Marine Analyst

Do you have a passion for marine conservation? Do you want to help an international NGO working at the forefront of the marine science-policy interface, delivering innovative analysis to inform better management of our oceans? If you have excellent spatial analysis skills and experience and a desire to learn new techniques then working for BirdLife could be for you.

BirdLife International is a partnership of national grass root conservation organizations present in more than 110 countries and territories, with a combined public membership of over 2.5 million people. The BirdLife mission is to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources. The Partnership is coordinated by the BirdLife International Secretariat which has its global headquarters in Cambridge (UK) and six regional offices. Together we are the world leader in bird conservation. BirdLife’s local-to-global approach enables us to deliver high impact and long term conservation for the benefit of nature and people. For further information see www.birdlife.org.

BirdLife’s Science Division leads efforts on behalf of the BirdLife Partnership to set priorities for species and site conservation (through assessments of the world’s birds for the IUCN Red List, and identification of Important Bird Areas), identify threats and priority actions, undertake relevant research, and provide scientific analyses and information to underpin BirdLife’s policy, advocacy, communications and conservation programmes.

Background

The world’s governments have pledged to protect 10% of the oceans by 2020, but current progress stands at less than 2%. If progress is to be made to achieve these targets there is an urgent need for new partnerships, innovative data sharing and analysis, and rapid transmission of scientific inputs to national governments and relevant policy mechanisms. Since 2006, BirdLife has been successfully working to provide these inputs to a range of policy mechanisms and international agreements. We currently work closely with the Convention on Biological Diversity, (particularly relating to the description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) in need of protection), the Agreement for the Conservation of Albatross and Petrels (ACAP), the EU Birds Directive and the Nairobi Convention.

In collaboration with BirdLife Partners in over 100 countries worldwide and the wider marine science community we have developed new databases to further our understanding of the oceans and identify the key areas that are in need of better management and protection. These products have set a new standard in data compilation and analysis for migratory marine species. In 2012 we launched our first global inventory of marine Important Bird Areas (www.birdlife.org/datazone/marine), a ground breaking collaboration to identify priority sites for seabird conservation around the world. We also manage a seabird tracking database (www.seabirdtracking.org), another unique collaboration bringing together data from over 100 seabird researchers worldwide.

This position

An opportunity has arisen for a Marine Analyst to join our team. We are looking for an expert in GIS (with a familiarity of R) to manage the seabird tracking database, undertake analysis of data using existing scripts, and provide technical inputs to submissions to a range of international agreements.

You will work as part of the BirdLife Science team based in Cambridge, and have frequent contact with the wider Global Seabird Programme as well as the Information Management and Policy teams.

To apply please e-mail your CV and an explanatory cover letter to recruitment@birdlife.org, marking your application ‘Marine Analyst’ and stating how you heard of this vacancy.

Please state on your application whether you are currently eligible to work in the UK.

Applications to be received by 17^th February 2013 and interviews are scheduled for 27^th February 2013.

Position details

• Full time position (35 hours per week)
• Contract length: 1 year initially with the likelihood of extension
• Salary: £20,000-25,000 per annum (plus generous pension contribution)
• Start date: March 2013