Forestry Data Engineer

The Alberta Public Service works to build a stronger province for current and future generations. We make a difference in the lives of Albertans through rewarding and diverse career opportunities.

Alberta is covered by roughly 35 million hectares of forest. Alberta’s Forestry Division supports a policy of sustainable forest management designed to maintain a healthy forest able to sustain itself ecologically while providing for society's economic, social, recreational, and spiritual needs and values. To learn more about forest stewardship in Alberta, visit: https://www.alberta.ca/forest-management.aspx

Role Responsibilities

Are you passionate about transforming complex data into reliable, accessible information that supports better decisions? This is an opportunity to apply your data engineering expertise to some of Alberta’s most important forestry information. As a Forest Data Engineer, you will help modernize how forestry data is designed, integrated, automated, and used to support sustainable forest management, regulatory oversight, planning, and public reporting.

As part of the Resource Inventory & Biometrics Section, you will provide specialized expertise in relational and geospatial data architecture, automated data pipelines, data quality, metadata, reporting, dashboards, and analysis-ready datasets.

You will play a key role in modernizing the Forest Management Regulatory System (FMRS) and related digital services while helping ensure forestry information is reliable, current, accessible to authorized users, and fit for regulatory, operational, analytical, and reporting needs.

Working collaboratively with Analysts, Foresters, subject matter experts, and technical teams, you will provide practical data solutions, standards, automation, mentorship, and design guidance while supporting program areas in  the stewardship of their data.

Your key responsibilities include, but not limited to:

• Designing integrated relational, tabular, and geospatial data models, dictionaries, relationships, spatial features, and data flows for key forestry datasets.
• Developing reusable pipelines, scripts, database views, processing routines, reports, dashboards, and workflows to ingest, validate, transform, reconcile, integrate, and publish forestry information.
• Establishing data quality, audit, exception-reporting, metadata, lineage, and documentation practices while preparing reliable, analysis-ready datasets and outputs for approved reporting and data sharing.
• Supporting FMRS modernization, digital services, system integration, data migration, and interoperability across databases, geodatabases, reporting tools, dashboards, and data-sharing platforms.
• Translating forestry business and regulatory requirements into practical data solutions, reusable standards, templates, and design patterns, while coaching Analysts, Foresters, and program staff in integrated data practices.

The Job Description is provided for further details on this position.

APS Competencies

Competencies are behaviors that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.

To be successful in the role of Forest Data Engineer, you will demonstrate the following competencies:

Systems Thinking:

Takes a holistic, long-term view of forestry data and designs integrated solutions connecting Section, Division, enterprise, and external reporting needs.

Creative Problem Solving:

Engages different perspectives, identifies root causes, assesses risks, and develops practical solutions for complex relational, geospatial, legacy, and digital-service data challenges.

 

Build Collaborative Environments:

Brings analysts, program staff, geospatial specialists, digital-service teams, and external partners together to improve data models, workflows, reporting, dashboards, and shared practices.

Drive for Results:

Clarifies objectives, uses resources effectively, maintains accountability for quality deliverables, and implements data products and automated workflows that support business outcomes.

Qualifications

Education and Experience:

A four-year university degree in forestry, environmental science, geomatics, geography, computer science, data science, statistics, engineering, information systems, or a related discipline, plus a minimum of four years of progressively responsible related experience.

Related experience includes data engineering, geospatial data management, database design, forestry information systems, natural resource data management, relational or enterprise data systems, automation, technical documentation, and data quality or governance.

Equivalency:

Directly related education or experience considered on the basis of:

1 year of education for 1 year of experience; or

1 year of experience for 1 year of education.

Assets:

• Experience designing, maintaining, or improving relational and geospatial databases, data models, pipelines, and other data management systems.
• Experience using SQL, Python, R, FME, ArcGIS, or business intelligence tools to automate workflows, analyze data, and produce reports or dashboards.
• Knowledge of relational and geospatial data concepts, including relationships, quality and integrity, indexing, spatial reference systems, spatial analysis, and metadata.
• Experience translating business needs into technical solutions and documenting data structures, requirements, business rules, validation, procedures, implementation plans, and data-sharing needs.
• Knowledge of Alberta forestry programs and data systems, and government data practices such as governance, authoritative and restricted data, remote sensing, modernization, migration, and legacy-system integration.

Minimum recruitment standards outline the minimum education and experience required for appointment to a job classification.

Notes

This is a full-time, permanent position. The standard hours of work are 36.25 hours per week, Monday through Friday. The role works with significant independence and requires collaboration across forestry programs, digital services, geospatial teams, and external partners.Travel is expected to be minimal.

Please provide a cover letter outlining how your education and experience relate to data engineering, relational and geospatial data, automation, data quality, documentation, and forestry or natural-resource information systems.

Your resume must clearly identify the duration of each position (including the start and end month and year) and indicate whether the position was performed on a full-time or part-time basis.

Any costs associated with obtaining the required documents/checks as noted or interview travel expenses, will be the responsibility of the candidate. Out-of-province applicants can obtain the required documents/checks from the province they currently reside in.

Links and information on what we have to offer:

• Working for the Alberta Public Service.
• Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP)  
• Alberta Public Service Benefit Information.
• Professional learning and development.
• Research Alberta Public Service Careers tool.
• Positive workplace culture and work-life balance.

How To Apply 

Applicants are advised to provide information that clearly and concisely demonstrates how their qualifications meet the advertised requirements, including education, experience, and relevant examples of required competencies.

Candidates are required to apply online. Please see Job Application Resources for more information.

In your resume, please include dates (including months and years) associated with all education and work experience. For example, January 2006 - June 2009 (part-time). This example is provided for illustrative purposes only. Applicants are encouraged to present their information clearly and thoroughly, using a format that best conveys their experience.

It is recommended applicants who have completed post-secondary studies from outside of Canada obtain an evaluation of their credentials from the International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS) or from a recognized Canadian Credential Evaluator; please visit the Alliance of Credential Evaluation Services of Canada for more information.

It is also recommended that applicants include the assessment certificate from IQAS or any other educational assessment service as part of their application.

Closing Statement

This competition may be used to fill future vacancies, across the Government of Alberta, at the same or lower classification level.

We thank all applicants for their interest. All applications will be reviewed to determine which candidates' qualifications most closely match the advertised requirements.

If you require any further information on this job posting or require an accommodation during the recruitment process, please contact Rashi Vaktania at Rashi.Vaktania@gov.ab.ca.