Biodiversity Data Analyst

**Department**:Natural Resources & Renewables

**Location**:KENTVILLE

**Type of Employment**:Term

**Union Status**:NSGEU - NSPG

**Closing Date**:14-Jun-24 (Applications are accepted until 11:59 PM Atlantic Time)

**About Us**:
Nova Scotia is rich in natural resources - including biodiversity, forests, provincial parks, and the land we manage. The Department of Natural Resources & Renewables is responsible for the development, management, conservation and protection of forest, parks and wildlife resources and the administration of the province’s Crown land. Together we are working with Nova Scotians to build a better future through sustainable natural resource management as we all benefit from the natural health and wealth of the province.

As part of the Renewable Resources branch, you will contribute to programs that develop and conduct research related to biodiversity and ecosystem management practices, develop strategies for sustainable management of Nova Scotia’s renewable natural resources, and interact with diverse organizations in the conservation, recreation and industrial sectors. The Wildlife division does this by monitoring populations of harvested and at-risk species, maintaining digital and spatial (GIS) databases of species and ecosystem occurrence and distribution, and developing species and ecosystem management tools for Integrated Resource Management through ongoing research.

**About Our Opportunity**:
As the Biodiversity Data Analyst, you will be a technical lead on the biodiversity information systems required to support wild species, habitat and ecosystem conservation and utilization initiatives. This two-year term position is funded through the Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement to support the development of biodiversity spatial planning tools for use in landscape-level and land-use planning decisions.

**Primary Accountabilities**:
Some of the primary accountabilities in the role include:

- Designing, building, and administering systems, tools and processes to collect, maintain and provide access to biodiversity data within the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables in collaboration with other information technology and wildlife professionals, as well as external partners, academia and contractors.
- Administrating and supporting the data systems which track provincial wild species occurrences, significant habitat features, and data collected through directed research and monitoring programs.
- Developing scripts, tools, and interfaces to improve the collection, processing and quality control of digital information submitted for various departmental initiatives.
- Designing and completing routine quality control procedures on information entering biodiversity databases, tracking defects and identifying corrective action to address defects or business process improvements.
- Conducting spatial analyses to develop spatial tools for biodiversity prioritization.
- Providing routine and ad-hoc reporting for use by government, researchers, industry, the public and media and you are critical in identifying and gathering business intelligence and performance metrics to assist with business improvement. Within the Wildlife Division, you will work closely with the managers and staff responsible for harvested species management, human-wildlife conflict, ecosystems, habitats and species-at-risk, other GIS and wildlife modelling staff, as well as partner organizations such as the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre.
- Supporting a broad user group within the Regional Services Branch. Documenting business processes, functional and technical requirements to provide for efficient system usage and administration as well as new solutions or enhancements.
- Preparing proposals, providing recommendations, and project planning for enhanced or new solutions to meet business needs; conducting database requirements analysis, design and development, as well as data analysis, cleansing and conversion.

This position reports to the Manager, Ecosystems and Habitats,

**Qualifications and Experience**:
This may be the right opportunity for you if you have a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant Geomatics field + 5 years related experience or graduation from an approved technical school in the field of geomatics + 8 years related experience; or equivalent combination of training and experience may be acceptable.

You have experience using ArcGIS Desktop and AGOL. Database skills (e.g. SQL) and experience with Survey123, FieldMaps, FME, and Python are considered assets.

You bring an innovative approach to your work to develop creative solutions to solve unique or complex GIS technical issues and develop strategies to address changing priorities of government and clients.

We will assess the above qualifications and competencies using one or more of the following tools: written examination, standardized tests, oral presentations, interview(s), and reference checks.

**Equivalency**:
**Benefits**: