Scientific Programmer

Ocean Associates is seeking a Scientific Programmer to support NOAA Fisheries. OAI is a Virginia corporation established in 2003 that provides consulting and technical services to the U.S. government, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and the private sector. We specialize in scientific program and project management, strategic planning, professional and technical services, and stakeholder engagement, supporting government contracts.

This position will provide programming and data analysis services required by the Offshore Wind and Ecology Branch (OWEB) of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC). The OWEB works to determine how offshore wind (OSW) development projects affect protected species, fisheries, marine habitats, and fishing communities. The OWEB provides data and expert support for marine spatial planning of NOAA’s trust resources in the Greater Atlantic Region related to OSW projects for marine resource managers (including fisheries managers, protected species managers, critical habitat assessments, and habitat conservation), stakeholders, and scientific partners. The Scientific Programmer will work closely with the offshore wind scientific staff at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and our regional partners to ensure the successful completion of activities.

The Scientific Programmer will collect, synthesize, and provide environmental and ecological data and analyses on National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) trust resources and fisheries utilization to inform offshore wind (OSW) siting decisions and subsequent related analyses in the Greater Atlantic Region. The Scientific Programmer will also provide modeling support and identify, develop, maintain, and update needed datasets, maps, and geospatial tools for OSW lease areas currently under environmental review, OSW-related permitting (e.g., cable routing), and for continued planning or adaptive management for OSW projects in coordination with NMFS and partners on NMFS trust resources and fisheries utilization. The Scientific Programmer will build tools to facilitate data access and analysis, including R Shiny dashboards. Duties will also include preparing metadata and ensuring all data meet the Public Access to Research Results (PARR) requirements. To accomplish these goals, the Scientific Programmer will leverage existing data workflows and sources, as well as contribute to new tools to facilitate data storage, access, and analysis.

Tasks:

• Develop tools for data viewing, analysis, and reporting
• Collect, synthesize, and maintain relevant geospatial and ecological data and associated metadata.
• Add metadata from new data streams to InPort, the NMFS Enterprise Data Management Program and make all public data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR).
• Collaborate with other data providers at NEFSC to ensure proper data governance and development of standardized products.
• Provide data and communicate findings and results to NMFS wind team members, relevant wind development scientific and regulatory programs, partners and stakeholders, as appropriate.
• Perform, interpret, and communicate sophisticated and relevant data analyses, which may include publishing results in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
• Produce appropriate documentation of conducted work, which may include technical documents, reference documents, or reports.

Required skills/qualifications:

• Master’s degree in natural sciences, statistics, or similar, or equivalent experience
• Intermediate knowledge of R programming language (tidyverse, function development, Rmarkdown).
• Demonstrated proficiency for the following skill sets:
• Project management for complex and technical scientific programs.
• Cooperating with diverse project teams to develop, improve, and achieve project goals.
• Communication both verbally and using written materials (including visual presentations) with a variety of audiences including technical, scientific, and the general public.
• Independent worker with strong time management skills.
• Adaptability to quickly changing priorities and strict timelines.
• Attention to detail.

Preferred skills/qualifications:

• Advanced knowledge of R programming language (R package development, RStudio Connect, R Shiny).
• Advanced degree in natural sciences or statistics.
• Experience with fisheries data.
• Familiarity with the offshore wind development process.

Location:

Located at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, MA or Narragansett, RI; telework negotiable.

Salary and Benefits:

This is a full-time position with benefits. Salary, commensurate with experience, $35.00 to $45.00 per hour.

Travel:

Occasional travel to attend meetings, workshops, or conferences may be required.

https://workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/default/mdf/recruitment/recruitment.html?cid=9a93435d-91d4-4a65-8a21-2de9187df1dd&ccId=19000101_000001&jobId=522825&source=CC2&lang=en_US