Hours of work: Full time
Contract Type: Fixed Term (FTA)
Contract end date: 31 March 2027
Salary: £32,900 per annum (pro rata) [Band C]
Directorate: Science
Location: Wakehurst, West Sussex, Hybrid
Closing Date: 19/01/2025
The Seed Portal for Online Data (SeedPOD) is an exciting new project led by the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) Partnership team, based at the MSB, Wakehurst. SeedPOD will be the first open access database of global wild-origin seed collections, including a point of request for access to seed material from all collaborating seed banks. The SeedPOD data resources officer will be a key member of the SeedPOD team, with duties including data management, user acceptance testing, user support and training.
Job Purpose:
The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (“RBG Kew”) is committed to delivering high quality digital data to support research and conservation, and to ensure that data on its own collections are freely available to the science and conservation community. As part of this commitment, the Seed Portal for Online Data (SeedPOD) will aggregate wild origin seed collections data and associated knowledge held by institutes around the world, including collections held at RBG Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB), and importantly provide a point of
request for access to seed material of wild plants from all collaborating seed banks. Field data, plant names and taxonomy, germination test data, seed quantities and their availability for use will all be in scope.
Reporting to the SeedPOD project manager, the post holder will be a member of the MSBP team based at Wakehurst, the home of the MSB. With responsibilities including maintaining high data standards and contributing to the development of a useful and user-friendly global resource, the SeedPOD data resources officer will perform a key role in the SeedPOD team.
Training will be given where required, and the post holder will be supported by a friendly dynamic team and in regular catch ups with relevant stakeholders. However, much of the role entails working through the post holder’s own initiative, thus good organisational and prioritisation skills are essential.
Job Context:
SeedPOD is a three-year project which will build on, and eventually replace the existing Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP) Data Warehouse, delivering an open access and significantly improved resource for partners across the MSBP, the wider seed science and seed use community. SeedPOD is an integrated seed bank data resource, aligned with Kew-wide databases.
Accountabilities:
- DATA MANAGEMENT: Data review, cleansing, transfer and documentation as required for dataset addition to SeedPOD, including ensuring relevant metadata and Data Provider
agreements are complete and appropriately filed. Ensure mandatory data are complete and apply data restrictions as required. This aspect of the role will involve liaison with MSBP conservation partnership coordinators, the Integrated Collections Management System (ICMS) and Digital Revolution teams, and data providers. - TESTING AND DOCUMENTATION: Support SeedPOD development and technical documentation. This will involve undertaking and documenting User Acceptance Testing
against supplied technical specifications. Write and maintain process instructions for all SeedPOD key processes. - USER SUPPORT: Provide a high standard of data provider and user support including managing the SeedPOD mailbox. Support data providers with data transfer. Assist with
SeedPOD’s seed supply facilitation role as required. - REPORTING AND COMMS: assist the SeedPOD project manager in the collation of reports to funders and other stakeholders and with the creation of materials to promote SeedPOD, which may include the compilation of insightful statistics and the creation of engaging infographics.
- RAINING: Support SeedPOD training at Kew and beyond jointly with the SeedPOD project manager and MSBP conservation partnership coordinators. This will include the creation
and delivery of new SeedPOD training resources and some training delivery.
Education and Experience
Essential
- Good data management, querying, manipulation and documentation skills
- Confident using MS Excel and Word
- Good interpersonal skills and be able to communicate technical information well, both written and verbal
- Basic botanical knowledge
- A degree in a biological subject or experience in working within a natural science team
Desirable
- Familiarity with MS Access, SQL, and R
- Familiarity with BRAHMS software
- An understanding of the principles of seed conservation and plant taxonomy
- Experience in successfully working in an international project with multiple stakeholders, and/or experience of collaborating in the development of collection-based data resource
- Experience delivering training
Job Specific Competencies
Essential
- Expertise with compiling and managing botanical data
- Excellent IT skills
- Accuracy, literacy and numeracy skills with a high level of attention to detail
- Good organisation skills
- Able to work unsupervised for a fair proportion of time
- Able to build and maintain effective working relationships
Desirable
- Able to communicate effectively in one other major European or Asiatic language
