Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
The ocean is critical to life on our blue planet. Understanding how it is changing has never been more important.
In order to understand these changes, SAMS is expanding its science team and strengthening research in physical oceanography and marine biogeochemistry. Research in these areas is crucial to our understanding of climate change, weather patterns and marine ecosystems.
SAMS is a leading institute in climate-scale ocean research and recently hosted the Challenger Society Marine Science Conference. Situated on the west coast of Scotland, SAMS is located on the doorstep of the north-east Atlantic and is a leader in large-scale monitoring arrays and harnessing autonomous platforms.
New members of the team will help us chart the direction of our research, ensuring we can answer the most pressing questions in ocean science.
Come and join us!
The Role
We are seeking a talented postdoctoral physical oceanographer to harness observational, numerical and theoretical methods to advance our understanding of climate-relevant ocean physics in the North Atlantic.
The postholder will contribute to NERC-funded research programmes, using autonomous observational platforms and sophisticated physical analysis to investigate the dynamics and impacts of ocean circulation in the North Atlantic:
- ODISSEA – utilise hydrographic mooring, bottom pressure, glider, satellite, and tide gauge data to understand the causal relationships between climate-scale ocean circulation and coastal/shelf sea level around the UK and Ireland on a range of time scales.
- OSNAP – provide a continuous observational record of the volume heat, freshwater fluxes in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic, improving our understanding subpolar AMOC variability and dynamics.
- WISPA – develop techniques for using of drift-free bottom pressure sensors to observe climate-relevant ocean dynamics.
More information on the OSNAP project can be found here: OSNAP Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (o-snap.org)
Our Ideal Candidate
You will hold a PhD in physical oceanography and be experienced in using traditional and/or autonomous observing methods, the data they generate and computing languages to analyse these data.
You will have experience participating in oceanographic research cruises, have a good understanding of ocean boundary dynamics and a publication record which demonstrates this. You will also have a track record of identifying research opportunities and income generation. Ability to work effectively at sea is also essential.
Employee Benefits
Our relatively small, caring community, is an ideal environment for making friends, forming collaborations, and supporting each other to do the work that we really care about. Oban and surrounding areas provide a fantastic base to live and work, and we offer a wide range of employee benefits, support and inclusive culture, making SAMS a great place to work.
Our employees are the heart of our business. Recruiting and retaining the right people is the key to our success. Rewarding our employees is therefore an important component of our employment package and we have a wide range of benefits on offer to staff to support your work and lifestyle.
We are proud to provide a wide variety of benefits year-round, offering options to best support our staff, such as: flexible & hybrid working options, purchase of additional annual leave, shopping discounts, Cycle 2 Work scheme, purchases of technology through salary sacrifice, Payroll Giving, Pensions Plus, access to portals to support health and wellbeing, a sabbatical scheme, free car parking with access to electronic charging points as well as access to a number of training & development courses.
Additionally, SAMS encourages and recognises excellence among staff through various recognition and reward arrangements. We are striving to constantly develop and expand the benefits and offers for our colleagues.
Interested?
We would love to hear from you. If you have queries on the job and would like to talk these through before applying, please email these through, in the first instance, to
For further information, please go to
Applications must include CV and Cover Letter and should be sent electronically to CLICK APPLY,
quoting Job Ref. ‘D17/24.NF’ in the subject heading.
Closing date for application is 4 th November 2024
– Interviews to be held by the end of November 2024.
Unfortunately, this position does not meet the minimum requirements for sponsorship to work in the UK. You must therefore have the rights in place to work in the UK already.
SAMS Group is committed to being an equal and open organisation. Diversity and inclusion are important to us, and we strive to remove any barriers that may prevent people from applying to join us. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, and from all who share our values and can help us to broaden our knowledge and range of ideas.
