DMS2 – Data Science Project Description

PSMFC is hiring on behalf of NOAA to enhance the infrastructure and workforce supporting commercial and recreational fishing in U.S. ports. This project aims to improve NOAA’s understanding of climate change impacts on shore-side infrastructure and labor.

Access to commercial fishing infrastructure and seafood jobs is vital for resilient fishing communities. Currently, NOAA lacks the necessary data on these issues at national and regional levels. This project will support data modeling and initiatives like the Climate, Ecosystems, and Fisheries Initiative (CEFI) and Community Social Vulnerability Indicators (CSVI), offering insights before natural disasters and for various uses.

Data Management Specialists will help achieve the Physical Infrastructure and Seafood Human Capital supporting Fishing Communities (PISHCFC) project goals by developing a national community fishing and human capital database, creating region-specific datasets, collaboratively designing web tools, and designing new data-sharing tools. Collaboration with NOAA project leads in the Northwest and Southeast Regions, as well as social scientists and other project members across NOAA’s Fisheries Science Centers and Regional Offices, is essential.

We are hiring for two Social Science positions that will initially collaborate and then focus on distinct tasks. One will build the database and create mapping tools, while the other will handle data collection and develop outreach . This posting is for the DMS2 – Data Science position. Please refer to the posting for DMS2 – Database Design if you are interested in that position.  

Essential Functions and Specific Tasks

The following functions and tasks are characteristic of the work associated with this group and pay band. They are not all-inclusive, and individual positions may perform some or all the activities listed below.

Essential Functions

Lower-End Responsibilities

• Compile project data into standardized electronic formats, including verifying accuracy, data entry, electronic transfer, editing, and error checking.
• Extract and present relevant data in various formats such as text, numeric reports, tables, graphics, or figures.
• Train users in database applications through individual instruction and group presentations.
• Create queries, summaries, and maps in response to customized data requests.
• Prepare and manipulate data and graphic outputs for reports, presentations, and internet applications using standardized retrieval scripts.

Upper-End Responsibilities

• Populate databases and libraries, integrating new and historical data from various formats including databases, spreadsheets, and survey data.
• Produce written research and statistical reports, data sets, and summaries using analytical techniques and software tools, modifying and developing database retrieval scripts as needed.
• Maintain and update data catalogs, directories, and metadata.
• Participate in technical user groups to assess future data needs and coordinate the development of standards for efficient data exchange among participants.

Specific Tasks Required

• Investigate Data Availability: Contribute to the development of an updateable national database of community infrastructure, collaborating with NOAA Fisheries to create a standardized list of fishing infrastructure features. Evaluate existing data sources to identify strengths, weaknesses, and critical gaps, and make recommendations for new data collection, including a fisheries human capital component that evaluates demographic data and industry classifications.
• Develop Indicators: Create indicators related to fisheries infrastructure and human capital change, establishing data points and measurements to monitor changes across communities and regions.
• Ground Truth Data: Validate the accuracy of data in select communities chosen by the research team.
• Community Engagement: Work with community members to determine the tools and resources needed to enhance the utility of this research.
• Draft outreach materials to engage and communicate new resources to communities, obtain community feedback, and potentially establish partnerships for citizen science projects.
• Data Management Plan: Develop a comprehensive plan that includes documentation of data sources, relevant contact information, monitoring frequency, years available, and a defined process for data updates.
• Web Tool Integration: Support the integration of indicators into existing web-based tools, such as the EJ and CSVI websites, or assist in developing new tools.
• Support Assessments and Reports: Aid in the development of initial assessments, reports, data summaries, and presentations using the created indicators.
• Climate Initiatives Support: Contribute to goals related to tools for climate initiatives, citizen science data collection, and communication with underserved communities.

Minimum Qualification Requirements:
A range of experience and education may be presented. Candidates must present one year of Specialized Experience** AND four years of successfully completed education above high school in anthropology, economics, statistics, or any other field that provides the same knowledge. An equivalent combination of experience and education is also qualifying.

**Specialized Experience is experience that equips the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and is typically in or related to the work of the position being filled. To be creditable, Specialized Experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.

Knowledge Required by the Position:

The employee must have knowledge of:

• social sciences, spatial science – e.g. human geography
• personal computers and software packages and applications for databases, spreadsheets, and word processing
• data management concepts, principles, and methods
• quality assurance principles
• technical documentation methods and procedures
• statistical analysis
• common query languages
• the organization’s data assets

sufficient to: input data; structure information retrievals; edit, combine and manipulate data; and/or provide reports for users. This knowledge allows the employee to assess or interpret the significance of the results and relate that to the overall objective of the assignment.

Additional Mandatory/Desirable Knowledge and Skills:

• GIS
• R
• RShiny
• Statistical software
• GitHub
• MS Excel
• MS Work
• HTML
• Oracle
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Photoshop
• Social sciences
• Data management concepts, principles, and methods
• Quality assurance principles
• Technical documentation methods and principles
• Statistical analysis
• Common query languages

Supervisory Controls:
Work is assigned in terms of project goals, objectives, priorities, and, at times, specific tasks. At the lower end of the range, the employee will exercise the initiative in solving common technical and procedural problems. Unusual issues are referred to a supervisor or higher-graded employee for consultation or review.

At the upper end of the range, the employee plans and carries out assignments with independence, guided by experience and knowledge to complete the objective. He/she seeks assistance only on the most unusual issues. Sufficiency of planning and execution, and accuracy of the data produced are normally accepted without detailed review, even for customized assignments.

Guidelines:
Guidelines include PSMFC standards and policies; project work plans; data submission protocol documents; established database structures, data definitions, and data standards; and various hardware and software manuals.

At the lower end of the range, the guidelines are clear and provide little room for deviation, except as provided in documented precedents or suggestions for alternative data entry and retrieval strategies. New or revised job requirements or requests for data that cannot be processed within the existing guidelines are discussed with the supervisor or higher-level employee.
At the higher end of the range, the employee reviews each work request and selects and interprets complex guidelines to achieve the desired end product.

Complexity:
At the lower end of the range, the employee decides what to do by identifying the data content and information structure needed for each processing request and selecting the appropriate routine to set up and format each job.

At the higher end of the range, data will be in any number of formats, some computerized and some not. Computerized data may not be in a form that matches user needs exactly and therefore requires translation into a common format. Data may be missing or in a format that requires conversion to defined standards.

Scope and Effect:
A high quality, consistent set of data is necessary for effective policy setting, planning, management and research. Data must be provided in an efficient and timely manner, and in a format that meets the needs of users.

Personal Contacts:
Contacts are with employees in PSMFC; federal, state, or tribal agencies; university researchers, private/non-profit organizations, industry members, computer professionals, and the public.

Purpose of Contacts:
The purpose of the contacts is to exchange and transfer ideas and information. Coordination, planning, and mutual support are important aspects of the contacts.

Physical Demands:
The work is generally sedentary, although there may be some nominal walking or standing for short periods of time, or carrying of light loads of papers, books, reports, etc. that require only moderate physical ability and physical stress.

Work Environment:
The works area is adequately lit, heated, and ventilated. The work involves common risks or discomforts typical of office, meeting rooms, libraries, and the like.