Senior Consultant, Geospatial Data Science

Oxford Policy Management; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Enhanced learning resources

Cross-functional collaboration

Generous annual leave entitlement

Employee wellbeing resources

Contributory pension

Competitive salary

Job summary

Oxford Policy Management seeks a Senior Consultant, Geospatial Data Science to lead cutting-edge spatial analysis for policy evaluation. The role blends geospatial engineering with traditional social science methods and supports clients across LMIC contexts while enabling remote and UK-based collaboration on a hybrid basis.

You will develop analytical pipelines, implement cloud-based tools, and mentor teams, shaping innovative service offerings and contributing to impactful public policy

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a numerate discipline or equivalent professional experience.
• 7+ years of social research or policy analysis in LMIC settings.
• Strong understanding of data landscapes in LMICs (traditional and non-traditional).
• Exceptional skills in R; knowledge of Stata, QGIS and Python is a plus.
• Advanced understanding of analytical pipelines using R (and/or Python) and spatial packages.
• Experience in geospatial modelling (e.g., Bayesian INLA) and timeseries analysis.
• Experience with Small Area Estimation using survey/census geospatial data.
• Experience with cloud platforms (GEE, AWS, GCP) and big data tools (Dask, Xarray).
• Passion for developing new techniques and interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Attention to detail and analytical rigor.
• Strong problem solving and communication; ability to translate to non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high-quality geospatial data science work using modern methods.
• Develop accessible online tools such as dashboards and visualisations.
• Support survey and data-collection teams with modern techniques.
• Develop innovative service offerings from data science capabilities.
• Contribute to winning work through technical proposals and client relationships.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams to deliver high-quality projects.
• Coach colleagues and deliver internal seminars to build capability.
• Collaborate to expand data science applications across health, governance, poverty, climate.
• Publish journal articles and engage with the global data science community.

Skills

Geospatial data science

LMIC policy analysis

R programming

Python programming

Geospatial modelling

Small Area Estimation

Data pipelines

Data visualization

Project leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Cloud computing

Education

Advanced degree in numerate discipline or equivalent

Tools

R

Stata

QGIS

Python

Google Earth Engine

AWS

Google Cloud Platform

Dask

Xarray

SQL

Job description

Overview

The Research and Evidence Practice at Oxford Policy Management is currently seeking a Senior Consultant, Geospatial Data Science on a full-time, permanent basis. The position can be located in any of the following offices on a hybrid basis: Abuja, Addis Ababa, Nairobi; or remotely in the UK. We are an international development consultancy working to improve lives through sustainable policy change in low- and middle-income countries. Our vision is for fair public policy that benefits both people and the planet. Through our global network of offices, we work in partnership with national stakeholders and decision makers to research, design, implement and evaluate impactful public policy. We draw on our local and international sector experts to provide the very best evidence-based support. We deliver projects with expert knowledge and experience, and can be relied upon for excellence in all aspects of project delivery. We work collaboratively, with ambition, to help deliver impactful public policy that will bring about lasting change.

Position Summary

Our Data Science team applies modern methods and innovative technology to some of the most pressing challenges in international development. Working across the data and policy cycles, we combine sector expertise, creative technology and a deep understanding of behaviour change and organisational reform to turn complex data into practical insights. The team sits within OPM’s wider Quantitative Methods and Data Science technical area,within the Research and Evidence Practice, and works alongside specialists in quantitative impact evaluation, primary data collection, third-party monitoring, and monitoring, evaluation and learning systems.

As a Senior Consultant in Geospatial Data Science, you will help shape and deliver OPM’s approach in applying data science—particularly geospatial analysis—to research and policy evaluation. You will develop tools that enable policymakers to understand not only what is happening, but where, so they can design better-targeted solutions. Utilising the latest technology to fuse traditional and non-traditional quantitative research methods that examine how publicpolicy initiatives strengthen resilience, your work will help governments and institutions direct resources towards communities with the greatest need. With a robust understanding of geospatial mapping and analyses (including Small Area Estimation techniques), the Senior Consultant, Geospatial Data Science will hold primary responsibility for developing this area of our work.

Working in close collaboration with a diverse range of multi-disciplinary teams globally, the Senior Consultant, Geospatial Data Science brings an innovative and independent approach to problem solving and the ability to effectively build relationships with clients and other external partners. They support the wider team in the identification of new business opportunities, design high-quality proposals to win impactful work, and build effective internal relationships that support other OPM colleagues in developing their data science skills and expertise.

As a Senior Consultant, Geospatial Data Science at OPM, you will:

• Deliver high-quality technical work using modern geospatial data science methods. Alongside survey data, you will work with sources not traditionally used in social-science policy analysis in low- and middle-income countries—including text, satellite and mobile imagery, social media and mobile-phone data—to generate policy-relevant insights, often using innovative geospatial analysis approaches.
• Help build and strengthen OPM’s analytical pipelines, developing standard operating procedures for cloud-based analysis and creating accessible online tools such as interactive dashboards and visualisations.
• Support survey and data-collection teams across our international offices to apply state-of-the-art data-collection techniques (including e.g. quantitative surveys or AI-enabled qualitative data collection).
• Apply a strong understanding of the policy challenges facing our clients and partners, together with expertise in data science tools—particularly geospatial engineering—to develop innovative service offerings.
• Contribute to winning new work by shaping compelling, technical proposals and establishing and nurturing relationships with key external organisations, associates and consultants.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams of OPM colleagues, consortium partners and external experts in the delivery of high-quality projects that meet and exceed our clients' expectations.
• Coach colleagues around the world through practical, on-the-job learning, and deliver internal seminars that strengthen broader technical capability in data science.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to explore and expand the application of data science tools in projects related to a broad range of thematic areas including health, governance, poverty and social protection, and climate.
• Expand the team’s intellectual reputation in data sciences and geospatial analyses by developing journal articles, participating in conferences and engaging actively with the global social data science and international development community.

Qualifications

Key Qualifications / Experience / Skills / Behaviours

• An advanced degree in a numerate discipline (data science, computer science, statistics, economics etc.) or equivalent professional experience.
• At least 7 years' experience of working on social research and/or policy analysis within LMIC settings.
• High level understanding of the data landscape in LMICs, including traditional and non-traditional data.
• Exceptionalskills in R. (Strong knowledge of Stata, QGIS, Python is a plus.)
• Advanced understanding ofanalytical pipelines, especially using R (and/or Python) and related spatial packages to automate geospatial data processing tasks.
• Substantive experience in the application ofinnovative data science techniques, in particular geospatial modelling (e.g. Bayesian frameworks using INLA, timeseries analysis for anomaly detection).
• Experience in developing and delivering Small Area Estimation (using both survey and census as well as other geospatial data) projects.
• Experience with cloud computing platforms, such as Google Earth Engine, AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and big data processing tools for geospatial analysis (e.g. Dask and Xarray).
• Authentic passion fordeveloping new techniques, and forworking with interdisciplinary teams to adopt and deploy them.
• Excellent attention to detail and analytical rigour.
• Switches comfortably between detail and the bigger picture, joined up thinking and approach to providing solutions.
• Good at prioritising changing and competing demands and tasks, while consistently delivering quality work.
• Excellent problem solving, organising and management skills.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; collaborative and constructive approach to working with others, builds effective relationships internally and externally.
• Experience in translating complex spatial analyses into clear visualisations for technical and non-technical audiences.

Desirable Qualifications/Experience/Skills/Behaviours

• Experience in remote sensing and earth observation: Processing and analyzing satellite data (e.g. Sentinel, Landsat) for environmental monitoring, land-use dynamics, and ecosystem health.
• Experience with big data handling, parallel computing, and working on the cloud in an Azure environment.
• Further skills in other quantitative methodologies of interest to the team (e.g. quantitative impact evaluation methods, AI for evaluation).
• Fluency in languages additional to English.

Our Offer

• We enable colleagues’ capacity to grow professionally through enhanced learning resources, opportunities to work cross functionally, and space to engage with a range of internal and external industry events.
• Our non-hierarchical culture values support, collaboration, intellectual curiosity, and a rich diversity of perspectives.
• We provide an exceptionally generous annual leave entitlement and a hybrid working model to encourage and enable healthy work/life balance.
• Wellbeing resources including a global Employee Assistance Programme and access to the UnMind app.
• Competitive salary and contributory pension scheme.

We are strengthened by the diversity of colleagues across our global business and are committed to being an equal opportunities employer, promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace for all.

Our recruitment practices reflect our ambition to make the international development sector more inclusive and firm belief that our work delivers the best outcomes when we actively include a diversity of perspectives and experiences.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this role and candidates must have a pre-existing right to work in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria or the UK for their application to be considered.

Oxford Policy Management is committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion at every level of the business.

Should you require adjustments to make the application process more accessible please inform us through completing this form or scan the QR code below.