Physical Scientist, Data Management And Product Development

As one of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s top contractors, ISS is seeking a Physical Scientist, Data Management and Product Developmentto support Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) office.

Where you will be: This role is fully remote.

What you will do: Identify the needs of the IOOS community and its stakeholders for data integration, analysis, and visualization of the multitude of observations the network collects to highlight the capacity for integrated Data Management. Engage with existing communities founded in data and community building to build upon existing strategies to meet user needs and identify pathways for community engagement on data use cases. More specifically, this includes:

• Requirements Management (60%)
  • Gather, analyze, verify, and validate the needs and requirements for IOOS Marine Life and other IOOS Data Management and Cyberinfrastructure (DMAC) data stakeholders. Activities could include:
    • Animal Telemetry Network
    • Marine Biodiversity Observation Network
    • CETACEAN
    • Marine Mammal Health Map
    • Plankton and HAB activities
  • Data and Metadata Standards (30%)
    • In coordination with existing communities, refine our existing standards to streamline data flows (e.g., Marine Life data) and Product/DAC impacts. This includes:
      • Identifying common strategies for standardizing various Marine Life observations including, but not limited to, passive acoustics, eDNA, plankton including HABs, animal telemetry, Imaging Flow Cytobot, and marine mammal observations.
      • Identifying common strategies across IOOS DMAC to meet the needs of the various DMAC communities of practice.
    • DMAC Community Engagement and Outreach (10%)
      • Facilitate and coordinate a robust IOOS DMAC community with a specific focus on building relationships with RA data managers/partners. This includes:
        • Scheduling, planning, and leading monthly IOOS Technical webinars.
        • Maintaining community communications through various platforms including Slack, GitHub, and e-mail lists.
        • Identifying and building training/tutorials on the uses of IOOS data and DMAC tools based on user requirements.

What you bring: 

• MA/MS in Marine Science, Biology, Oceanography, GIS, Remote Sensing, or a related field
• A minimum of 8 years of directly related experience
• Requirements management experience
• Strong community building skills
• Ability to successfully navigate challenging conversations among diverse groups and build consensus.
• Experience in relationship building with internal and external stakeholders.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• A self-starter, team oriented attitude.
• A strong interest and background in promoting ocean and coastal stewardship.
• Familiarity with data standards. (e.g. Darwin Core, Ecological Markup Language, ISO metadata, netCDF, Climate and Forecast conventions, Attribute Conventions for Dataset Discovery, etc.)
• Experience in the application of FAIR data principles
• Experience with open source software (Github, Python, R, etc.)
• Background in Marine Life observing methods (eg. passive acoustics, animal telemetry, environmental DNA, video recorders VPR/IFCB, plankton, HAB)
• Familiarity with biodiversity data repositories, standards and governing bodies (OBIS, GBIF, TDWG, CF, BODC NVS)
• 5+ years managing projects, PMP preferred
• Bonus points: You are familiar with NOAA and/or NOS.

You’re REALLY going to love it here if:

• You thrive in a close-knit, friendly corporate culture dedicated to fostering personal careerdevelopment
• You work in an environment with accessible and available senior corporate leadership without the micromanagement
• You’re looking for a great work/life balance
• You’re seeking above standard benefits – Health insurance where the company pays 75% of premiums, 401k match, paid holidays, referral bonuses, and ‘take what you need’ paid time off
• You seek a work environment where you have a voice in the development and modification of the policies by which the company is governed

The admin stuff: You must be a US Citizen and be able to pass a Public Trust investigation from the U.S. government.