Forest Fire Research Scientist

Important messages

We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process. If you need to be accommodated during any phase of the evaluation process, please use the Contact information below to request specialized accommodation. All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

Assessment accommodation

The Government of Canada is committed to building a skilled workforce that is representative of Canada's diversity, which includes the recruitment of Canadian Veterans and releasing Canadian Armed Forces personnel:

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-service-commission/jobs/services/public-service-jobs/canadian-armed-forces-members-veterans.html

We encourage applicants to identify any abilities, competencies, and/or experiences acquired through employment with the Canadian Armed Forces where applicable.

Work environment

The Pacific Forestry Centre is an internationally-recognized forest science laboratory specializing in forest disturbances, economics, carbon science, and remote sensing. A vibrant group of researchers, technical staff and administrative staff work to maintain a creative and stimulating work environment. The research centre is located in Victoria, a dynamic coastal city on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Challenge
Wildland urban interface fires are an important fire and emergency management challenge and a threat to public safety. Research is needed to better define wildland urban interface fire risk, model fire behavior in the interface between wildlands and communities, understand community and structure susceptibility, and develop and test the effectiveness of mitigation techniques to enhance the resilience of Canadian communities and fire management systems to wildland fire.

Working with a multidisciplinary team of scientists, technicians, and economists, as well as with fire managers and stakeholders in different areas of the country, the successful candidate will develop a research program on wildland-urban interface fire, covering topics in fire behaviour prediction, fire management operations, or fire risk assessment and mitigation, depending on their expertise. A combination of field, laboratory, and simulation approaches are expected.

Intent of the process

A pool of (fully or partially qualified) candidates may be established through this process to staff identical or similar positions within Natural Resources Canada with various tenures , various language requirements (English Essential, French Essential, English or French Essential, or Bilingual), linguistic requirements (imperative and/or non-imperative) and profile(s) (BBB/BBB, CBC/CBC, CCC/CCC, etc.), various security requirements (Reliability status or Secret clearance), various conditions of employment and for various locations.

Positions to be filled: 1

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

In order to be considered, your application must clearly explain how you meet the following (essential qualifications)

Graduation with an acceptable master's or bachelor's degree coupled with acceptable research, training and experience. The degree must be from a recognized post-secondary institution and in scientific fields and specialties related to the duties of the position. The training and experience must clearly demonstrate the ability to do personal research.

Productivity/Recognition:
Productivity or recognition refers to recognized achievement in the form of authorship and editorship of published or unpublished reports, books, papers, or other communications in wildfire science or fire management resulting from:
• Research, experimental development, or tasking associated with operational equipment and problems;
• Operational research and scientific analysis;
• Planning, analysis and evaluation of Canadian and foreign programs in research and development.
It also includes developmental work leading to the issue of patents, copyrights, or the creation of improved varieties, functions, or designs, and/or recognition by the professional community of the research environment.
of doctoral degree calibre.

Degree equivalency

Ex1 Experience in designing or leading research studies.
Ex2 Experience in conducting research directly related to at least one of the following: forest fire danger, fire behaviour, fire risk analysis, fire management systems, fire safety engineering, or combustion physics.
Ex3 Experience working with analytical packages and tools such as R, SAS, MatLab, Python or similar.
Ex4 Significant experience (at least 4 manuscripts and first author of a minimum of one) in the publication of peer-reviewed articles in the field of fire research.

The following will be applied / assessed at a later date (essential for the job)

English essential

Information on language requirements

K1 Knowledge of the physical fire environment (e.g., processes by which forest fires ignite, spread, extinguish).
K2 Knowledge of quantitative risk assessment and management principles.
K3 Knowledge of systems of forest fire management.

A1 Ability to prepare research proposals and manage projects.
A2 Ability to communicate effectively in English orally.
A3 Ability to communicate effectively in English in writing.

PS1 Leadership
PS2 Strong organization skills
PS3 Integrity
PS4 Effective interpersonal relationships

The following may be applied / assessed at a later date (may be needed for the job)

Graduation with an acceptable doctoral degree from a recognized post-secondary institution in a natural or physical science, engineering, statistics or mathematics field

Degree equivalency

AQ1 Experience with either field survey, field sampling, or environmental monitoring methods.
AQ2 Experience with one or more of analytics, data science, or statistical methods.
AQ3 Experience supervising scientific staff.
AQ4 Experience participating in multidisciplinary research projects.
AQ5 Experience in communicating and applying research results in the end-user community, including writing technical reports for field managers and other stakeholders.

Other information

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled and diverse workforce that reflects the Canadians we serve. We promote employment equity and encourage you to indicate if you belong to one of the designated groups when you apply.

Information on employment equity

All applications must be submitted online through the GC Jobs website. DO NOT email, fax or mail in applications, as these will NOT be accepted..

Acknowledgment of receipts of applications will not be sent; we will only contact successful applicants when the screening process has been completed.

Applicants are required to meet the Essential Qualifications. Asset Qualifications MAY be applied at any point in the assessment process. Therefore, you are strongly encouraged to answer Asset Qualifications questions in your online application. Applicants do not need to meet any/all of the Asset Qualifications for consideration, however, possessing any/all of the Asset Qualifications may increase the likelihood of being considered for an appointment.

Natural Resources Canada is committed to establishing and maintaining a representative workforce. This organizational need may be identified as part of the appointment decision. In such cases, qualified candidates who self-declare as members of a visible minority group, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities or women (in non-traditional occupations) could be considered in priority.

An interview may be sought.

A written test may be administered.

A situational exercise may/will be administered.

Reference checks may be sought.

Random selection and/or top-down selection may be used at any time during the process to identify which applicants will be further assessed.

Candidates should be prepared to provide proof of education (copy of degree/diploma) and citizenship or permanent resident status. If you have obtained education outside Canada, you will be required to submit proof of evaluation of Canadian equivalency.

Candidates from outside the public service may be required to pay for travel and relocation costs associated with this selection process.

If you are selected for further consideration, please advise the person who will contact you of any accommodations you may require during the selection process.

Applicants are asked to indicate their preferred official language in their application.

Persons are entitled to participate in the appointment process in the official language of their choice.
The Public Service of Canada is also committed to developing inclusive, barrier-free selection processes and work environments. If contacted in relation to a job opportunity or testing, you should advise the Public Service Commission or the departmental official in a timely fashion of the accommodation measures which must be taken to enable you to be assessed in a fair and equitable manner. Information received relating to accommodation measures will be addressed confidentially.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans and to Canadian citizens, in that order, with the exception of a job located in Nunavut, where Nunavut Inuit will be appointed first.

Information on the preference to veterans

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.