About the job

Job summary

Want to work at the cutting edge of environmental science?  Passionate about making a difference and playing your part in tackling the climate and nature crisis? Forest Research (FR) is all about giving top quality evidence and advice to policymakers and practitioners to make a positive impact on the ground. Internationally recognised, we need people who have the skills and passion to work on excellent science and provide practical solutions for nature.

We’re small enough that your voice is heard, yet large enough, as part of the Forestry Commission, that we have everything on hand to get the job done, as well as a variety of career pathways.  Our staff are dedicated to their work and sharing it with others to bring positive change for our planet.  And you will find us a flexible and inclusive employer, so you can have a work life balance that is tailor-made to your circumstances. So, whether it’s climate or carbon, pests or pathogens, behaviour or biodiversity that interests you, you can be assured of a warm welcome to the team. To find out more, visit Homepage - Forest Research

The post holder will be a member of the Climate Change Research Group, within the Centre for Forest Management (FM) – one of two thematic research centres within Forest Research. FM focuses strongly on applied interdisciplinary research, to provide evidence to underpin sustainable management of Britain’s trees, woods, and forests. 

The Climate Change Research Group (CCRG) develops scientific understanding and synthesises research into practical advice relating to the management and use of trees and forests in adaptation and mitigation of climate change and the impacts of climate on forest function. The research underpins efforts to reduce risk and improve resilience of the UK forestry sector. 

The team comprises fifteen staff in science and technical roles. CCRG researchers focus on assessing resilience and understanding Green House Gases (GHG) balance of forest systems across two broad thematic work areas: 1) climate mitigation and 2) climate adaptation. The group publishes widely in a range of high impact forest science, environmental and policy related journals. The group is actively involved in UKRI funded science and training of new scientists via PhD’s. 

Job description

The group is seeking to appoint a Climate Data Analyst to undertake and support the group's research on the resilience of commercial and native forestry species to future climate change. There will be a focus on applied research and spatial data outputs with web delivery in support of modelling expertise and support to other science groups. 

The role will focus on data analysis activities working with United Kingdom Climate Projections 2018 (UKCP18) probabilistic data to inform forest modelling and decision support. The successful applicant will therefore be proficient in R or similar statistical / modelling packages with experience of handling, analysis, and classification of environmental datasets (e.g., historic Met Office data and UKCP18 projections). They will be expected to develop data warehousing and data product delivery, including coding, spatial representations, and web portal integration. 

The successful applicant will be expected to:

• Work independently and as part of a team
• Deliver supporting data services to externally funded projects involving liaison with external teams
• Develop and improve forestry focussed analysis of existing meteorological and environmental data products
• Develop R procedures for climate data analysis and synthesis and underpin probabilistic risk analysis
• Be familiar with Python/R to enable for data/model integration into online web-portals
• Manage, share and archive code and data responsibly for quality assurance purposes and to facilitate research collaboration
• Work with colleagues to support the development of novel spatial landscape decision making tools
• Contribute to the production of written reports to research funders and peer-reviewed publications in collaboration with colleagues and project partners
• Liaise with colleagues to develop realistic work schedules; carefully plan and monitor time allocation across projects
• Keep up to date with major developments in the field of spatial data integration.

Person specification

Essential criteria:

• BSc in an environmental, mathematical, or computing subject with ability to demonstrate an aptitude for problem solving, data management and analysis or equivalent experience
• Extensive experience of computing languages to underpin data analysis, implementation of forest ecosystem simulators and geospatial decision support systems (R, Python)
• Knowledge of web development frameworks (RShiny, FastAPI, Flask) and front-end languages HTML/Javascript
• Knowledge of source code control tools (Github)
• Knowledge of GIS tools, for desktop analysis (QGIS, ArcGIS) and web-based dissemination using RShiny
• Experience of managing scientific datasets

Desirable Criteria:

• Knowledge of forest ecosystems and/or working with environmental data
• Knowledge of model fitting techniques
• Knowledge of geospatial/relational databases and SQL (PostGIS)
• High standard of verbal and written communication to include technical report writing and supporting preparation of scientific papers

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £29,863, Forestry Commission - Forest Research contributes £8,063 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Sift Date:          Week commencing 15 July 2024 
Interview Date: Week commencing 29 July 2024

If a large volume of applications is received, then we will sift on Experience/Technical Expertise and the Lead Behaviour, Managing a Quality Service.  However, candidates will be expected to answer questions on all behaviours at the interview stage.  

Candidates invited to interview will be asked to complete a short technical test.

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in Forest Research which may be at a lower grade but have a potential skills match.

Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role.

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

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. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.