The Role

The successful candidate will join the SAMS Marine Mammal Research Team and deliver research, as well as consultancy work relating to marine mammal ecology, bioacoustics and underwater noise assessments, with a focus on monitoring and management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and marine industries (e.g., offshore renewables, aquaculture and fisheries).

The candidate will be working for the majority of their time within the ACCLIMATISE project, a project supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). As part of this project, the candidate will collect underwater and in-air passive acoustic, as well as visual data, and apply existing and develop new automated analysis tools to aid species distribution and habitat modelling. This work will support the development of sustainable, long-term monitoring programmes for marine megafauna (e.g., marine mammals and seabirds) and underwater noise in waters around the island of Ireland.

In addition, the successful candidate will spend around a third of their time providing marine environmental consultancy within the SAMS Enterprise team. The post holder will contribute to tender development and delivery, including acoustic data analysis, report writing, and advising on project consenting, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Habitat Regulations Assessment (HRA) processes.

The candidate will help the wider SAMS Marine Mammal Research Team secure and deliver projects to progress the team’s capabilities including equipment maintenance, fieldwork and data collection. Finally, and depending on interest, the post holder may also contribute to teaching, for example on the Marine Megafauna Module of SAMS Marine Science BSc degree.

See project details here: http://www.seupb.eu/PEACEPLUS

Our Ideal Candidate

We are looking for a highly motivated Post-Doctoral Researcher with enthusiasm for the study and conservation of the marine environment. A PhD related to marine mammals, bioacoustics and/or species distribution modelling is essential. You should be comfortable in the field as well as in the lab and be able to work collaboratively as part of a small research team. Our ideal candidate would have a strong background in the collection and analysis of long-term passive acoustic (using static, drifting and/or towed hydrophones) data. In addition, skills in species distribution and habitat modelling, as well as proficiency in standard programming languages are sought (e.g., R, Python or MATLAB). Experience of visual data analysis (photo-ID, focal follow, line-transect surveys) would be valuable. Awareness of UK and Scottish marine environmental regulatory processes in relation to MPAs as well as marine industry (e.g., fisheries, marine energy and aquaculture) monitoring and management is required.

Employee Benefits

Our cohesive and caring community is an ideal environment for 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.

Interested?

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

Applications must include CV and Cover Letter and should be sent electronically to recruitment@sams.ac.uk quoting Job Ref. ‘D10/25.DR’ in the subject heading.

Closing date for application is 2nd November 2025 - Interviews to be held shortly thereafter.

Full details can be found here:

PDRA in Marine Mammal Ecology - Job Description

PDRA in Marine Mammal Ecology - Job Description (Accessible)

Please find further information below on how we can help you apply:

Applicant Support & Guidance

SAMS’ commitment to gender equality has been recognised, as our institute was presented with an Athena SWAN (Scientific Women’s Academic Network) Bronze Award and is currently working towards Investors in Diversity accreditation.

SAMS follows Fair Work Practices.

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.