Postdoctoral Fellow: Geospatial Tools for Water Management - Department of Ecosystems and Conservation

DESCRIPTION:

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a CGIAR Research Center is seeking a competent, self-motivated, and dynamic candidate to join its office in Giza, Egypt, as a Postdoctoral Fellow – Geospatial Tools for Water Management.

The Postdoctoral Fellow will be mainly involved in the WaPOR Phase II (Monitoring land and water productivity by Remote Sensing) and other related projects. The Postdoc’s primary responsibilities will include developing stakeholder-centric applications that integrate publicly available remote sensing and other spatial and temporal datasets. These applications aim to enhance agricultural water use and productivity, assess water risks and vulnerabilities, and improve the targeting of water investments at various scales. Specifically, the person will undertake the development of demand-driven tools and ensure their calibration and validation through high-quality field data collection and surveys. Furthermore, the incumbent will lead stakeholder engagement efforts for tool development and conduct capacity-building activities related to the developed tools.

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DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

Develop stakeholder-centric, demand-driven geospatial applications based on the WaPOR land and water productivity datasets to map irrigated water use hotspots, conduct water productivity assessments, and assess irrigation scheme performance.
Develop custom applications using machine learning, multi-criteria, or other relevant methods to enhance water management across large spatial scales.
Contribute to the scientific advancement and methodological developments of IWMI’s digital water innovation toolsets.
Develop technical guidance and training materials for the custom geospatial applications.
Prepare high-quality research reports and journal articles.
Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to implement innovative, remote sensing-based approaches for improved water management in the regions where IWMI operates.
Provide technical support to researchers for complex geospatial analysis in various research and management projects at IWMI headquarters.
Assist in training and capacity-building activities related to the tools developed within the Water Productivity/Water Accounting group.
Perform other related assignments as required.

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EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Essential

PhD in Remote sensing, geospatial analytics, hydro-informatics, water resources, spatial hydrology, machine learning, or a related discipline.
Experience in applying remote sensing and spatial analysis in the field of agriculture and water management.
Prior experience in using supervised and unsupervised algorithms, including machine learning methods (e.g., ecological niche modeling) on large spatial datasets in Python, R, or any other programming language.
Demonstrated experience in using Python to handle large spatial and non-spatial datasets.
Experience in using Google Earth Engine or other cloud-based earth observation data processing environments for geospatial tool developments.
Experience designing and implementing approaches for data-scarce environments.

Desirable

Experience in wastewater estimation, reuse, and loss estimation modeling.
Experience in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries.
Prior experience in modeling emissions from agriculture and wastewater sectors.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES REQUIRED:

Essential

Strong understanding of hydrological issues in Egypt and/or MENA region, with proven experience in applying hydrological modeling and earth observation data for solving real-world problems.
Proficiency in Python, R, or other programming languages with experience in numeric and geospatial Python packages like Numpy, Scikit-learn, GDAL, or similar packages.
Strong analytical, numerical, and data visualization skills, with the ability to process large temporal and spatial datasets in Python.
Ability to use advanced spatial analysis and geospatial tools for multi-scale assessments of agricultural water use.
Positive attitude, solid work ethic, and a demonstrated capacity and interest in learning new technologies and taking on additional responsibilities over time.
Self-motivated, enthusiastic, and able to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team.
Fluent in both spoken and written English and Arabic.
Good interpersonal skills and the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with people in a multicultural and multidisciplinary environment, with sensitivity and respect for diversity.

Desirable

Demonstrated abilities in applying machine learning approaches, segmentation models, computer vision, or deep learning methods on remote sensing data to develop use cases in water management and agriculture will be an added advantage.
Working proficiency in French will be an added advantage.

BENEFITS:

This is an internationally recruited position with a competitive salary, comprehensive international health insurance, life insurance accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance, and long-term disability coverage. Internationally recruited staff who are employed at a duty station outside of their home base/country of nationality will also receive relocation assistance, a housing allowance, home-leave plane tickets for self and eligible dependents and education assistance for eligible dependents. The duration of the contract will initially be for a period of two years.

HOW TO APPLY: Apply for the position by following the application instructions at www.iwmi.org/jobs. We will be accepting applications through 24:00 (IST) on October 17, 2023 (applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis). Your application must include a CV, cover letter, and three (3) references, which may be contacted if you are shortlisted. Receipt of all applications will be acknowledged, but only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

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IWMI believes that diversity powers our innovation, contributes to our excellence, and is critical for our mission. We offer a multi-cultural, multi-color, multi-generational and multi-disciplinary working environment. We are consciously creating an inclusive organization that reflects our global character and our commitment to gender equity. We, therefore, encourage applicants from all cultures, races, ethnicities, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability status, sexual orientations, and gender identities.