This role sits within the Ocean Environment Team – part of the wider Scientific Analysis Group. The team is specifically responsible for managing a diverse range of marine environmental data (e.g. marine biological, oceanographic, geological, acoustic and ocean climatological) to support the UKHO’s input into commercial, SOLAS, MOD and Allied requirements. To balance the skillsets within our team, we are currently requiring a scientist with a specialism in Geology/Geophysics and/or Acoustics.
Job description
Our customers require professional advice and a range of Situational Awareness products providing information about the marine environment to assist in their planning. To support this, the Ocean Environment Team, within the Scientific Analysis Group, acquires data from a variety of sources and analyses those data for subsequent use. The purpose of this post is to provide the expertise necessary to advise on the use of environmental data and development to provide an assessment of the environmental conditions likely to be encountered. This will be achieved through collaborations with external organisations and scientific communities.
Responsibilities
Tasks fall in to 4 key areas:
- Capability: Liaison with organisations (both UK and overseas) to meet the needs of assigned work and keep abreast of developments in marine environmental data and analytical techniques. Make the necessary arrangements to obtain data and provide this information as a dataset in a form readily useable by the customer. Develop a network of contacts throughout the scientific/NGO community to facilitate the best available current scientific understanding and enable collaboration activities to enhance the team’s capability. Take part in outreach activities to raise the profile of the team as a leading supplier of maritime scientific data and expertise.
- Data analysis and presentation: Data is analysed to create representative descriptions of the environment. The post holder will undertake analysis of spatial data relevant to the teams tasking, to derive representative visualisations of the expected marine environmental conditions as well as improve analysis methodology in order to provide a better service, more efficiently.
- Development: The job holder will develop a good understanding of the customers need for and use of environmental information and feedback from users is actively sought to inform development planning. Methods and software tools used for analysis or presentation of results will be continually reviewed and updated to meet changing demands, to improve products and to make best use of developments in data handling and processing technology.
- Report writing and Quality Assurance: The holder will be expected to produce technical reports to record methodology and results or to present a case for changes to working practices, ensuring documentation is maintained for all analysis work.
Person Specification
We are looking for a well-connected and enthusiastic Geologist and/or Acoustician who is able to apply scientific concepts and advances to meet real world customer needs. The ability to apply skills in data programming/data analysis to meet the evolving needs of our customers is key to success in the role, as is a genuine desire to work collaboratively as part of a small, dynamic team. Ideal attributes include the ability to problem solve and work independently with a positive can-do attitude.
Qualifications
Postgraduate qualification in geology/acoustics including experience of working within these fields (e.g. Marine Geology, Marine Geophysics, Underwater Acoustics).
Salary: £33,287
Application Deadline: July 17, 2022
Location: Southwest England
