Higher Data Scientist - EPM Data Manager (Maternity Cover) - ( Ref : 6472 ) in London

The England Peat Map (EPM) is an NCEA project that has created a new set of evidence baseline products describing the extent, depth and condition of peat in England. The project, now in its second phase, will cover a range of activities including:

• Improvement of the peat extent and depth models – particularly in the lowlands.
• Development and maintenance of the Peatland Restoration Register.
• The development of new peatland condition monitoring tools (building on the new EPM maps).
• Further model development and data integration with other key evidence products to further support the delivery of the England Peat Action Plan and other Defra policies and delivery.

The post holder will collate and manage a variety of data types from a wide range of sources for use in modelling the England Peat Map. They will work internally with colleagues from across Natural England, and with external partners, stakeholders, and others, to identify and acquire peat survey data. They will manage data licensing and IPR issues (with support from colleagues in our Data Services team), acquire or capture metadata, and curate, store, manipulate, and share data as required for the delivery of the modelling work. They will also support the project’s national field survey programme by quality assuring and processing field data.

Key Tasks/Principal Accountabilities

• Identify, prioritise (with EPM team), acquire and collate available data from internal and external sources. This will involve working with EPM colleagues, engaging with data owners in NE and amongst partner organisations to acquire data for England Peat Map, and agreement for its use in Open Data products wherever possible.
• Identify and understand licence conditions and metadata associated with data. This will also involve maintaining a data licence management system and managing data licences relevant to data stored in the repository.
• Develop and undertake data cleaning and manipulation workflows.
• Create and manage data management documentation describing workflows and key tasks, guidance, and instructions etc.
• Manage EPM data responsibly with due regard to the requirements of personal and/or sensitive data, GDPR and other data protection legislation.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Strong data management skills and experience of working within data licensing and data standards (e.g. metadata, Open Data, GDPR, etc.).
• Experienced in transforming data, including integrating different data types (e.g. spatial and non-spatial) and from different data sources.
• Experience of relational databases such as PostgreSQL, Microsoft Access, etc.
• Experience with cloud data management.
• Experience of using ArcGIS Online.
• Experience of Python and/or R scripting.
• Experience of data modelling (e.g. ArcGIS Model Builder, etc).
• Familiarity with data analysis methods.
• Experience of working with Remote Sensing data.
• Strong presentation skills, such as producing guidance for others to follow or maps and statistics for publication.
• Able to work within a framework of agreed Quality Assurance standards.

Work Delivery

• Manage and deliver your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines.
• Apply the relevant methodologies and tools for collecting and collating data/evidence including metadata.
• Handle data responsibly, understand your role in good governance, and comply with delegations, policies and procedures.

Personal Effectiveness

• Use clear and appropriate language, communication styles and techniques that engage your audience.
• Apply new technology to improve the way we deliver our work.
• 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.

Putting People at the Heart of the Environment

• Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver Natural England’s vision, mission and aims.
• Build relationships and effective networks both externally and internally to bring in fresh perspectives, approaches and evidence to raise the profile of both your individual specialist work and that of Natural England.

We welcome and encourage applications from all communities. Natural England is accredited to the Disability Confident Scheme, which denotes organisations which have a positive attitude towards disabled people. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements for the role at the shortlisting stage are guaranteed an invitation to interview.