About the role
Applications are encouraged to work on a full time, fixed term position for 12 months in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. It forms part of the Floods and Droughts Research Infrastructure (FDRI) programme, a major five-year investment by the UK Government designed to enhance the UK’s resilience to floods, droughts and other hydrological extremes through world-leading environmental monitoring, research and innovation. You will play a key role in developing and evaluating innovative approaches to environmental sensing and telemetry within FDRI.
You will focus on implementing and piloting novel telemetry systems, including LoRaWAN networks and open data pathways, enabling researchers and technology developers to test and deploy innovative sensing technologies across FDRI observatories. This work will contribute to the creation of innovation testbeds that allow next generation environmental monitoring technologies to be demonstrated, evaluated and refined in real-world conditions, helping to ensure that FDRI remains accessible to a wide range of research and industry communities.
What you would be doing
Your key activities will include implementing, operating and evaluating LoRaWAN infrastructure within selected FDRI catchments; developing open telemetry workflows and experimental platforms that enable researchers and technology developers to trial third-party sensing technologies at FDRI sites; and providing technical expertise for environmental sensor networks. You will support innovation pilots and technology demonstrations, work across FDRI to align activities with observatory deployment, site access and governance requirements, and help define future service models for integrating external technologies. The role offers substantial scope for methodological innovation and conceptual leadership at the interface between hydrology, data science and socio-technical systems.
You will work within a highly interdisciplinary and international environment, collaborating closely with experts in research software engineering, technological innovation, environmental policy, and development studies. You will have strong coordination skills across local and distributed teams in the UK, as well as undertaking the supervision and mentoring of PhD students.
What we are looking for
- Hold a PhD in hydrology, environmental engineering, or a closely related discipline, or equivalent research, industrial or commercial experience
- Practical experience within a research and/or innovation environment, with evidence of delivering high-quality research or technical outputs
- Experience developing, deploying or operating sensor networks, telemetry systems, environmental monitoring platforms or related digital infrastructure
- Knowledge of hydrological data collection, curation, and analysis
- Creative approach to problem-solving
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
What we can offer you
- The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution and be part of our mission to continue science for humanity.
- Grow your career: gain access to Imperial’s sector-leading dedicated career support for researchers as well as opportunities for promotion and progression.
- Sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 39 days off a year and generous pension schemes).
- Be part of a diverse, inclusive and collaborative work culture with various staff networks and resources to support your personal and professional wellbeing.
Further information
This is a fixed-term full-time post for 12 months.
Please see the job description for full details and specifications of the post.
If you require any further details about the role, please contact Prof Wouter Buytaert at w.buytaert@imperial.ac.uk.
Any queries regarding the application process should be directed to Briony Webb at b.webb@imperial.ac.uk.
Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant.
We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from all backgrounds and disabilities. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable adjustments to participate in the interview process and to perform crucial job functions, as well as other support including staff networks. Please contact us to request accommodation.
Available documents
Attached documents are available under links. Clicking a document link will initialize its download.
Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities mentioned above.
We reserve the right to close the advert before the stated closing date, should we receive a high volume of applications. It is therefore advisable that you submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
If you encounter any technical issues while applying online, please don’t hesitate to email us at support.jobs@imperial.ac.uk. We’re here to help.
About Imperial
Welcome to Imperial, a global top-ten university where scientific imagination leads to world-changing impact.
Join us and be part of something bigger. From global health to climate change, AI to business leadership, here at Imperial we navigate some of the world’s toughest challenges. Whatever your role, your contribution will have a lasting impact.
As a member of our vibrant community of 22,000 students and 8,000 staff, you’ll collaborate with passionate minds across nine London campuses and a global network.
This is your chance to help shape the future. We hope you’ll join us at Imperial College London.
Our Culture
We work towards equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination, and to creating an inclusive working environment for all. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries, and are committed to employing a team that has diverse skills, experiences and abilities. You can read more about our commitment on our web pages.
Proud signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant. We welcome applications from the Armed Forces community.
Our values are at the root of everything we do, and everyone in our community is expected to demonstrate respect, collaboration, excellence, integrity, and innovation.
