GIS Analyst

The Global Research Institute (GRI) empowers teams of William & Mary students and faculty to make a difference in the world. We are a multidisciplinary hub that applies scholarly research to real world problems, investing in outstanding student and faculty scholars to catalyze new insights and cultivate the next generation of global leaders. Based in the Office of the Provost, GRI supports a whole of university approach to advance W&M by developing ideas, convening partners, creating and analyzing data, and inventing new methods. The Institute’s approach to incubate and scale and applied research helps researchers push research frontiers and produce insights that matter at W&M and beyond. At any time, under the auspices of the Institute there are several research projects, most grant-funded, with the largest being AidData.

AidData produces novel data, tools, and research that answers the question: who is funding, what, where, for whom, and to what effect around the world? AidData has an explicit focus on data and research that meets high academic standards but is also accessible and relevant for a broad audience of international relations practitioners, policymakers, journalists, and scholars. AidData’s work is made possible by generous financial support of international organizations such as the World Bank and United Nations, private philanthropies such as the Hewlett and Gates Foundations, and government agencies such as the US Department of State and USAID.

The Geospatial Analyst will be responsible for helping AidData execute, expand, and facilitate interdisciplinary geospatial research on a wide range of projects. The Geospatial Analyst will:

1. Support interdisciplinary research, scholarship, and proposals with the opportunity to develop and lead their projects;
2. Develop workflows to transform time series remotely sensed imagery and open-source data into outcomes that help to understand socio-ecological and environmental issues in various parts of the world;
3. Design and integrate automated geospatial workflows into existing systems with rigorous testing and documentation;
4. Plan and carry out applied research, write reports and peer-reviewed articles, provide technical guidance, and advise on or initiate new and evolving technology and techniques; and
5. Support external funding from proposal conceptualization to data collection, analysis, geo-visualization, & dissemination.

The Geospatial Analyst will work primarily with the Geospatial Scientist.

This position is based at AidData at William & Mary's Global Research Institute in Williamsburg, Virginia. This is a full-time position, and salary is commensurate with experience in the range of $57,000 - $65,407 in the U10 range (see Salary Structure for University Employees). This is a restricted position subject to availability of funding. This position is remote-work eligible (works remotely at least 1 day per week but not full-time). Remote work eligibility is not guaranteed and is subject to approval.