Senior Data Scientist - Earth Observation Analyst and Project Lead (Maternity Cover)

Do you have a passion for nature and the environment? Do you want to make a real difference and secure significant environmental gains in the present and the future? Do you enjoy working in a team? Can you see yourself advising communities and customers to maximise gains for the Natural Environment? If this appeals to you, a career at Natural England offers rewarding opportunities to secure environmental improvements and play your part in creating a better future for people and nature. The priority work Natural England is delivering includes:

• Establishing a Nature Recovery Network to help wildlife thrive.
• Monitoring environmental changes to identify and help reduce the effects of climate change.
• Working with farmers and landowners to develop greener food production methods.
• Advising on plans for new developments to maximise gains for nature, and
Providing ways for people to better connect with nature, including green social prescribing We are the Government's Adviser for the natural environment, playing a vital role in delivering the Government's 25 Year Environment Plan, an ambitious vision which brings new opportunities to protect and enhance and to achieve real outcomes for the environment. Find out more about the work of Natural England at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england The Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment Programme (NCEA) is a transformative programme to understand the extent, condition and change over time of environmental assets across England's land and water environments, supporting the government's ambition to improve the environment within a generation. Data will come from Earth Observation, professional field data collection, citizen science and partner data sets. This role sits within the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) Project NE1 - Mapping & Earth Observation - Living England. The Living England project delivers a national scale broad habitat map for England using satellite imagery, machine learning and is supported by a targeted field data collection programme. In is an ambitious innovative project using new technologies and novel techniques to map our natural capital assets and communicate uncertainty effectively to a wide range of users across policy, government, NGOs, academia and the commercial sectors. The team are developing new methods for assessing how habitats are changing over time, to help inform monitoring of nature recovery interventions, Biodiversity Net Gain, and Local Nature Recovery Strategies. This is a pivotal role for the Living England project linking project leadership and earth observation analyst skills. As a project lead you will provide functional management to the multidisciplinary team of analysts and field ecologists delivering geospatial and data collection elements of the project, to ensure tasks are delivered, well documented and meet the needs of the project. As an earth observation analyst, your duties will include technical direction and leadership of the acquisition and analysis of earth observation data and apply your knowledge of different techniques and data to environmental problems. As an earth observation specialist, you will also help provide advice across Natural England's NCEA projects and the wider organisation on the use of EO data and data science techniques. Key Tasks You will be expected to:
• Lead and manage the Living England project including overseeing the financial aspects, staffing resources, business planning, technical leadership to develop methods and data products and delivery of products.
• Apply Earth observation data, tools and techniques to develop models and mapped outputs in support of Living England and Change Detection.
• Design, let and manage contracts/partnership projects, to deliver field surveys and Earth observation outputs.
• Lead the design, testing, and validation of change detection outputs quantitatively to understand viability of assessing habitat change using Living England.
• Engage with key stakeholders and end users particularly of change detection to ensure the developing products are fit for purpose.
  
  Earth observation or Data Science qualification at Masters level or equivalent experience (Essential)
• Experience with a range of Earth observation, statistical and geospatial data, tools and techniques (Essential)
• Experience of problem solving and developing reproducible analytical pipelines using a scripting language (R, Python) (Essential)
• Knowledge of data governance, licensing, and management (Essential)
• Experience communicating complex techniques to a non-technical audience, and engaging effectively with stakeholders (Essential)
• Experience of using EO techniques for habitat mapping, hydrology, land management activities and/or applications (Desirable)
• Experience in Machine Learning / Deep learning applications (Desirable)
• Experience of working on complex projects/programmes (Desirable)
Working for Natural England

About Natural England We're the government's adviser for the natural environment in England. We help to protect and restore our natural world. Natural England is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. We were established by an Act of Parliament in 2006. Our purpose is to help conserve, enhance and manage the natural environment for the benefit of present and future generations, thereby contributing to sustainable development. We're the government's adviser for the natural environment in England. We help to protect and restore our natural world. Natural England is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. We were established by an Act of Parliament in 2006. Our purpose is to help conserve, enhance and manage the natural environment for the benefit of present and future generations, thereby contributing to sustainable development. more

Wherever possible Natural England accommodates requests for both full-time and part-time hours and other flexible working patterns to help employees achieve a good work/life balance and maintain their health and wellbeing. You will have access to Civil Service Pension and benefits arrangements and generous leave allowances (33 day per year pro rata), as well as flexible working, to help you achieve a work-life balance that works for you and us. You will have access to a range of benefits including discounts on shopping vouchers, cycle to work scheme, and childcare vouchers. You can also join the Civil Service Sport club which offer discounts on a range of sports and leisure opportunities as well as social events. Natural England is a fantastic place to work, where difference is celebrated. We're committed to fairness and equality for all, so you feel valued for who you are and what you do. Our shared values help us work together to benefit the communities we serve. Our thriving employee-led diversity networks support our inclusive culture and contribute to our Diversity Action Plan.