Senior Earth Observation Consultant 

Background 

The Satellite Applications Catapult (Catapult) exists to grow the UK space sector and, as satellite applications become increasingly fundamental to many sectors, to grow the UK economy. The Catapult has recently moved to a Missions Structure which provides the direction by which that ambition can be fulfilled.  The missions are delivered by multifunctional teams that include members from across the different technology teams so that new ideas and collaborations can grow.  The Geospatial Intelligence (GI) team members are critical to bringing Earth Observation expertise into mission teams. 

 The Role 

As a Senior EO Consultant you will work within the Geospatial Intelligence team on key technical activities ranging from scientific research through to supporting commercial productisation, working collaboratively with external communities and supporting thought leadership activities. The successful candidate will enjoy working within stimulating environment supported by the latest tools and experienced and skilled staff from a diverse range of backgrounds. You will have the enthusiasm and drive to use your technical and scientific experience to propose and develop effective earth observations solutions that respond to industry-focused business challenges and opportunities through our missions as well as sharing your expertise with external clients through our business support activities. 

 The successful candidate will: 

• Have a strong knowledge of earth observation, its practical application, geospatial data science and analytics. 

• Have deep knowledge of Earth observation applications and / or Earth Observation sensor technologies 

• Have experience in the definition and development of innovative geospatial solutions utilising the most appropriate earth observation and geospatial data sets to meet customer / market needs. 

• Be an excellent communicator, equally comfortable discussing a technical architecture on a whiteboard one day and communicating the value of a solution to a customer the next. 

 To be successful in the role, you will: 

• Be externally recognised as having technical expertise through publication, speaking at events and representation on working groups and committees. 

• Be an expert within the business, supporting the missions, bids, technical and non-technical projects 

• Lead the collaborative development of new geospatial solution concepts. 

• Lead the successful delivery of project activities. 

• Confidently provide expertise for business support and courses aimed at upskilling users and accelerating EO uptake 

• Increase domain knowledge across one or more of our mission areas: Our Sustainable Earth, Our Connected and Autonomous Earth and Beyond Our Earth 

• Provide mentorship to less-experienced colleagues to enable personal and professional growth. 

Skills and Experience Required:

• Degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline (e.g. Physics, Environmental Sciences, Geography, etc). 

• Technical expertise in Earth Observation sensors and data applications 

• Extensive knowledge of working with multiple EO data sources, including Optical and SAR data.   

• Knowledge of atmospheric emission detections from space is desirable. 

• Knowledge of the application of AI to Earth Observation Data 

• Knowledge of contemporary geospatial data formats and management principles. 

• Experience of both processing and analysing spatial data sets and applying data science methods in relevant software packages, e.g. ENVI, QGIS, ArcGIS or equivalent. 

• Experience of coding e.g. R, C++, Java, Python or equivalent. 

• Proven experience of technical leadership and solutions development. 

• Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to listen to and interpret requirements with technical and non-technical audiences. 

• Strong analysis and problem-solving skills. 

• Experience of customer engagement and placing customer needs at the heart of decision making. 

• Strong team player. 

About us & how we work: 

We strive to create a high trust, high performance, and inclusive environment that enables team members to bring their whole selves to work – this helps to create the foundations of an innovation culture. Our shared values are critical to this: 

• We care - for our people, our partners, and our planet. 

• We connect - and engage with people and ideas. 

• We learn - and grow, as people and as an industry. 

Underpinning this is our belief in great teams; our combined efforts will always deliver outcomes beyond that of any individual, providing we are honest through debate, experiment and reflect, and create shared resolutions in support of our purpose. Live these values, work to our principles, take ownership to deliver, and we are certain you will thrive with us. 

This job description set outs the skills and experience we think are needed to be able to perform in this job. However, if you believe you can deliver in this role then we want to hear from you.

Important notice for applicants: We use tools to detect plagiarism and the use of AI or chatbots for applicant answers. If plagiarism, AI use (such as ChatGPT) or similar software are found to have been used in your application you will not be considered for this or future roles within the Satellite Applications Catapult.

At Satellite Applications Catapult, we're committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce. We welcome candidates from all corners of the globe, but due to legal and logistical considerations, we want to be transparent about the potential visa-related challenges that could arise. Our ability to offer sponsorship will depend on the level of interest for our roles and salary level.

If you need any additional support during the application process, please do reach out and connect. We also invite you to share feedback via Applied.