Research Support Officer, UNEP GEMS/Water Capacity Development Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences

9 Month, Fixed-Term, Whole-time Post

Position summary

University College Cork (UCC), the Environmental Research Institute and the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at UCC have hosted the United Nations Environment Programme Global Environmental Monitoring System for Water (UNEP GEMS/Water) Capacity Development Centre (CDC) since 2015. The UNEP GEMS/Water CDC currently provides capacity development on all aspects of ambient water quality, including the analysis and assessment of water quality monitoring data. However additional dedicated expertise for data management, data quality assurance and quality control have been identified in order to assist countries and organisations in making use of their data. The Research Support Officer role will feed into this need, and into existing capabilities on capacity building for national and regional environmental information and knowledge management, specifically training and capacity development on all aspects of water quality monitoring, incl. data management, data QA/QC.

This Research Support Officer will  play a pivotal role in the UNEP GEMS/Water CDC for the development, delivery, administration and examining of the professional training and education programmes of the Centre around data management, analysis and presentation of water quality data. The successful candidate will be expected to play a key role in researching and scoping needs around water quality data management and assessment, in building those identified needs into updates of existing  materials, and in the incorporation of identified data training needs into new training courses aimed at capacity development. As such, the ideal candidate will therefore have proven familiarity with common data analysis methodologies, statistical programmes and techniques, and be comfortable working with databases and different data types. It is highly desirable that the successful candidate will have some familiarity with training,  and administration of educational programmes of an appropriate nature, including interacting with  international students from diverse backgrounds and engaging with key stakeholders in the UNEP GEMS/Water programme as appropriate. Relevant experience in a higher education setting is therefore highly desirable as the successful candidate will also play a key role in developing data training workshops and summer schools. The successful candidate should have proven report-writing and presentation skills, and the ability to play a leading role in creation and updating of existing technical manuals and operational guides around data management and use in water quality assessment globally.

Project Title: Capacity development in management, analysis and presentation of water quality data

Post Duration: 9 Months

Salary: €37,000 p.a. (Personal Rate)

For an information package including further details of the post see https://ore.ucc.ie/.

Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to Dr Tim Sullivan, Director UNEP GEMS/Water CDC, BEES/ERI, Tel: + 353 (0) 21 4905271; Email: [email protected] .

Applications must be submitted online via the University College Cork vacancy portal (https://ore.ucc.ie/). Queries relating to the online application process should be referred to [email protected], quoting the job-title and project name.

Candidates should apply, in confidence, before 12 noon (Irish Local Time) on Friday, 10 March 2023. No late applications will be accepted.

Please note that an appointment to posts advertised will be dependent on University approval, together with the terms of the employment control framework for the higher education sector.

UCC is committed to creating and fully embracing an inclusive environment where diversity is celebrated.  As a University we strive to create a workplace that reflects the diversity of our student population where people from a wide variety of backgrounds learn from one another, share ideas, and work collaboratively. UCC is committed to being an employer that recognises the value of diversity amongst its staff.  We encourage applicants to consult our policies at https://www.ucc.ie/en/edi/policies/ and initiatives at https://www.ucc.ie/en/edi/implementation/ and we welcome applications from everyone, including those who are underrepresented in the protected characteristics set out in our Equal Opportunities & Diversity Policy.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYER