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
Further details and application here.
