Knowledge Transfer Associate in Soil Carbon Analysis and Accounting
Job Description
The Opportunity:
The University of Edinburgh and the Plan Vivo Foundation have been awarded a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) to support Plan Vivo projects to quantify soil carbon changes under smallholder agroforestry in the Global South. We will develop a state-of-the-art modelling tool and methodology to help projects understand the soil carbon impacts of their land management and access the voluntary carbon market.
We are seeking a highly talented, independent, and motivated candidate for a 21-month fixed-term position. You will work as part of a team to build a simple but effective tool that combines model estimates and field data, provides simple-to-understand outputs, and quantifies uncertainty in ways that meet good practice and standards in the voluntary carbon market. You will engage with project developers and other stakeholders in the Plan Vivo network to deliver high-quality training on the use of the tool and to ensure it meets the needs of diverse projects and the Plan Vivo secretariat.
This post is full-time (35 hours per week) based at Plan Vivo Foundation's headquarters in central Edinburgh, but you will also spend time with the UoE team at the King's Buildings campus. The post will be jointly supervised by Plan Vivo and the academic lead at UoE.
Your Skills and Attributes for Success:
* Ph.D. (or a Ph.D. close to completion, i.e., submitted) in environmental science, with a focus on high-level data science methods and soil carbon or carbon accounting more generally.
* Experience of combining model predictions with observations (model-data fusion) and uncertainty propagation.
* Critical thinking skills to balance competing needs of projects, the carbon market, and scientific rigour.
* Knowledge of carbon cycling, climate change policy, and the land-use and forestry sector.
* Self-starter with proven ability to work independently and efficiently to set deadlines.
* Excellent written and oral communication skills.
* Proven ability to work as a member of a team.
Application Requirements:
To support your application, please provide a 2-page (max) CV, a 1-page cover letter, and an example of a quantitative analysis you have undertaken. The latter can be some code of an analysis you undertook, or a link to an online repository, etc.
As a Valued Member of Our Team, You Can Expect:
* A competitive salary of UE07 £40,497 to £47,874 per annum.
* An exciting, positive, creative, challenging, and rewarding place to work.
* To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.
* As a KTP Associate, you will be part of the national Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (ktp-uk.org) scheme and entitled to specialist management training and a professional development budget.
* You will also get to work in an exciting and fast-growing sector, supporting Plan Vivo's mission to improve the voluntary carbon market.
* Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, and flexible work options.
Championing Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion:
The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.
Prior to any employment commencing with the University, you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages.
On this occasion, the University will not consider applicants requiring sponsorship for this role. International workers will therefore only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.
Key Dates to Note:
The closing date for applications is 14 February 2025.
Unless stated otherwise, the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK, the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browser's local time zone.
Interviews will be held in late February 2025.
About Us:
As a world-leading research-intensive University, we are here to address tomorrow's greatest challenges. Between now and 2030, we will do that with a values-led approach to teaching, research, and innovation, and through the strength of our relationships, both locally and globally.
About the Team:
The School of GeoSciences explores the factors and forces that shape our world. The School aims to understand the world through fundamental curiosity-driven research and to support prescient decision-making at individual to global scales. We undertake world-leading research; offer new ways of understanding natural and social drivers of change; provide inter-and trans-disciplinary solutions; and work in partnership to improve livelihoods and explore ways to manage the environment that are both sustainable and socially equitable. #J-18808-Ljbffr