Data Analyst

Data Analyst – Ecological Statistics

Working Hours: Full-time

Job Type: Contract – Inside IR35

Contract Length: 6 months

Daily Rate: Competitive

Location: Fully Remote (UK) – No Travel Required

About the Role

Our client is looking for an experienced Data Analyst with strong ecological statistics expertise to support a major environmental research and monitoring programme.

The role focuses on analysing complex, long-term ecological datasets to understand biodiversity changes and the environmental factors influencing them, including climate change and air pollution.

You will apply advanced statistical techniques to identify relationships, quantify uncertainty and improve the design of future environmental monitoring activities.

This is a specialist analytical position requiring strong statistical knowledge, ecological data experience and proficiency in R, Python or SPSS.

Responsibilities

• Conduct complex statistical analysis of long-term ecological and environmental datasets.
• Identify relationships between biodiversity changes and environmental pressures.
• Apply statistical modelling techniques to investigate patterns, trends and potential causal relationships.
• Analyse multivariate datasets using appropriate parametric and non-parametric methods.
• Quantify uncertainty and assess the reliability of statistical findings.
• Review existing environmental monitoring methodologies and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Develop statistically robust survey and monitoring designs to improve data quality and analytical effectiveness.
• Recommend improvements to sampling approaches, reducing unnecessary data collection while maintaining statistical power.
• Ensure revised monitoring approaches maximise the value of existing datasets.
• Evaluate alternative statistical methodologies and provide evidence-based recommendations.
• Collaborate with scientific, research and policy stakeholders to understand analytical requirements.
• Produce technical reports and clearly communicate statistical findings to technical and non-technical audiences.

Essential Experience & Technical Skills

• Strong ecological statistical knowledge and experience analysing ecological or environmental datasets.
• Degree in Statistics, Ecology, Environmental Science, Mathematics or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• Strong understanding of experimental design, survey design and statistical analysis.
• Advanced experience using R, Python or SPSS for statistical modelling and analysis.
• Experience analysing complex datasets involving multiple variables and environmental pressures.
• Strong knowledge of multivariate statistical techniques and methods for examining relationships between variables.
• Experience with parametric and non-parametric statistical analysis.
• Ability to conduct statistical inference and quantify uncertainty.
• Experience interpreting complex statistical results and drawing evidence-based conclusions.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to independently manage analytical work and deliver against agreed deadlines.

Desirable Experience

• Previous experience supporting ecological monitoring or biodiversity research programmes.
• Experience designing or improving long-term environmental monitoring surveys.
• Knowledge of statistical power, sampling methodologies and survey optimisation.
• Experience evaluating alternative statistical approaches and recommending suitable methodologies.
• Experience contributing to scientific publications, research papers or technical reports.
• A publication history demonstrating responsibility for statistical analysis.
• Experience working with environmental research organisations, academic institutions or public-sector stakeholders.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, particularly when explaining complex statistical findings to non-specialist audiences.