Geospatial Young Professional

Geospatial Young Professional, Spekboom Restoration Project

Technical and Carbon Department, Eastern Cape (Gqeberha), South Africa

Location:

Gqeberha, Eastern Cape

Reports to:

Senior Geospatial Field Technician

Are you ready to embark on an extraordinary adventure that will revitalise landscapes, combat climate change, and promote sustainable agriculture?

Join Nat Carbon Africa: a mission-driven, proudly African organisation dedicated to high-quality implementation of large-scale carbon, climate, and biodiversity projects. We embrace the power of innovative technology to enhance project execution. Community engagement lies at the heart of our projects, driven by a genuine commitment to meaningful and inclusive participation and co-benefits, such as biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic upliftment.

Nat Carbon Africa seeks a Geospatial Young Professional in the Technical and Carbon Department for the large-scale Spekboom Restoration Project in the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa.

With our partner, Imperative Global, our aim is to restore up to 100,000 hectares of degraded subtropical thicket biome. The Project entails planting Spekboom (Portulacaria afra) on privately owned land to improve ecosystem functioning and agricultural productivity over time, promote biodiversity, improve soil filtration, enhance water storage capabilities, and to reduce soil erosion. The Project is estimated to permanently store large quantities of Carbon Dioxide over the Project life, thus positively contributing towards climate change mitigation.

The Geospatial Young Professional will support aerial monitoring and field data collection using high-precision drones, assisting with data processing, analysis, and reporting for Nat Carbon's large-scale restoration initiatives. This role offers hands-on experience with UAV operations, remote sensing, GIS analysis, and data-driven decision-making within a safety-focused, results-oriented team. The successful candidate will be supported in obtaining their Remote Pilot Certificate (RPC) and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) qualifications and is expected to bring insight from their academic discipline to help develop innovative ways to manage, display, and analyse spatial data, deepening the team's understanding of biomass accumulation across the landscape.

• Assist with high-precision drone flights and data capture using advanced sensors and UAV technology.
• Support the processing of complex spatial datasets to derive meaningful insights for the Spekboom Restoration Project, helping to manage data layers and analyses that guide project activities and reporting.
• Contribute to the development of tools, frameworks, and databases that streamline data collection and analysis.
• Work alongside restoration teams on non-drone-related activities as needed and provide regular updates on progress.
• Undertake on-the-job training towards the Remote Pilot Certificate (RPC) and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) certification, working towards the regulatory standards required for UAV operations.
• Travel frequently for fieldwork in remote locations, as required.

• Contribute to research and innovation in geospatial monitoring methodologies that advance ecological restoration and carbon assessment practices.

• Embrace a culture of continuous learning by adapting to evolving job responsibilities, driven by Nat Carbon Africa’s commitment to innovation, personal growth, and shifting operational priorities.
• Some travel within the Eastern and Western Cape may be required, including to remote locations, with occasional weekend or holiday work to accommodate schedules.
• Work hours may be irregular.

• This outline of duties and responsibilities…