Scottish Association for Marine Science

The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) is Scotland’s largest and oldest independent marine science organisation, delivering marine science for a productive and sustainably managed marine environment through innovative research, education and engagement with society.

Based near Oban on the Scottish west coast, our marine research and teaching portfolio is diverse in topic and discipline, global in outlook, project locations and relevance, and delivered by a SAMS team with can-do attitude working in partnership with academic, business, government, regulatory, voluntary and civic society colleagues.

SAMS is a charitable organisation (009206) with a membership that elects the Board members following a recruitment process. It is also a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in Scotland (SC 009292) and operates two wholly owned subsidiary companies: SAMS Enterprise – a specialist marine consultancy – and SAMS Ltd. It is an academic partner of the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Homepage: https://www.sams.ac.uk/

Location: SAMS, Oban
Contract Type: Fixed Term – 3.5 years
Working Pattern: Full Time (37hrs per week)
Salary Range: £37,099 – £41,732 per annum
Closing date: 4th November 2024

Introduction:

The ocean is critical to life on our blue planet. Understanding how it is changing has never been more important.
In order to understand these changes, SAMS is expanding its science team and strengthening research in physical oceanography and marine biogeochemistry. Research in these areas is crucial to our understanding of climate change, weather patterns and marine ecosystems.

SAMS is a leading institute in climate-scale ocean research and recently hosted the Challenger Society Marine Science Conference. Situated on the west coast of Scotland, SAMS is located on the doorstep of the north-east Atlantic and is a leader in large-scale monitoring arrays and harnessing autonomous platforms.

New members of the team will help us chart the direction of our research, ensuring we can answer the most pressing questions in ocean science.

Come and join us!

The Role:

We are looking to appoint a Senior PDRA with initiative and drive, capable of learning quickly and then taking the lead as and when the circumstances require. You will join a team who thrive on problem solving both in the field and during scientific analysis.

The post holder will contribute to the following NERC-funded research programme:

• “Polar Ocean Mixing by Internal Tsunamis” (POLOMINTS) using autonomous and traditional observational platforms, numerical modelling and sophisticated physical analysis to investigate the dynamics and impacts of glacial ice-calving tsunamis and induced transformations of Antarctic shelf waters.
• Support project Principal Investigators in leading Work Package 1 (Dynamics of internal tsunami generation); participate and co-lead summer-time Antarctic fieldwork at the UK Rothera Research Station; augment observational process studies of internal tsunamis generated by calving and ice front collapse observed over two seasons by analysing very high-resolution numerical simulations of the processes (using MITgcm).

Further information on the project can be found in the following article: Internal tsunamigenesis and ocean mixing driven by glacier calving in Antarctica | Science Advances

Our Ideal Candidate:

You will hold a PhD in physical oceanography and be experienced in using traditional and/or autonomous observing methods, the data they generate and computing languages to analyse these data.
You will have experience participating in oceanographic research cruises, have a good understanding of ocean boundary dynamics and a publication record which demonstrates this. You will also have a track record of identifying research opportunities and income generation. Ability to work effectively at sea and willing to engage with postgraduate student supervision, where time allows, is also important.

Employee Benefits:

Our relatively small, caring community, is an ideal environment for making friends, forming collaborations, and supporting each other to do the work that we really care about. Oban and surrounding areas provide a fantastic base to live and work, and we offer a wide range of employee benefits, support and inclusive culture, making SAMS a great place to work.

Our employees are the heart of our business. Recruiting and retaining the right people is the key to our success. Rewarding our employees is therefore an important component of our employment package and we have a wide range of benefits on offer to staff to support your work and lifestyle.

We are proud to provide a wide variety of benefits year-round, offering options to best support our staff, such as: flexible & hybrid working options, purchase of additional annual leave, shopping discounts, Cycle 2 Work scheme, purchases of technology through salary sacrifice, Payroll Giving, Pensions Plus, access to portals to support health and wellbeing, a sabbatical scheme, free car parking with access to electronic charging points as well as access to a number of training & development courses.

Additionally, SAMS encourages and recognises excellence among staff through various recognition and reward arrangements. We are striving to constantly develop and expand the benefits and offers for our colleagues.

SAMS Group is committed to being an equal and open organisation. Diversity and inclusion are important to us, and we strive to remove any barriers that may prevent people from applying to join us. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, and from all who share our values and can help us to broaden our knowledge and range of ideas.

We would love to hear from you. If you have queries on the job and would like to talk these through before applying, please email these through, in the first instance, to HR@sams.ac.uk

For further information, please go to www.sams.ac.uk/vacancies

Applications must include CV and Cover Letter and should be sent electronically to recruitment@sams.ac.uk quoting Job Ref. ‘D16/24.MI’ in the subject heading.

Closing date for application is 4th November 2024 – Interviews to be held by the end of November 2024.