS Online/QGIS, ERDAS Imagine, eCognition, R and/or Python) to visualise, manipulate and transform Earth Observation data. Preferably with experience in using Machine Learning and/or Deep Learning with EO data.

Technical experience of using EO techniques in natural environment applications such as land cover and habitat classification, land cover change detection, in terrestrial and marine environments.

Confident with a range of statistical techniques for identifying relationships between data and methods for quantifying uncertainty.

Competence 2

Professional competency

Detail Instance

Personal Effectiveness

Description Instance

Use clear and appropriate language, communication styles and techniques that engage your audience (Basic)

Proactively communicate and present your data, evidence and analyses in ways that meet people’s needs so they can understand its implications and use it effectively to deliver positive outcomes for the environment (Practitioner)
  
Share expertise and knowledge with people and networks so that you can develop together (Practitioner)

Competence 3

Professional competency

Detail Instance

Creating Resilient Landscapes and Seas

Description Instance

Recognise environmental features and designations within their environmental context (This includes understanding terminology and context when working with data and information) (Basic)

Use and contribute to the evidence base on environmental and landscape change to support resilient landscapes and seascapes (Practitioner)

Competence 4

Professional competency

Detail Instance

Work Delivery

Description Instance

Manage and deliver your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines (Practitioner)

Handle data responsibly, understand your role in good governance, and comply with delegations, policies and procedures (Practitioner)

Contact information

Helen Trapp

Email - Helen.Trapp@NaturalEngland.org.uk
Phone - 07768570148

Rebecca Jackson-Pitt

Email - Rebecca.Jackson-Pitt@NaturalEngland.org.uk

Phone - +442080262143

Person specification

Please refer to job description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,850, Natural England contributes £8,937 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Learning and development tailored to your role
An environment with flexible working options
A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

Please refer to job description

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

UK nationals
nationals of the Republic of Ireland
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

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