Graduate Researcher in Geospatial Analysis and Data Systems (Dec 2026)
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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
Education
Tools
Job description
The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank dedicated to shifting the world's focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human wellbeing and progress. IEP produces the Global Peace Index, the Global Terrorism Index, the Positive Peace Index, and the Ecological Threat Report, and its research is used by governments, multilateral organisations, universities, and the media in more than 150 countries.
The Institute's work has been quoted by successive UN Secretaries-General, receives billions of media impressions per annum and conducts research for many of the major multilateral organisations. Its frameworks for creating peace have been adopted by some of the world's largest civil and developmental organisations.
IEP's research is built on a large quantitative data infrastructure. The research team maintains IEP's internal database and MCP connector: a PostgreSQL database of around 3,000 datasets covering peace indices, conflict, and economic indicators, accessed by staff directly and through AI tooling via the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
IEP is also establishing a satellite analysis programme, working with a commercial imagery partner, to measure peace and development outcomes from Earth observation data.
Graduate Researcher, Geospatial Analysis and Data Systems
- Location: Sydney, Australia
- Reports to: Chief Research Officer
- Employment Type: Full-time, 12-month fixed-term contract, with a view to an ongoing position in the research team
- Start Date: Late 2026, or January 2027 for candidates completing their studies
This is a graduate position for a computer scientist or quantitative social scientist who wants to build research infrastructure and apply it to questions of peace and conflict.
The role is well-suited to someone who wishes to make a positive impact on the world by applying their newly acquired skills. It is ideally suited to an individual with a passion for and interest in global development issues.
The role has two main components:
- Satellite Analysis Programme: Help establish IEP's satellite analysis programme, which is currently at the design stage. The successful candidate will work directly with the Chief Research Officer to scope initial projects, select methods, build processing pipelines and produce initial analysis. Potential applications include measuring indicators of Positive Peace from imagery and remotely monitoring and evaluating development projects. As the programme is being developed from scratch, the role suits someone who can turn a loosely defined problem into a working method with limited supervision.
- Internal Data Infrastructure: Develop and maintain IEP's internal data infrastructure, including ingesting and cleaning datasets, improving database schemas and documentation, maintaining the MCP connector that provides database access to AI tools, and building pipelines supporting IEP's indices and reports.
The role sits within the research team in the Sydney office and involves regular collaboration with researchers, the communications team and IEP's regional offices in Europe and the US.
- Work with the Chief Research Officer to scope, design and prioritise satellite analysis projects.
- Acquire, preprocess and manage satellite imagery and derived products, including optical, SAR and night-time lights as required.
- Develop and validate methods for extracting peace- and development-relevant measures from imagery, including change detection, land use classification and built-environment indicators.
- Build reproducible processing pipelines and document methods to a standard suitable for publication.
- Produce analysis, figures and written findings for IEP reports and partner deliverables.
- Ingest, clean, harmonise and document new datasets in IEP's internal database.
- Maintain and extend the database schema, codebook and data quality checks.
- Maintain and improve the MCP connector and tooling that make IEP's internal database accessible to researchers and AI systems.
- Support the automated pipelines behind IEP's indices and recurring publications.
- Manage deployments and data workflows on Azure.
- Build and maintain IEP's internal AI workflows.
- Contribute quantitative analysis and technical review to IEP research outputs.
- Help other researchers use IEP's data and AI tooling effectively.
- Stay informed about developments in remote sensing, machine learning and AI tooling relevant to IEP's work.
- A master's degree or higher in computer science, data science, geography, statistics, economics or a related quantitative field. Exceptional candidates with an undergraduate degree and demonstrated skills 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 is preferred.
- Sound understanding of statistics and quantitative research methods.
- Ability to take a loosely defined problem, scope it and deliver a working result with limited supervision.
- Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical methods to non-technical colleagues.
- Interest in peace, conflict and development research.
- Experience with geospatial data and remote sensing, including tools such as GDAL, rasterio, GeoPandas, QGIS or Google Earth Engine.
- Experience applying machine learning to imagery, including segmentation, classification or change detection.
- Advanced experience with large language models and agentic AI tooling, including building pipelines, tools or connectors (for example, MCP servers).
- Experience with cloud platforms, particularly Azure.
- Familiarity with version control and reproducible research practices.
- Knowledge of conflict, development or socioeconomic datasets.
- Opportunity to design a new research programme from its initial stage.
- Direct mentorship from the Chief Research Officer and IEP's senior research staff.
- Opportunity to contribute to research that is published and used internationally.
Remuneration is commensurate with qualifications and experience.
- Potential to transition into an ongoing position within the research team at the end of the 12-month contract.
Applicants must have the right to work in Australia.
IEP is an equal opportunity employer.
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