Back GIS Research Associate

This is a hybrid position which requires 8 days/month in the office. You can be based in our office in Washington DC; WRI Global Office (US). Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission as WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position.

About the Program:

Land & Carbon Lab (LCL) is an initiative working to provide decision-makers with the essential geospatial monitoring information needed to address the increasing competition for the world’s finite land resources. As part of the LCL initiative, our team of GIS Analysts and researchers collaborates with partners to produce, compile and analyze geospatial data and turn it into meaningful insights for a variety of users, including commodity supply chain actors and stakeholders. To help inform priority insights, our team of GIS Analysts liaises with WRI’s Supply Chains team, which coordinates efforts across WRI’s various programs and international offices to advance responsible supply chains. The Supply Chains team seeks to enable responsible production, trade, and monitoring of commodities to protect human rights, forests and other ecosystems, and reduce GHG emissions from land-use change.

Job Highlight:

Reporting to the Supply Chains Research Manager, you will work with other LCL researchers and partners to build datasets that enable the monitoring of conversion of natural grasslands, savannas, and wetlands to agricultural land uses. You will also help develop methods for accounting of conversion within corporate supply chains. You will collaborate with researchers working on Global Pasture Watch, Global Forest Watch, the SBTN Natural Lands Map, global land cover products, and improved definitions of natural non-forest ecosystems to advance monitoring of lands beyond forests.

What will you do:

Research and Analysis (70%):-

• Assess available non-forest monitoring products with global or regional coverage
• Co-develop a new dataset for monitoring conversion of natural open ecosystems with existing land cover and land use remote sensing products
• Manage the storage, processing and preparation of large data products for analyses with cloud storage and analysis platforms
• Develop methods for calculating and reporting natural ecosystem conversion at multiple spatial scales and with varying levels of supply chain traceability

  Working with partner organizations and funders (10%):-

  • Work with partner organizations, corporate partners, and sustainable supply chain initiatives to test out and collect feedback on new conversion monitoring data products and methods

    📚 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯! 🌍🤝 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗡𝗛𝗖𝗥, 𝗪𝗙𝗣, 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗙, 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗦, 𝗨𝗡𝗙𝗣𝗔, 𝗜𝗢𝗠 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀! 🌐

    ⚠️ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰: 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐖!

    Writing and Communication (20%): -

    • Write technical notes or publications to support the creation of spatial datasets
    • Write blogs and communication materials for sharing and explaining new data

      What will you need:

      • Education: You have completed a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Geography, environmental science or other relevant field
      • Experience: You have a minimum of 5 years of full-time professional experience working with global raster datasets with a strong background in GIS and remote sensing
      • Ability to quickly learn new technologies and best practices
      • Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with teams of colleagues
      • Experience creating original research methods using spatial data in a workplace setting
      • Interest in problem solving and in contributing to solutions for today’s most pressing environmental and/or international development problems
      • Experience working with distributed and international team members
      • Preferred: Familiarity with distributed processing tools like Dask or Spark
      • Preferred: Familiarity with GIS tools like GDAL, rasterio, geopandas, Google Earth Engine and cloud native geospatial data formats (Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF, GeoParquet, STAC...)
      • Preferred: Knowledge of relevant sustainability metrics and reporting frameworks, such as the Accountability Framework Initiative and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
      • Language: You have written and oral fluency in English.
      • Requirements: Existing work authorization is required where this position. WRI is unable to authorize visa work authorization

        Potential Salary: US salary range is between 84K and 92K USD. Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

        How to Apply: Please submit a resume with a required cover letter by the date of 23 May 2024. We are unable to consider your application without a cover letter.

        You must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered.

        What we offer:

        • Access to the WRI global network with the opportunity to exchange with and learn from passionate colleagues working at the cutting edge of their fields across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the US
        • The chance to have an impact and to develop your career within a mission driven organization with access to varied learning and training opportunities.
        • A workplace that strives to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work
        • The opportunity to join and get involved in different working groups and affinity groups to shape the future of WRI
        • Commitment to hybrid working model with flexible working hours
        • Generous leave days that increase with tenure

          About Us:

          Founded in 1982,