Job Description

Overview:

Marine Scotland are a globally renowned part of Scottish Government (SG) and this is an exciting time to be joining both Marine Scotland and the Scottish Government!

The Marine Scotland (MS) Directorate is undergoing a significant period of transformation through organisational design, which will result in a new portfolio management approach that will incorporate colleagues from science, compliance and policy working together to deliver on key strategic outcomes. It is an exciting and challenging time to be part of Marine Scotland, which is a globally renowned part of Scottish Government (SG).

You will work within the Data Collection Group of the Fisheries Data Programme, which provides the data and evidence required to undertake stock assessments and provide international advice on catching opportunities for stocks of interest to the Scottish fishing industry.

The Data Collection (DC) Group consists of 20 full-time scientists and is one of the three constituent groups within the Fisheries Data Programme of Marine Scotland Science. The responsibilities of the DC group focus on the collection of a wide-range of fishery data from various stock areas and sources.

You will contribute in helping Marine Scotland Science to provide data, as required in the UK annual work plan, for fisheries data collection. Data collected is provided internationally to allow stock assessments to be undertaken and advice provided on sustainable catching opportunities to government.

You will play an important part in assisting the need to develop and maintain essential skills in fish, shellfish sampling and age determination (where relevant), thereby maintaining Marine Scotland Science’s capacity to collect data and perform stock assessments for quota and non-quota species important to the Scottish economy.

This role will involve regular work at sea, onboard commercial fishing and research vessels to record data and take samples from catches and discarded fish. Full training will be provided prior to carrying out any onboard duties. You will also be required to drive to remote locations all around Scotland to collect data on landed catches from fish markets and processors.

You should be aware that you will have a varied work pattern and be required, on occasion, to work unsociable hours.

Responsibilities:

• Sample fish and shellfish at landing ports, markets and processing factories around Scotland
• Participate in research vessel surveys, carrying out sampling of fish, shellfish and other associated materials
• Carry out sampling of fish and shellfish catches whilst working at sea on board commercial fishing vessels
• Train in fish species age determination (otolith reading) using a microscope, and to participate in quality checking of age data, and internal and international inter-calibration exercises
• Carry out laboratory-based work as required, which could include preparation of otoliths, data collation, data entry into Excel or a database, quality checking, video analysis, data analysis using GIS or the statistical package R, and the writing of reports

Competencies:

Self-awareness

Team work

Information Management

Essential Criteria & Qualifications:

UK Driving License

(the role involves driving therefore a UK driving licence is mandatory)

Essential Criteria:

1. Good organisational skills, ability to plan and prioritise work and use your own initiative.

2. To be a confident communicator with good verbal and written communication skills.

3. Experience of collecting, accurately recording, and entering data in to basic computer packages (e.g. Excel).

4. Experience of working with fish and/or shellfish on sea going commercial or research vessels.

Location:

You will be able to work flexibly between home and Scottish Government premises, but regular attendance at the Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen AB11 9DB will be required for meetings, training, data processing etc.

The post is land based however, you will be required, multiple times a year, to be at sea on research and fishing vessels.

Interview and Assessment: Dates to be confirmed

Minimum time in post:

You will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of three years unless successful at gaining promotion to a higher Band or Grade.

In the event that further posts are required, a reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for up to 12 months.

HOW TO APPLY & ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Additional information:

Scottish Government’s ambition is to be a world leading, diverse employer where people can be themselves at work. We want to help you demonstrate your full potential whatever type of assessment is used. If you require any adjustments to our recruitment process, please let us know via [email protected]

As part of any recruitment process, Scottish Government and associated public bodies collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants and applicants for public appointments.

Job Categories: Admin Jobs. Job Types: Full time. Job Tags: Fisheries observer and data collector at Scottish Government, Jobs at Scottish Government, and Scottish Government careers. Salaries: 20,000 - 40,000.

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