Engineer (f_m_x) - Sensor installation and environmental monitoring network maintenance

GFZ is Germany's national centre for solid Earth research. We advance the understanding of dynamic processes to address global challenges, from mitigating the impacts of natural hazards and sustaining our habitat amid global change to responsibly managing georesources. We are part of the Helmholtz Association, the largest German scientific organisation. With around 1,200 employees as well as ca. 500 guest researchers, we contribute to the Helmholtz Research Field Earth and Environment, aligning cutting-edge research with societal relevance and international collaboration. Our work integrates multidisciplinary studies across Earth's system components, leveraging advanced technologies and infrastructure to research solutions and to transfer our knowledge to society. We are doing this according to our vision: “Taking the pulse of our Earth to safeguard a habitable planet”.

The section 4.4 "Hydrology" (department “Geosystems”) is looking for an:

Engineer (f_m_x) - Sensor installation and environmental monitoring network maintenance Reference Number 11103

Our section offers a position focusing on sensor installation and monitoring network maintenance in the framework of the project “Trees under stress: Potsdam as a real-world laboratory for climate change impacts (ArboKlim)”.

We are looking for a candidate to a) help with the instrumentation of several field sites in Potsdam and in the region with sapflow sensors, dendrometers, soil moisture sensors and seismometers and b) provide the technical maintenance of these field sites.

The position is embedded in the Helmholtz long-term environmental observatory network TERENO, and the EU-funded regional project ArboKlim, carried out by the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), in close collaboration with local partners.

The project ArboKlim investigates the impacts of climate change on trees in and around the UNESCO World Heritage landscapes of Potsdam. In response to increasing drought stress, heat extremes, and weather-related hazards, the project combines climate-impact research with innovative in situ monitoring to better understand how trees respond to changing environmental conditions and how these responses affect public safety, ecosystem services, and tourism. ArboKlim integrates hydrological measurements (soil moisture and groundwater levels), tree-based sensor systems (sap-flow sensors and dendrometers), innovative environmental seismological approaches, as well as tree-ring analyses.

Your Responsibilities

• Instrumentation of field sites, installation of sensors and logger networks
• Technical integration and further development of sensor and data acquisition systems
• Ensuring and optimising data flows
• Developing technical solutions to improve data quality, system stability and measurement accuracy
• Configuration of Raspberry Pi or similar for high-frequency sensing
• Planning, coordinating and evaluating measurement campaigns
• Logger programming
• Maintenance of instrumentation
• Data management
• Supporting the scientific staff with technical expertise
• Collaboration with our project partners in meteorology, dendrochronology and geomorphology

About You Essential Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree (university or university of applied sciences) in Civil or Environmental Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electronics, Mechatronics, Environmental Physics or similar
• Interest in interdisciplinary work
• Interest in working outdoors, ability to work in the field, including extended walking and carrying of heavy loads
• Skills and interest in electronics and programming, databases
• Very good communication and interpersonal skills, team player
• Good command of English
• Driver’s license

Desirable Qualifications

• Knowledge of the German language is an asset
• Knowledge in Hydrology, Geosciences, Geophysi