Physical Science Officer

Important messages

We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process. If you need to be accommodated during any phase of the evaluation process, please use the Contact information below to request specialized accommodation. All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

Assessment accommodation

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled and diverse workforce that reflects the Canadians we serve. We promote employment equity and encourage you to indicate if you belong to one of the designated groups when you apply.

At ECCC/CWA, diversity is our strength. If you’re a woman, an Indigenous person, a person with a disability or a visible minority and are interested in bringing in different perspectives and insights, let us know by completing the Employment Equity (EE) section in your application.

Duties

A Physical Scientist 03 employee is expected to: plan and conduct multiple and diverse scientific activities within a project framework including: identifying resource requirements; establishing and leading interdisciplinary teams as program specialist; negotiating partnership agreements and contracts; accepting work products and assessing performance; recommending new or modified project activities with management and providing specialist input to policy development and program areas. In addition, they will provide advice and information to internal scientific professionals as a specialist in a subject area and to scientific, industrial, public partners and stakeholders by responding to requests for technical information, producing and synthesizing scientific findings in reports, accepting, and integrating team input and presenting findings at various venues.

Work environment

Are you a dynamic individual up for a new challenge? The Canada Water Agency of Environment and Climate Change Canada seeks talented and skilled individuals to join our team. Our success lies in a dynamic workforce that strives for excellence and innovation. Are you looking for an environment that offers many challenges with the opportunity to work on high-profile issues? If you wish to contribute significantly to improving freshwater management in Canada by providing leadership, effective collaboration, and improved coordination and collaboration to address transboundary freshwater challenges and opportunities, we would love to hear from you.

Our team of scientists are the focal point for work conducted under the Freshwater Action Plan to deliver on Canada’s commitments, including forming and maintaining partnerships, assessing water quality and ecosystem health, identifying, and coordinating key management actions, and evaluating progress towards targets.

We are looking for motivated individuals with knowledge of water quality issues, experience coordinating the work of multi-agency science-based teams, and experience providing input to policy and program areas.

Intent of the process

The intent of this process is to fill current vacancies and to establish a pool of qualified candidates for future opportunities. It may also be used to staff similar positions with various tenures (Deployment, Assignment, Secondment, Acting, Term, or Indeterminate) within ECCC/CWA with various security requirements (reliability or secret).

Positions to be filled: 1

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

In order to be considered, your application must clearly explain how you meet the following (essential qualifications)

EDUCATION:
Graduation with a degree from a recognized post-secondary institution, with acceptable specialization in physics, geology, chemistry or some other science relevant to the position.

Note:
The courses for the specialization must be acceptable and must have been taken at a recognized post-secondary institution, but not necessarily within a degree program in the required specialization.

Degree equivalency

EXPERIENCE:
• Significant* experience participating in multi-disciplinary or multi-jurisdictional project teams.
• Experience analyzing, synthesizing, and interpreting scientific data and preparing technical/scientific reports, recommendations or presentations based on this data.
• Experience providing written and oral science-based advice to internal or external stakeholders and management to support decision-making.
• Experience presenting scientific or technical information to non-technical audiences.

*Significant experience is defined as the depth and breadth of experience normally associated with having performed a broad range of various and complex related activities. The amount, the complexity, and the diversity of handled cases, as well as the autonomy level may also be taken into consideration.

The following will be applied / assessed at a later date (essential for the job)

Various language requirements
French Essential, English Essential, Bilingual Imperative (BBB/BBB)

Information on language requirements

KNOWLEDGE:
• Knowledge of freshwater quality and aquatic ecosystems, including regional freshwater issues/priorities in major watersheds of Canada.
• Knowledge of federal and provincial policies, legislation and agreements respecting Canadian freshwater ecosystems.

ABILITIES:
• Ability to communicate effectively in writing.
• Ability to communicate effectively orally.
• Ability to analyze, summarize and make recommendations.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple priorities with tight or conflicting deadlines.
• Ability to consult, negotiate and coordinate multi-partner projects.
• Ability to lead a team.

PERSONAL SUITABILITIES:
• Demonstrating integrity and respect
• Thinking things through
• Working effectively with others
• Showing initiative and being action oriented

The following may be applied / assessed at a later date (may be needed for the job)

EDUCATION:
Graduation with master’s degree from a recognized post-secondary institution with acceptable specialization in aquatic sciences, geography, chemistry, environmental sciences, engineering, or some other science relevant to the position such as biology, conservation sciences or natural resources.

Degree equivalency

ASSET QUALIFICATIONS:
The following criteria are not required for the appointment, but preference may be given to candidates who possess these asset qualifications.

1. Experience in using geospatial data and decision-support tools like Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to inform technical or scientific studies and/or develop recommendations for decision-making.
2. Experience leading* project teams or working groups.
3. Experience supervising** staff.
4. Experience in engaging federal departments, provinces/territories, Indigenous peoples and other partners/stakeholders on freshwater science or policy issues.
5. Experience working on programs focused on chemicals management or in programs focused on managing chemical impacts on aquatic ecosystems.
6. Experience working on programs focused on nutrient management or in programs focused on managing the impacts of excessive nutrients impacts on aquatic ecosystems.
7. Experience working on projects or programs focused on ecology.
8. Experience working on programs focused on the assessment, remedial design and/or management of contaminated sediment sites.
9. Experience working on programs focused on fish and wildlife habitat management or in programs focused on managing the restoration of fish and wildlife habitat.
10. Experience soliciting, negotiating, and managing project partnerships and funding agreements.
11. Experience managing contracts.
12. Experience in engagement with Indigenous communities and/or organizations and working with diverse knowledge systems.
13. Experience with statistical analysis related to environmental data.
14. Experience in using diverse knowledge systems (i.e. Indigenous knowledge and Western Science) to make recommendations for decision-making.

* Leading is defined as developing strategies/plans, assigning tasks, setting milestones, monitoring progress, and briefing managers
** Supervising can include students, temporary staff, or contractors and is defined as assigning work, reviewing results, providing feedback as well as monitoring and assessing performance.

Selection may be limited to members of the following Employment Equity groups: Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, women

Information on employment equity

ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS:
ECCC/CWA is committed to having a skilled and diversified workforce representative of the population we serve. In support of our strategy to achieve our employment equity goals, selection may be limited to candidates self-identifying as belonging to one of the following Employment Equity groups: Women, Indigenous Persons, Visible Minorities and Persons with Disabilities.

OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
• Willing and able to work overtime, often on short notice, outside of normal working hours.
• Valid Driver’s License to operate a motor vehicle in Canada.
• Willing and able to travel in Canada and the United States.

Conditions of employment

Reliability status security clearance.

Other information

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled and diverse workforce that reflects the Canadians we serve. We promote employment equity and encourage you to indicate if you belong to one of the designated groups when you apply.

Information on employment equity

1. All applications must be submitted online through the Public Service Resourcing System (PSRS). Do not email, fax, or mail in applications, as these will not be accepted.

2. Acknowledgment of receipts of applications will not be sent; we will only contact successful applicants when the screening process has been completed.

3. It is recommended that you describe the experience examples in specific terms, providing sufficient details so that the Assessment Board can clearly understand. Describe the Situation/Task, the Action you took, what the Results were, what you accomplished and/or what you learned (STAR model). Your CV/résumé must support content of your response as your responses to these questions will be used as a primary source of information and your CV/résumé will only be used to validate this information.

4. Applicants are required to meet the Essential Qualifications. Asset Qualifications may be applied at any point in the assessment process. Therefore, you are strongly encouraged to answer Asset Qualifications questions in your online application. Applicants do not need to meet any/all the Asset Qualifications for consideration, however, possessing any/all the Asset Qualifications may increase the likelihood of being considered for an appointment.

5. For this staffing process, our intention is to communicate with applicants by e-mail. This may include information requests, invitations, online examination administration, provision of assessment results, etc.

6. Applicants must include in their application a valid e-mail address that is always functional and accepts messages from unknown users. Some e-mail systems block this type of e-mail so ensure to check / view your spam folder regularly.

7. Applicants must check their email accounts frequently as there may be a deadline for responses. Responses provided after the indicated deadline may not be accepted.

8. ECCC will use the services of a third-party Human Resources Consultant to administer an online assessment. Your name and email address will be provided to this organization to facilitate the administration of the assessment tool(s). By submitting your application, you are providing ECCC your consent to provide this personal information to the organization for administration purposes only. This information will only be used for administration of the assessment tool.

9. Assessment methods for this staffing process may include Written exam(s), reviews of previous Written Communications, Oral Interviews and Reference Checks. Additional assessment may take place for specific position requirements. During the application or assessment process both cheating and plagiarism are considered forms of misconduct and are not permitted. Any applicant found engaging in these forms of misconduct, may be subject to removal from the staffing process.

10. Online assessments may be scheduled, and Applicants will be invited to participate in these assessments via email. Applicants MUST make themselves available within the time span of the testing phase. The written/online exam MAY be administered outside of regular working hours including evenings and weekends.

11. If you are unavailable for the scheduled assessment session, you must inform us immediately. Applicants will only be rescheduled on a case-by-case basis. Supporting documentation may be required at the time of your request to be re-scheduled.

12. Applicants are entitled to participate in the staffing process in the official language of their choice and are required to indicate their preferred official language in their application profile.

13. Information received relating to accommodation measures for any assessment stage of this staffing process is addressed confidentially.

14. NOTE: The PSRS system will time out after 60 minutes which may result in your inability to save your work or loss of data. It is recommended that you draft ALL RESPONSES as well as your CV/résumé in another document on your PC that can be saved (e.g., in MS Word or WordPerfect) and copy/paste into the PSRS system when completed. NRCan IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR SYSTEM PROBLEMS, WHICH MAY RESULT IN LOSS OF DATA AND/OR INCOMPLETE OR NON-SUBMITTED APPLICATIONS.

15. Please be advised that various techniques could be used to manage the volume of candidates that may be received.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans first and then to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, with the exception of a job located in Nunavut, where Nunavut Inuit will be appointed first.

Information on the preference to veterans

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.

Apply online