DATA SCIENTIST POSITION IN THE AREA OF BIG SPATIAL DATA

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Organisation Unit:	Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information
Location:	Canberra, ACT, Australia
Time Fraction:	1.0 FTE
Remuneration:	$78,070 to $90,369 plus superannuation
Superannuation:	Employer superannuation contributions of 15.4%.
Employment Type:	Full-time (fixed-term) position available to Dec. 31, 2016.
Send applications to (and for enquiries contact):	Prof. Kim Lowell, Program Director, CRC for Spatial Information email/phone: klowell@crcsi.com.au / +61 3 8344 9192 Mailing address : P.O. Box 672, Carlton South, Victoria, 3053  AUSTRALIA Applicants should describe their expertise and experience relative to each selection criterion and provide a detailed curriculum vitae by the closing date. Please include the names, phone, facsimile numbers and email addresses of three referees in your application.
Reference Number:	P3P41.BDEM
Closing Date:	Feb. 26, 2014  Search extended to March 7, 2014

1              Position Summary

As part of a jointly funded and multi-faceted initiative (Project Title: “Big Data for Environmental Monitoring”), a data scientist is required to develop and demonstrate a toolkit that will apply the continental-scale time-series of Landsat observations to typical problems in environmental assessment and natural resources management.  The successful applicant will be employed by the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI) to provide the National Earth Observation Group within Geoscience Australia located in Canberra, ACT with the necessary skills.

The two key components of the toolkit are:

1. The capacity to serve time series of Earth observation data/information products as a web service; and 

2. The capacity to generate automated reports based on existing data pre-defined spatial areas from petabyte scale raster datasets.

An example of the latter is to summarise and report on the “bare earth” within a catchment management area, and how this has changed over the period of observation.

The successful applicant will work with a diverse, highly skilled and motivated team within Geoscience Australia providing experience, knowledge and methods for manipulating large raster datasets on a high performance computing platform.   In addition, partners in the project include universities and state agencies across Australia having a focus on landscape monitoring and management.  The successful applicant will therefore be expected to interact with personnel across the project to execute a work plan that addresses the needs of multiple agencies and groups.

The successful applicant will be a team-player with experience in data delivery via web services and will be able to demonstrate the skills and knowledge needed to analyse, summarise, and serve information via web services using state of the art and open-source applications in a high-performance computing environment.  He/she will have knowledge of, and experience in developing open source applications using languages such as Python, GDAL, OGR, C/C++ on Linux platforms.

Experience across government and academic organisations is desirable, as is knowledge and awareness of natural resources and environmental applications of digital remote sensing/earth observation data and other relevant types of spatial data such as digital elevation models.

2          Role Duties:

·         Working as part of a diverse team, lead the development of a natural resource management / environmental assessment tool-kit for high performance data, within the CRC SI Big Data project.

·         Participate as part of the CRC SI Big Data project team in the setting of work plans that will to progress the research and investigations of the CRC SI Big Data project.

·         According to an agreed program of work, investigate and develop a toolkit to enable the automated query and accessibility of Earth Observation based environmental monitoring products as data services/web services.

·         Support Geoscience Australia’s National Earth Observation Group and its collaborators in developing and implementing a suite of generic open source software tools for the interrogation of petabyte scale numerical arrays.

·         As a member of a wider team including the National Earth Observation Group, the National Computational Infrastructure, the CRC SI and Geoscience Australia’s Information Technology environments, conform to standards and agreed practices to ensure that the toolkit is:

1. Compatible with rapidly evolving data structures/data standards, and

2. Capable of ensuring data and information can be accessed in a timely fashion.

·         Report on progress, and deliver results in appropriate formats and forums that may include internal reports, published articles, and conference presentations.

·         Provide effective and timely communication of relevant operational issues to the Project Manager and team members on the principle of “no surprises”.

·         Maintain an awareness of developments within the Open Geospatial Consortium and web service delivery domains that are relevant to this project (e.g. Web processing services, web coverage services, coordinate reference systems).

3       Selection Criteria

Essential:

1.    Completion of a higher degree in Computer Science or related discipline.

2.    Experience with open source applications using languages such as Python, GDAL, OGR, C/C++ on Linux platforms.

3.    Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with team members and external bodies/industry partners, with the proven ability to use initiative and work effectively with minimal supervision.

4.    Demonstrated leadership in shaping a research project, particularly in a multi-organisational context that may include government agencies, private industries, and universities.

5.    Well-developed written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with industry partners and research collaborators, combined with the ability to provide appropriately targeted system/software documentation, technical reports, and scientific publications.

6.    Well-developed organisational skills with demonstrated ability to effectively plan, organize and prioritise work tasks to achieve quality outcomes within prescribed timelines and project milestones.

Desirable:

Knowledge and experience in:

• Analysing, summarising, and serving information via web services using state of the art and open-source applications in a high-performance computing environment.

·         Earth observation/remote sensing imagery and other types/themes of spatial data including raster and vector formats.

·         The use of spatial data by public agencies involved in environmental monitoring and management.

·         The high performance and optimization of software systems at both system and application levels.

4          Organisational Information

The CRCSI conducts user-driven research in emerging areas of spatial information that address issues of national importance.  It also undertakes commissioned research projects for key clients.  Partners include federal and state government agencies, universities and over 50 companies, cumulatively providing more than $160 million (cash and in-kind) over 2010-18.  The “Big Data for Environmental Monitoring” (BDEM) project addresses the research needs of two CRCSI programs: Spatial data Infrastructure (Program 3) and Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Climate Change (Program 4.1).  Contextually, the BDEM project will address one of the major activities of a broader spatial data infrastructure research strategy on semantic web technologies.

Geoscience Australia (http://www.ga.gov.au) is Australia’s national geoscience agency and a partner of the CRCSI.  Geoscience Australia exists to apply spatial science to Australia’s most important challenges and provides geospatial scientific advice and information to support the Australian government to deliver its priorities.  Geoscience Australia also provides geospatial scientific information to industry and other stakeholders where it supports achievement of Australian government objectives.  The advertised position will be located within the National Earth Observation Group of the Environmental Geoscience Division.  The BDEM project is integrated into ongoing Geoscience Australia research and development activities addressing increased usability of a 20+-year archive of Australia-wide satellite imagery to improve monitoring and management of landscape assets.

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