Geospatial Data Systems Researcher — Satellite Analytics

HTU; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 75,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) is hiring a Graduate Researcher, Geospatial Analysis and Data Systems to build research infrastructure and apply methods to peace and conflict questions. Location is Sydney, Australia, with a full-time 12-month fixed-term contract and a possibility of ongoing work.

You will work on the Satellite Analysis Programme and on maintaining IEP's internal data infrastructure and MCP connector, collaborating with researchers and regional offices in Europe and

Qualifications

• Master's degree or higher in a quantitative field; exceptional candidates with an undergraduate degree will be considered.
• Strong programming ability in Python, including the scientific and data stack (pandas, NumPy and similar).
• Working knowledge of SQL and relational databases; experience with PostgreSQL preferred.
• Sound understanding of statistics and quantitative research methods.
• Ability to scope loosely defined problems and deliver working results with limited supervision.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills to explain technical methods to non-technical colleagues.
• Interest in peace, conflict and development research.

Responsibilities

• Satellite Analysis Programme: scope, design and prioritise projects; acquire and manage satellite imagery and derived products; develop and validate methods for peace- and development-relevant measures from imagery; build reproducible pipelines and publishable methods; produce analyses and figures for reports.
• IEP's Internal Database and MCP Connector: ingest, clean and harmonise datasets; maintain schema and data quality checks; improve MCP connector and tooling; support automated pipelines behind indices and publications; manage deployments on Azure; build internal AI workflows.
• General Responsibilities: contribute quantitative analysis to research outputs; help researchers use data and AI tooling; stay updated on remote sensing, ML and AI tooling relevant to IEP.

Skills

Python programming

SQL & PostgreSQL

Statistics & quantitative methods

Communication skills

Problem scoping & delivery

Education

Master's degree in CS/data sci/geog/economics

Undergrad with demonstrated skills (exceptional)

Tools

GDAL

rasterio

GeoPandas

QGIS

Google Earth Engine

Azure

Job description

The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) is hiring a Graduate Researcher, Geospatial Analysis and Data Systems to build research infrastructure and apply methods to peace and conflict questions. Location is Sydney, Australia, with a full-time 12-month fixed-term contract and a possibility of ongoing work.

You will work on the Satellite Analysis Programme and on maintaining IEP's internal data infrastructure and MCP connector, collaborating with researchers and regional offices in Europe and