Geospatial Officer

About rePLANET

rePLANET (www.replanet.org.uk) is a purpose-driven company committed to unlocking private sector finance into the restoration and protection of nature at a global scale. Our business currently falls into two main areas: (1) we develop and manage landscape-scale nature restoration projects, funding them through carbon and biodiversity credits, with a market-leading commitment to reinvesting at least 60% of project income into local communities, and (2) we advise corporate clients on integrating nature-positive solutions into their supply chains and support other developers in tackling key environmental challenges.

To date, we have delivered advisory services to a range of clients, from developers of nature-based solutions (NbS) projects to land asset managers and large corporates across multiple sectors. These services have so far been bespoke, although we are now beginning to explore ways to productise and automate key features. The one common denominator across all contracts, however, is a need for geospatial analysis from a combination of satellite and drone imagery.

Founded by scientists in 2021, rePLANET has rapidly built a reputation as one of the most innovative actors in this space. Our expertise is in high demand worldwide, and we’re now scaling our operations to meet that demand. This is an exciting period of growth, and we’re looking to add a Geospatial Officer to help grow our capacity in delivering geospatial (GIS) and other technical services to our advisory clients.

About the role

The Geospatial Officer position is a dynamic and varied role that sits within the Nature Based Consultancy (NBC) team. You will work internally with colleagues from across the team and with external partners to support the delivery of the technical elements required to design, develop and monitor high quality nature-focused interventions. Most contracts begin with extensive habitat mapping in GIS and the results of the geospatial analysis are subsequently used to determine the natural capital value of the proposed nature restoration initiatives, and to design a suitable biodiversity measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) strategy. The Geospatial Officer will work closely with the existing technical team to assist with the creation of various technical products, primarily a range of maps and spatial analyses but also carbon and biodiversity baselines, and environmental monitoring strategies.

To achieve this you will:

• Work collaboratively and effectively with the technical team to provide mapping (GIS) and coding solutions for consultancy contracts;
• Work within the Google Earth Engine environment to develop scripts/tools to assist in delivering geospatial analyses;
• Work collaboratively and effectively with project partners to gather the information required to design nature and conservation initiatives that have maximum positive impact;
• Model the potential carbon benefits of a given project’s proposed conservation and/or restoration activities to estimate its carbon sequestration value across the entirety of the project’s lifecycle;
• Design monitoring strategies that can be used to quantify a project’s carbon and biodiversity benefits over its lifecycle;
• Design and use standardised templates for disseminating technical data to clients;
• Support the wider team to provide the information needed to produce the final deliverables that must be submitted to the client at the end of the contract period;
• Work with partners on a consultancy basis to deliver the services outlined in their contract with rePLANET.

This role will evolve with the changing needs of the organisation, and the skills that the successful candidate brings to the job. The job description should therefore be seen as enabling rather than restrictive. We also acknowledge that the role will involve using a suite of very specific GIS tools and processes – we are not expecting the candidates to be already familiar with these, we are only interested in the underlying skills and experiences around GIS/remote sensing/coding. Training will be provided on the specific application of these skills to individual tools and processes needed for the role.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline involving significant elements of mapping in GIS and coding (Essential)
• Postgraduate degree in a relevant discipline involving significant coding and GIS mapping (Desirable)

Experience

• Comfortable creating a variety of mapping products using different data sources in GIS (e.g. ArcGIS, QGIS or equivalent) (Essential)
• Comfortable writing and executing code in R, for example data visualisation, statistical analysis and/or modelling (Essential)
• Some experience of coding in Python and/or C (Desirable)
• Some experience coding with Google Earth Engine (Desirable)
• Ecological/climate/carbon modelling (Desirable)
• Research project design (Desirable)
• Project management (Desirable)

Skills and Knowledge

• Demonstrable knowledge of the principles of experimental design (Essential)
• Ability to analyse and evaluate data and use findings to make informed decisions (Essential)
• Ability to write clearly accurately, and concisely towards tight deadlines (Essential)
• Understanding of the role that private finance has to play in funding nature restoration and the key challenges and barriers that currently exist to its widescale adoption as a funding mechanism (Desirable)

Skills and Knowledge

• Ability to react flexibly to changing priorities (Essential)
• Ability to manage workload self sufficiently (Essential)
• Strong interpersonal skills to manage partner relationships without conflict (Essential)
• Ability to work in a team both in-person and remotely (Essential)
• Desire to contribute to the protection and restoration of species, habitats, and ecosystems through the stimulation of private finance (Essential)

Working arrangements

This is a permanent position (subject to a three-month probationary period) with a salary range of £34,000 - £38,000 per annum, depending on experience.

We are a fully-remote company, although you’ll attend in person weeks in the UK several times per year. As a result, we are seeking candidates who are based in the UK and have a legal right to work here.

Our advisory work can include fieldwork components, primarily in the UK but with the potential to become increasingly international as we grow. As such you may be asked to spend time away from home helping to deliver work in the field. We will provide as much notice as possible, and we will always try to take personal circumstances into account.