Role Responsibilities

Are you looking for an opportunity to become part of a leading-edge team that provides advanced geospatial technical expertise in support of department objectives?

The Natural Resource Geomatics Specialist will be responsible for providing technical expertise in support of the Agriculture and Irrigation Ministry and Natural Resource Management Branch (NRMB) objectives.  This position provides primary agriculture producers, associations and commodity groups, and various governments entities with high quality, innovative, and timely spatial information products, analyses, dynamic web mapping applications for management of land use, soil, water, livestock and other agricultural resources. This work provides essential support to multi-discipline, multi-agency research, extension, and policy efforts within the department and across government.

Responsibilities include development, implementation and maintenance of standards, specifications, quality control processes and methodologies to create and update various spatial information products (data extraction, transformation, loading, analysis and mapping). The Geomatics Specialist leads projects and facilitates information gathering and product design sessions with clients and works with the GIS Geomatics Team Lead to develop project proposals. The specialist contributes to all aspects of the proposed project including developing specifications, estimating required resource (such as time and data), reviewing and ensuring quality of project submissions, developing meta-data; supporting data discovery; and exploring potential options for spatial analysis.

Key Responsibilities:

• Leads, collaborates, and supports a range of short to long term projects, where GIS data management and analysis, spatial services publishing, use of decision support tools, and computer programming are required. 
• Leads the implementation of GIS services, environmental models, and decision support information applications, in alignment with Natural Resource Management Branch (NRMB) strategic outcomes for responsible resource management practices.
• Leads project requirement gathering sessions through collaboration with various project partners such as agriculture policy specialists, federal and provincial custodians of land cover inventory data, Statistics Canada personnel, business analysts, and software developers.
• Provides business area representation on innovative and transformative spatial application, like the Alberta Soil Information Viewer and the Alberta Farm Fertilizer Information and Recommendation Manager (AFFIRM) and service development led by Service Alberta information technology (IT) through design, development, testing, documentation and commissioning.
• Maintains GIS database according to GoA standards throughout all geospatial related work. 
• Provides expertise in spatial analysis, software, and spatial data management in several core functions including dashboard development, designing cartographic and graphic materials, using of GIS packages such as ArcGIS Pro, and automating processes using programing languages such as R or Python. 

Please click on this link to view the job description for this position.

APS Competencies

Competencies are behaviors that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.

This link will assist you with understanding competencies:
https://www.alberta.ca/system/files/custom_downloaded_images/psc-alberta-public-service-competency-model.pdf.

Systems Thinking: This role often is placed at the centre of creating innovative technology projects to meet the needs of others in the department. Novel projects using novel technologies requires extensive future proofing of proposed solutions to ensure hurdles are not encountered due to changing software, costly maintenance, performance issues, and other issues associated with technological solutions. The novelty of these projects means there is sometimes no precedent in the GoA for maintaining these solutions and requires the incumbent to think ahead and prepare for possible hurdles with deployed solutions so that they can continue to serve stakeholders.

Creative Problem Solving: Often work requests will be posed in the form of problems and it will be on the incumbent to come up with solutions. This will often require them to combine their various skillsets to come up with effective solutions to these novel problems. This involves a high degree of creativity and deep understanding of GIS, programming, novel software solutions (e.g., ESRI Experience Builder applications), and the limitations of these technologies for stakeholder use within the government.

Build Collaborative Environments: This position participates in planning committee projects. The committees are often a collaboration of various specialist such as biologists, hydrologists, agrologist, engineers, analysts, project managers and other steering committee members with varying degrees of understanding of other team members technical expertise. Common understanding of the outcomes of the projects and achieving consensus on the required metrics, requires good communication and flexibility.  

Develop Self and Others: The successful candidate will actively seek out ways to improve both their social, geospatial, data, automation, and cartographic skill sets. Work assignments and projects that provide actual learning experiences, as well as government provided learning opportunities, such as conferences, community of practice presentations, and online learning opportunities are the primary means of achieving lifelong learning objectives.

Qualifications

Minimum Recruitment Standard: Two-year technical diploma in a related field (such as geomatics, agriculture, geography, engineering, with specialization in GIS), plus six years related experience; or equivalent as described below.

Please note preference will be given to candidates with a degree in agriculture, geomatics, or geography, plus four years of related experience.

Equivalency: Directly related education or experience considered on the basis of: 

• 1 year of education for 1 year of experience; or 
• 1 year of experience for 1 year of education

Additional requirements include:

• Experience managing geographic information projects
• Experience working with GIS software and computer coding and scripting languages (e.g. ArcGIS Pro and portal environments, Python, R)

Assets include:

• Experience with Ecosys or other environmental modeling software, JavaScript, HTML5, Leaflet and understanding of agriculture and farming systems, and soil and water management in western Canada. 
• Certification by an accredited society for GIS, soil science or remote sensing.
• Geomatics or GIS knowledge.

Minimum recruitment standards outline the minimum education and experience required for appointment to a job classification. 
Refer to https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-minimum-recruitment-standards.

Notes

• Office located in Edmonton: J.G.O’Donoghue Building (7000-113 Street) 
• Hours of Work: 36.25 hours per week (permanent full time)
• Monday to Friday (08:15 am-16:30 pm)
• Occasional travel may be required: valid Driver’s License is required for travel within Alberta

Other Application Information:

• A cover letter is required with your application, outlining how your education and experience aligns with the role.
• This position will require final candidates to undergo a security clearance.
• Final candidates may be required to undergo a written test demonstrating writing skills and abilities pre or post interviews.
• Please indicate employment duration for all roles listed on your resume and whether you worked part-time or full-time. For example, January 15, 2006 - June 25, 2009
• Any costs associated with obtaining the required documents/checks as noted or interview travel expenses, will be the responsibility of the candidate. Out-of-province applicants can obtain the required documents/checks from the province they currently reside in.

Links and information on what the GoA has to offer to prospective employees.

• Working for the Alberta Public Service - https://www.alberta.ca/advantages-working-for-alberta-public-service.aspx.
• Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) - https://www.pspp.ca.
• Alberta Public Service Benefit Information - https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-benefits.
• Professional learning and development - https://www.alberta.ca/professional-development-support-directive.
• Research Alberta Public Service Careers tool – https://researchapscareers.alberta.ca.
• Positive workplace culture and work-life balance.
• Opportunity to participate in flexible work arrangements such as working from home up to two days per week and modified work schedule agreement.
• Leadership and mentorship programs.