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Senior Geospatial Scientist

Embrace the opportunity to join Innovate! Inc. and become a valued member of our team. We are seeking driven individuals who are passionate about leveraging technology to tackle environmental challenges and drive positive change. If you thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced environment and are eager to contribute your skills and expertise to innovative projects, we invite you to explore this exciting opportunity further. Read on to learn more about how you can be part of our dynamic team.

Innovate! Inc. is seeking a highly experienced Senior Geospatial Scientist to provide advanced GIS, remote sensing, and geospatial data analysis support to convert habitat conditions and ecological stressors into reproducible spatial indices and management-ready geospatial products for NOAA Fisheries and the Northwest Salmon Life Cycle Modeling program.

*Contingent upon contract being awarded*

Location: Work will be conducted on-site at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, Washington (WA) or at one of its associated field stations in WA or Oregon

Salary Range: $120,000 - $138,000

Position status: Full Time; with benefits

Benefits include: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K with match, Life Insurance, and PTO

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Integrate large spatial, remotely sensed, biological, and environmental datasets across freshwater, estuarine, and nearshore marine habitats.
• Perform advanced GIS and geospatial analyses to characterize salmon habitats, ecological conditions, and environmental stressors.
• Compute and validate spatial indices representing factors such as prey availability, predator abundance, habitat condition, and other ecological metrics used in assessment tools.
• Contribute spatial datasets, indices, and analytical expertise to fish life-cycle models and simulations used to evaluate management scenarios.
• Lead geospatial data processing, QA/QC, visualization, map production, and development of interactive dashboards or other accessible spatial products.
• Design reproducible GIS and scientific data engineering workflows and document methods, metadata, scripts, assumptions, and dependencies in reports and code repositories.
• Store geospatial datasets and analysis products in organized, accessible formats suitable for reuse by NOAA scientists and interdisciplinary collaborators.
• Collect fish and environmental field data when needed, including work around water, travel in vehicles or boats, and occasional support of vessel surveys.
• Write technical reports and status updates, contribute to peer-reviewed manuscripts, and present geospatial methods and findings at scientific meetings and conferences.
• Collaborate with fisheries scientists, quantitative modelers, data managers, field staff, and natural resource managers.

REQUIRED SKILLS & TECHNICAL EXPERTISE

• Advanced proficiency with ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, or comparable GIS platforms for collating and analyzing large spatial datasets.
• Expertise in spatial analysis, remote sensing, raster and vector processing, geospatial statistics, data visualization, and cartographic communication.
• Experience with R, Python, GitHub, or comparable tools for reproducible geospatial analysis, workflow automation, and version control.
• Ability to design scalable data-processing workflows and organize spatial datasets for integration into ecological or life-cycle models.
• Knowledge of open-science principles, metadata, reproducible research, code repositories, and transparent documentation.
• Familiarity with Pacific salmon ecology and the freshwater, estuarine, nearshore marine, and broader West Coast habitats managed by NOAA Fisheries.
• Strong quantitative skills and the ability to interpret ecological data and translate biological questions into geospatial analyses.
• Excellent technical writing, peer-reviewed publication, presentation, and stakeholder communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, deliver high-quality products efficiently, and work independently and within interdisciplinary teams

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited institution in fisheries, ecology, natural sciences, mathematics, statistics, oceanography, hydrology, geography, GIS, remote sensing, or a closely related field.
• Three or more years of relevant GIS or geospatial analysis experience; an MS may substitute for up to two years and a PhD for up to four years of experience.
• Demonstrated experience analyzing large environmental or ecological spatial datasets and producing documented, reproducible geospatial products.
• Experience supporting NOAA Fisheries, NWFSC, another NOAA program, or a comparable fisheries, marine science, environmental, tribal, academic, or federal research organization is preferred.
• Experience with Pacific salmon, West Coast habitats, fisheries life-cycle modeling, habitat mapping, species distribution modeling, or remote sensing of aquatic ecosystems is highly desirable.
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license and be able to satisfy federal Public Trust background investigation requirements.

LEARN MORE ABOUT US

Innovate! Inc. is a certified woman-owned consulting firm founded in 2002 by Lily Thomas. We provide innovative solutions to management, technology, and program challenges, with a focus on performance, integrity, and building lasting partnerships with our clients. Our team of over 100 experts includes IT and geospatial specialists, program and project management consultants, environmental scientists, and communications and outreach strategists. Our clients include federal, state, tribal, and local governments, private industry, non-profit organizations, higher education institutions, and utilities. Recent awards we received for excellent service include the 2022 SAG Team Award and 2022 Esri Partner Conference High Potential Award.

Innovate is a fast-paced, rapidly growing group of entrepreneurs creating a culture of excellence. Rapid advancement within our organization is not only possible but also encouraged. To view our website, visit innovateteam.com.

Innovate is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment based on race, color, sex, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, national origin, marital status, physical or mental disability, status as a Disabled Veteran, Recently Separated Veteran, Active Duty Wartime or Campaign Badge Veteran, Armed Forces Services Medal, or any other characteristic protected by law. If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or cannot access or use this online application process and need an alternative method for applying, please contact us at careers@innovateteam.com.