Hydrological/Hydrochemical Modeller
This is a Permanent, Full Time vacancy that will close in {x} days at {xx:xx} BST.
The Vacancy
Are you excited to apply your quantitative hydrological skills to tackle pressing current freshwater challenges and drive environmental solutions? Do you want to engage directly with policymakers? The James Hutton Institute is looking for a quantitative hydrologist to join our team working on problems to improve the state of freshwater in the UK and internationally, with a particular focus on surface water quality and quantity under current and future scenarios. This is an outstanding opportunity to advance your career in a stimulating, supportive multi-disciplinary international environment while tackling engaging and complex hydrological challenges! At Hutton, we value work-life balance and offer a supportive and flexible working environment. James Hutton Institute is a member of SEFARI (https://sefari.scot), a collective of leading research institutes in Scotland.
Main Duties of Postholder
- Work independently to design, apply and adapt hydrological, hydrochemical and water resources models to assess clean water availability under present and future scenarios (e.g. climate, land use, population change).
- Take ownership of modelling tasks and data analysis, ensuring high standards of quality control and reproducibility.
- Contribute quantitative expertise to collaborative projects, integrating findings with colleagues across disciplines.
- Develop and test modelling approaches (conceptual model development, emulation, uncertainty quantification, statistical modelling incl. ML and hybrid modelling) in collaboration with other Hutton specialist departments and Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland
- Implement FAIR open science principles by documenting methods, using collaborative tools (e.g. GitHub, GitLab) and supporting transparent research practices.
- Communicate findings clearly to colleagues, stakeholders and policymakers, using effective formats such as reports, presentations and interactive visualisation tools (e.g. RShiny).
- Publish research outputs in peer-reviewed journals and contribute to project deliverables.
- Continue to develop subject expertise, contributing to the Institute’s reputation and fostering collaborative links in the UK and internationally.
Person Specification
Essential
- PhD or equivalent in hydrology, water resources, environmental sciences, or quantitative disciplines (e.g. maths, statistics, computing).
- Postdoctoral or equivalent applied experience in hydrological / hydrochemical / water resources modelling.
- Proven ability to work independently within a research project, demonstrating initiative and accountability for delivering outputs.
- Strong track record of programming and model development (e.g. R, Python).
- Experience of data management, analysis and quality control.
- Evidence of peer-reviewed publications.
- Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively in interdisciplinary teams.
- Motivation and enthusiasm for quantitative approaches to environmental challenges.
Desirable
- Experience with large or complex datasets.
- Familiarity with future change projections (climate, land use, population).
- Understanding of sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification.
- Familiarity with hydrological forecasting.
- Experience with high-performance computing and Linux environment.
- Awareness of metadata standards and reproducible open science practices.
- Experience with GIS for spatial analysis and cartography.
- Contribution to research proposals or collaborative funding applications.
What we offer:
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) - A confidential service available to support employees and their families with work or personal problems. Providing access to professional counsellors, psychologists, and work-life consultants available to help and support individuals in tackling all types of problems.
- Annual Leave – Generous entitlement up to 40.5 days a year, with carry over possible and guaranteed time-off for Christmas.
- Pension - Employer Contribution of 15% in a Personal Pension Plan and employee contribution flexibility.
- Self-managed hours and Flexible Working – option to manage and spread your working time in line with organisational needs to create a healthy work life balance
Our Commitment to Equality and Diversity
We will not consider the use of 3rd party recruitment agencies for the sourcing of candidates for this position.
The James Hutton Institute is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
The James Hutton Institute is a: Stonewall Diversity Champion; Athena SWAN Silver Status Holder; Disability Confident Committed Employer and a Living Wage Employer.
The James Hutton Institute is Happy to Talk Flexible Working.
The Company
The James Hutton Institute combines strengths in crops, soils and land use and environmental research, and makes a major contribution to the understanding of key global issues, such as food, energy and environmental security, and developing and promoting effective technological and management solutions to these.
James Hutton (1726 – 1797) was a leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, an eighteenth century golden age of intellectual and scientific achievements centred on Edinburgh. He is internationally regarded as the founder of modern geology and one of the first scientists to describe the Earth as a living system. His thinking on natural selection influenced Charles Darwin in developing his theory of evolution.
Our Values
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