Remote Sensing Physical Scientist

Update: Extended closing date.

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.

The hiring organization will accept applications on-line only. All job applications must therefore be submitted through the Public Service Resourcing System. To submit an application on-line, please select the button “Apply Online” below. Persons with disabilities preventing them from applying on-line are asked to contact 1-800-645-5605.

Work environment

At Natural Resources Canada, a Federal government job means developing leadership skills, fostering teamwork, and supporting creativity and innovation. The Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation is a dynamic, multi-disciplinary and data-driven organization with the mandate to provide pan-Canadian horizontal geospatial policy and program leadership.
We are passionate about what we do! We make authoritative data about Canada’s land, water and infrastructure available to Canadians. We manage Canada’s national geospatial data infrastructure, and we empower federal departments to work with reliable geospatial data to meet their mandates.
We use innovative scientific and technical technologies, tools, and applications in our work every day. We use satellite imagery and ground receiving stations to obtain data so that economists, modelers, and data scientists can sift through and explore vast quantities of data for patterns and deeper analytics. This is enabled through the use of the latest data visualization techniques, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
We strongly believe in work-life balance and many of our employees choose to adopt a compressed or flexible work schedule.

JOIN US

As a member of our team, you will work creatively with like-minded professionals who take pride in helping to Canadians to have solid information and data about the communities in which they live, work, and raise their families.
Our offices are mainly in two locations* :

Ottawa: Located across from Dow’s Lake in the heart of Ottawa, we are close to both nature, and Preston Street. Take runs at lunch or skate to work. With only a quick walk to Preston Street, enjoy the culinary delights and nightlife offered by some of Ottawa’s finest restaurants, pubs, and comedy clubs. There is also easy access to the O-Train, and to major bus routes. Easy access to the Queensway helps ease the daily commute! Our location offers numerous benefits to both the nature lover, and the adventurous.

Sherbrooke: Located in the heart of the eastern townships, there is access to universities, restaurants, music festivals, wineries, farmer’s markets, and nature. In fact, nature is at your doorstep: literally, as there is a mountain in the centre of town. There is quick access to some of eastern North America’s best ski hills, hiking trails and lakes. And when you feel the call of the “big city”, you will be in Montréal within 90 minutes or at the U.S. border within 30 minutes. Life in Sherbrooke is accessible and affordable. Homes are among the most affordable in the country, as is daycare and post-secondary education.

Intent of the process

A partially assessed pool of candidates resulting from this appointment process may be used to fill identical and similar positions at the PC-02 group and level within Natural Resources Canada with various linguistic requirements: English Essential, French Essential, English or French Essential and Bilingual Imperative levels: (BBB/BBB, CBC/CBC), as well as security levels (secret or reliability), conditions of employment, tenures, and locations which may vary according to the position being staffed.

Please note that candidates will be assessed on some of the essential statement of merit criteria prior to being placed in the partially assessed pool. Qualified candidates will need to meet the essential merit criteria and some of the asset merit criteria prior to being appointed to a position.

Applicants must clearly demonstrate on their application that they meet all of the following essential education and experience criteria. Failure to do so may result in the rejection of your application

Positions to be filled: 7

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

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

Education:
ED1 - Graduation with a degree from a recognized post-secondary institution, with acceptable specialization in physics, geology, chemistry or some other science relevant to the position(s).

Note:
The courses for the specialization must be acceptable and must have been taken at a recognized post-secondary institution, but not necessarily within a degree program in the required specialization.

Degree equivalency

EXPERIENCE
EX1: Minimum of two years experience* in analyzing and interpreting remote sensing data in at least one of the following two areas:
1) Optical remote sensing
2) Radar remote sensing

EX2: Minimum of two years experience* in 2 of the following 3 areas:
1) Conducting research involving the use of at least one remote sensing image analysis software system (PCI, ENVI, GAMMA, Matlab, or others)
2) Using at least one GIS professional software package (such as ESRI/ArcGIS Pro, QGIS)
3) Programming in at least one of the following computer languages: FORTRAN, C++, C, Java, –Python, or R

EX3: Experience* in preparing reports

EX4: Experience* in presenting scientific results.

*Relevant post-graduate work conducted through a Masters or PhD program (or other higher education program beyond a Bachelor’s degree) are permitted to be considered as experience.

If you possess any of the following, your application must also clearly explain how you meet it (other qualifications)

OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Willingness and ability to travel occasionally
Willingness and ability to work occasional overtime

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

Various language requirements

Information on language requirements

KNOWLEDGE:
K1: Knowledge of the physical principals of remote sensing for earth observation.

K2: Knowledge of at least 1 of the following 2 areas:
1) Optical remote sensing
2) Radar remote sensing

K3: Knowledge of at least 2 of the following 3 areas:
1) Knowledge of remote sensing image analysis software systems (PCI, ENVI, GAMMA, Matlab, or others)
2) Knowledge of at least one GIS professional software package (such as ESRI/ArcGIS Pro, QGIS)
3) Knowledge of programming in at least one of the following computer languages (FORTRAN, C++, C, C#, Java, Python, or R)

ABILITIES:
A1 -Ability to effectively solve problems
A2 -Ability to communicate effectively orally
A3 -Ability to communicate effectively in writing
A4 - Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships.

PERSONAL SUITABILITIES:
PS1: Adaptability
PS2: Initiative
PS3: Dependability

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

ASSET QUALIFICATIONS:

Different asset qualifications will be relevant for different positions, as diverse, project-related work will require different specialized skill sets. Candidates are not expected to meet all the asset qualifications listed below.

EDUCATION:
Successful completion of a graduate degree from a recognized University with acceptable specialization in: Biology, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Meteorology, Geography, Mathematics, Physics, Computer science, Remote Sensing, Geology, Chemistry, or another science relevant to the position(s).

EXPERIENCE:
Data Manipulation/Integration/Analysis/Extraction/Production:
-Experience in photogrammetry and/or in 3-D feature extraction
-Experience in using atmospheric radiative transfer models
-Experience with one or more advanced SAR technologies such as interferometry, polarimetry, polarimetric-interferometry, bi-static SAR or radar backscatter modelling.
-Experience in the analysis and integration of one or more of the following: panchromatic data, multi-spectral optical data, SAR data, hyperspectral data, multi-resolution data, or digital elevation models (DEM).
-Experience in producing satellite-based climate data records.
-Experience in manmade feature extraction.
- Experience in the analysis of multi-source spatial data
-Experience with acquisition, management, processing and analysis of Lidar and\or drone data
¬ -Experience of machine learning/deep learning/artificial intelligence techniques for information extraction from remote sensing data
-Experience in the delivery of remote sensing or mapping services and products in an operational context.

Mapping/Monitoring
-Experience in remote sensing for mapping and monitoring of natural hazards, or ecological/biophysical parameters, or geology, or hydrology, or wildlife, or habitat or ecosystems ,or the cryosphere, or land cover change

Software/Technologies
-Experience in structured computer programming and scripting (e.g. C, C++, Java, Python), for data modelling and integration with other geospatial data sets and with processing software tools (e.g. PCI, ProSDK, Jupyter Notebook, GDAL, Web mapping interfaces)
-Experience with Structured Query Language and Data-base design and development, including the use of XML and Postgres relation database.
-Experience working with multi-processor and/or distributed processing software design, implementation and testing, on Unix/Linux or Windows operating systems
-Experience in the development of mathematical models of sensor characteristics and sensor platform trajectories, and/or in the development of methods for systems optimization
-Experience developing user friendly interface using HTML, javascript, CSS and PHP
-Experience with Cloud computing (AWS, Google, Azure) or data cube processing
-Experience with API, microservices, containers (Docker, Kubernetes or other)

KNOWLEDGE:

Data Manipulation/Integration/Analysis/Extraction/Production:
-Knowledge of interferometric and/or polarimetric analysis of SAR data
-Knowledge of current SAR sensor systems
-Knowledge of pre-processing of digital SAR image data, potentially including speckle filtering and ortho-rectification
-Knowledge of the principals of atmospheric radiative transfer models
-Knowledge of manmade feature extraction.
-Knowledge of current and upcoming multi-spectral and hyperspectral sensor systems (airborne or spaceborne);
-Knowledge of current state of hyperspectral or bidirectional reflectance image processing.
-Knowledge of acquisition, management, processing and analysis of Lidar and\or drone data
- Knowledge of development and implementation of open standards (e.g. open geospatial standards or other).

Mapping/Monitoring:
-Knowledge of remote sensing for mapping and monitoring of natural hazards, or ecological/biophysical parameters, or geology, or hydrology, or wildlife, or habitat or ecosystems , or the cryosphere or land cover change
-Knowledge of northern environmental changes and northern vegetation dynamics

Software/Technologies:
-Knowledge of along-track and across-track stereoscopy
-Knowledge of drone or UAV flight planning for imagery capture and related imagery processing
-Knowledge of statistical pattern recognition methods for image classification
-Knowledge of machine learning/deep learning/artificial intelligence techniques for information extraction from remote sensing data
-Knowledge of computer programming and scripting for data modelling and integration with other geospatial data sets.
-Knowledge of the design of mathematical models for optical and/or radar sensors and sensor platform trajectories, or systems optimization and least-squares processing
-Knowledge of multi-processor and distributed processing software design and implementation techniques
-Knowledge in developing or creating data processing tools or software on Unix/Linux and Windows Operating Systems
-Knowledge of Structured Query Language Data-base design and development considerations, including the use of XML.
-Knowledge with implementing online applications for sharing, visualizing, managing data and web mapping
-Knowledge in using Jupyter Notebooks for geospatial data analysis
-Knowledge of API, microservices, containers (Docker, Kubernetes or other)
-Knowledge of Cloud computing (AWS, Google, Azure) or data cube processing

OTHER ASSETS:
-Experience planning and executing fieldwork with minimal supervision

Selection may be limited to members of the following Employment Equity groups: Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, visible minorities

Information on employment equity

Conditions of employment

Reliability Status security clearance - CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
-Pre-appointment medical required for positions involving fieldwork
-Reliability and Security: Secret or Reliability (depending on requirements of position to be staffed)
-All employees of the core public administration are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and attest to their vaccination status unless accommodated based on a medical contraindication, religion, or another prohibited ground for discrimination as defined under the Canadian Human Rights Act.

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

Acknowledgment of receipt of applications will not be sent; we thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.

You must provide proof of your education credentials. Candidates with foreign credentials must provide proof of Canadian equivalency. Consult the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials for further information at http://www.cicic.ca/.

Candidates must meet the essential qualifications to be appointed to a position.

Candidates may be required to meet the other qualifications, depending on the requirements of the specific position being staffed.

Persons are entitled to participate in the appointment process in the official language of their choice. Applicants are asked to indicate their preferred official language in their application.

Candidates must meet the conditions of employment and continue to meet these same conditions during their employment.

On October 6, 2021, the Government of Canada announced details of its plans to require vaccination across the federal public service.

As per the new Policy on COVID-19 Vaccination for the Core Public Administration Including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, federal public servants in the Core Public Administration and members of the RCMP must attest to their vaccination status. The requirement for employees to be fully vaccinated applies whether they are teleworking, working remotely or working on-site. This is a condition of employment and it applies to indeterminate (permanent), determinate (term), casual, and student hiring. Should you reach the point in the selection process where it is necessary to verify terms and conditions of employment then the hiring manager or a human resources representative will contact you in order to complete an attestation.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans first and then to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, 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.