SEI is recruiting a highly motivated Research Associate with a strong background in data processing and analysis as well as GIS. The successful candidate will play a key role in helping expand our work on land and resource use in the tropics, including the sustainability risks and opportunities linked to changes in the production, trade and consumption of major agricultural and forest-based commodities. The candidate will also contribute to SEI’s work on developing quantitative methods and tools for assessing cross-regional phenomena in relation to impacts of climate change. A key success factor will be the ability to link these two strands of SEI’s current work and to contribute to defining new promising policy relevant research areas.
More specifically, the candidate will contribute to further develop i) a major new transparency platform to leverage more sustainable supply chains of both domestically and internationally traded agricultural commodities, and ii) the SEI-PCS tool (Spatially Explicit Information on Production to Consumption Systems), which allows for linking global consumption of traded commodities with regions of production at sub-national scales; iii) support work on other SEI projects related to natural resource use and sustainable development and iv) a global index of exposure to indirect impacts of climate change including visualization tools.
Key responsibilities include:
• Helping design, implement and manage an online and interactive GIS and data visualization platform for mapping international supply chains and assessing associated sustainability impacts and opportunities
• GIS work and spatial analyses to investigate the sustainability risks, performance and opportunities associated with specific regions of production across the tropics
• Helping establish and maintain a GIS database to support mapping and analytical work
• Support ongoing efforts to improve and expand the SEI-PCS model to new countries and commodities, helping acquire, archive, format and process large datasets on production, trade and different measures of environmental and social impact and sustainability performance
• Support colleagues in the ongoing development of the code and database in which the SEI-PCS model currently runs.
• Provide quantitative support to an exciting range of other work at SEI, supporting front-line research in the field of environment and development, including for example on Amazon deforestation analyses, biodiversity loss and the production and use of ecosystem services.
Requirements:
The applicant should have a strong interest in applying GIS and other quantitative analyses to help understand some of the major environmental and sustainability challenges the world is facing in the 21st Century. No previous working-experience is required but the candidate is expected to be capable of working both independently and in team in a highly flexible and exciting research environment, whilst also being comfortable investing time in basic data preparation and processing routines.
Key qualifications:
• University degree in geography, ecology, environmental and resource management, physics, mathematics, engineering, computer science, or related field. If not formally trained in these fields the candidate should demonstrate adequate experience in data analysis, programming and GIS.
• Proficiency in programming (preferably in Python)
• Competence in GIS
• Reasonable command of processing and analyzing data in a common statistical package or environment (e.g. R)
• Competence in creating web maps (e.g. CartoDB or ArGIS online), requiring at least basic command of HTML/CSS/Javascript.
• Good skills in handling of large amounts of data: at least basic experience in creating and maintaining relational databases (e.g. PostgreSQL/PostGIS).
• Fluency in English.
Desirable qualifications:
• Previous experience and strong interest in applying innovative visualization methods for complex data (e.g. d3.js based)
• Experience with version control (Git) and collaborative software development (GitHub).
• Previous experience in applied sustainability research, ideally with focus on quantitative analysis of trade flows, consumption accounting, or the environmental and social impacts of land-use change
• Fluency in other widely spoken languages, particularly Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese.
Information:
Following a preselection of applications, candidates will have to answer a short practical test to demonstrate their suitability for the post, which will be sent by email.
Application:
If you are interested please use the "Apply now" at the button on this page. Applications should be submitted in PDF or Word format and should consist of a CV and a cover letter that includes the names and contact details of three referees. Applications should be written in English and arrive at SEI as soon as possible but no later than November 29, 2015.
Inquiries:
Inquiries concerning the content of the position can be directed Louise Karlberg, Head of Resources and Development unit;louise.karlberg@sei-international.org or Javier Godar, Research Fellow javier.godar@sei-international.org or The Union at SEI Stockholm which is represented in this recruitment process bykarl.hallding@sei-international.org
