Assistant Manager 2: Eco-DRR Data Management Specialist at South African National Biodiversity Institute

Job Description

Assistant Manager 2: Eco-DRR Data Management Specialist
Fixed-Term Contract of Employment for Five (5) years
Reference Number: Eco-DRR/2026/001
SANBI Offers Basic Annual Salary of R605 742.00 plus 37% in lieu of benefits

• The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is looking for a self-motivated and professional individual to ensure biodiversity data is accurate, organised, standardised, accessible, and sustainably maintained.
• The focus of the work will be on data governance, quality, systems, pipelines, and long-term management and security of the Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) project’s biodiversity data.
• This position requires a degree in Biodiversity Informatics, Environmental Science, Information Science, or equivalent qualification with NQF 7. A post-graduate qualification in Biodiversity Informatics, Environmental Science, Information Science, or equivalent qualification at NQF 8 will be an added advantage. 
• This position also requires 6 years of work experience in the relevant field of biodiversity data management, informatics, or environmental data systems of which 3 years should be in supervisory position(s).

The following competencies are required for the candidate to be successful in this position:

• Demonstrated experience with: Ingestion, cleaning, validation, and QC of biodiversity or spatial datasets; GIS systems (especially ESRI tools) and spatial data workflows;
• Coordinating data contributions from researchers, institutions, field teams, or citizen scientists and supporting users in a data or technical environment (helpdesk-style role).
• ESRI ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Enterprise, Survey123, Field Maps, Spreadsheet tools (Excel), scripting (Python/R), an advantage; Metadata and documentation tools and valid driver’s licence with at least one year practical driving experience and a willingness to travel is essential.

Key Performance Responsibilities include:

• Oversee ingestion, validation, quality control, and curation of biodiversity and spatial datasets;
• Ensure metadata standards are applied (e.g., Darwin Core, SANBI metadata standards);
• Maintain data infrastructure reliability, versioning, backups, and access control;
• Support data contributors, citizen scientists, and internal users, working closely with the BIM Team on hosting, security, user access and system stability; and
• Coordinate data lifecycle management from collection, processing to publication.