Senior Data Scientist, Fisheries & Water Resources

ICF•San Francisco, CA

2d•Remote

About The Position

ICF’s Fish and Aquatic Science and Technology Team is expanding and seeks a Senior Data Scientist to work closely with fish biologists, hydrologists, and project managers. The role supports water resource clients through quantitative analysis, decision-support modeling, and publication of applied science. Initial assignments will focus on statistical and decision-support modeling and publications concerning Chinook Salmon in California’s Central Valley, with opportunities to work in other regions. The Senior Data Scientist will manage data and conduct scientific analyses; develop, maintain, and document models and data pipelines; and contribute to proposal writing, study planning, fieldwork, and final deliverables, including reports and manuscripts. The position also involves client engagement, project and budget management, team collaboration, mentoring junior staff, and communicating scientific findings to technical and non-technical audiences. The position is based in San Francisco, California, with flexibility to work remotely.

Requirements

Master’s degree in fisheries biology, fisheries and wildlife, quantitative ecology, or an equivalent science-related field, or five years of increasingly complex assignments in fish data science.
Knowledge and experience with key Northern California fish-management issues, including Chinook Salmon population dynamics, endangered species recovery, habitat restoration, flow management, and monitoring program design.
Knowledge and experience with California water-management issues, including reservoir and conveyance operations, water supply and allocation, environmental flows, and drought and flood management.
Ability to understand and interpret water operations, hydrologic and hydraulic information, and their implications for fish populations, habitat, and management decisions.
Familiarity with California water policy and the legislative process.
Quantitative analysis skills to evaluate the effects of clients’ proposed actions and design and apply sophisticated, robust, and creative analytical approaches, including hierarchical and Bayesian statistical models and machine learning.
Ability to interpret hydrologic, hydraulic, and telemetry modeling outputs and integrate them into fish population and decision-support models.
Ability to conduct and interpret advanced statistical analyses.
Proficiency in R, Python, and SQL.
Demonstrated ability to design and implement transparent, reproducible, collaborative scientific workflows consistent with U.S. federal Open Science and Open Data expectations.
Experience developing documented, version-controlled analytical workflows; maintaining clear data provenance; automating data processing, analysis, and reporting; and producing reusable data, code, and analytical products.
Ability to establish shared workflows and documentation that support collaboration, scientific review, knowledge transfer, and reuse across interdisciplinary teams and agency partners.
Peer-reviewed scientific publication record and experience presenting at professional conferences.
Strong ability to translate scientific findings accurately and effectively into policy recommendations in workshops and structured decision-making processes.
Ability to communicate analytical results to technical and non-technical audiences, including multi-agency stakeholder groups, through reports, presentations, and interactive data visualization tools, sometimes in stressful and contentious settings.
Ability to manage multiple simultaneous long-term projects, including budgets, staff coordination, client relationships, and required deliverables.
Demonstrated ability to set high performance and quality standards, support team success, treat team members respectfully and professionally, collaborate, leverage team strengths, and mentor and develop junior team members.
Ability to balance scientific and natural-resource expertise with business acumen, marketing, and expansion opportunities.
Authorization to work in the United States.

Nice To Haves

Expert-level integration of complex data sets to facilitate analyses.
Demonstrated expertise in quantitative fish science.
Experience conducting scientific research using fisheries expertise.
Peer-reviewed publication record in quantitative fisheries science.
Experience applying hierarchical or Bayesian modeling tools, such as Stan or Template Model Builder, to fisheries data.
Experience supporting structured decision making for California water and fish management.

Responsibilities

Conduct analyses and lead or assist with writing scientific documents, technical reports, and peer-reviewed manuscripts for fish-related projects.
Develop, update, and document statistical, population, and decision-support models for fish and water resource management, including Chinook Salmon recovery and flow decisions.
Build and maintain reproducible codebases and automated data pipelines connecting monitoring data to models.
Meet with water resource clients to discuss technical aspects of planning, implementation, and monitoring of fish and water resource management projects.
Communicate projects and interpretations of analyses through written and oral communication and interactive visualizations to broad audiences, sometimes in contentious environments.
Conduct scientific research to develop knowledge that informs resource management.
Work with technical staff from multiple disciplines to complete analyses and documentation on time and within budget.
Develop scopes and budgets and write proposals.
Build and maintain client relationships.
Mentor junior biologists and support their development, including through code review and documentation practices.
Manage data, conduct scientific analyses, and contribute to study planning, fieldwork, and final deliverables.
Manage several simultaneous long-term projects, including budget tracking, staff coordination, client relationship management, and completion of required products and reports.