Consultant as Geospatial Data Analyst - Food, Land, and Water Program

This is a hybrid position which requires 8 days per month in the office. You will be based in our office in WRI Indonesia, Jakarta. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission as WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position. 

Program Overview

WRI Indonesia is an independent research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity, and human well-being. At WRI Indonesia, we aim to bring innovations in research and business approaches in order to create the enabling conditions for Indonesia to achieve robust economic growth while respecting environmental and social values. We seek to contribute to the accomplishment of ambitious sustainable development goals through working with leaders in public and private sectors, as well as collaborating with civil society organizations, in turning big ideas into action. 

Within our Food, Land, and Water (FLW) Program, we envision critical ecosystems such as forests and peatlands across Indonesia to be governed fairly and sustainably. We believe sustainable land use management is key for Indonesia to meet its climate goal, in line with keeping the global climate target below the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold while providing sustainable livelihoods to forest-dependent communities and conserving biodiversity in the landscape. We intend to achieve this by safeguarding the remaining forest and peatland from deforestation, degradation, and fragmentation; maintaining forests and peatland quality through sound stewardship; and restoring degraded ecosystems to improve their productivity, conservation value, and ecosystem services. 

To effectively eliminate deforestation from key commodities production and provide robust stewardship for the remaining forest and peatland, we work with various levels of government, the private sector, and civil society to mainstream the ethical supply chain principles and support forest-dependent communities to secure their land rights. We aim to achieve this through research, policy advocacy, and the creation of a community and practices to maintain sustainable land use management. 

E-STDB Development

Since early 2020, WRI Indonesia continues to support the Ministry of Agriculture in developing a smallholder registration platform (E-STDB). The platform is tailored to improve the national database of plantation smallholders and will include an analytical feature on the compliance of smallholders in Indonesia to land use regulations.

A key priority of this role is to analyze the existing smallholder data (STDB) from the Ministry of Agriculture, assess its spatial quality, completeness, and consistency, design and build automation tools within the E-STDB website to streamline data processing, validation, and reporting workflows. The Smallholder Geospatial Analyst will be based in Jakarta. He/she will assist the E-STDB Lead Developer and the Sustainable Supply Chain team in providing strategic technical and operational support to operationalize the spatial data management module of the E-STDB platform, engage with key stakeholders, collect user input to improve user experience and reliability of the platform and develop other use cases of the platform.  The consultant will report to the Sustainable Supply Chain Policy Accelerator program lead as line and Outcome Manager.

Job Highlight

The Geospatial Data Analyst will provide technical and analytical support to strengthen the spatial data management and functionality of the E-STDB platform. The role will focus on assessing and improving the quality, completeness, and consistency of smallholder spatial data, developing geospatial data automation and validation tools, and supporting the operationalization of the spatial data module within the platform. The Analyst will also provide technical assistance and training to government users, develop technical documentation and user guidelines, and engage with key stakeholders to identify opportunities to improve the platform’s usability, reliability, and future applications.

Reporting directly to Land Use and Supply Chain Sustainability Analyst and close coordination with project field team, the position could be based in Jakarta with office-flex working arrangements and travel as required. In support of WRI’s DEI commitment, you are responsible for actively participating in these collaborative efforts by integrating equity into your work, our workplace, and the organizational culture.

What You Will Do

System developer technical works (70%)

• Provide expertise in geospatial data analysis to support the development of a smallholder registration (E-STDB) platform;

• Conduct in-depth analysis of the STDB spatial database (smallholder polygon data, attributes, topology) to assess data quality, completeness, and consistency; produce diagnostic reports and recommend corrective actions for spatial data improvement.

• Design and build spatial data automation tools within the E-STDB platform (e.g., automated data validation, spatial processing pipelines, bulk upload/QC workflows) to improve operational efficiency;

• Develop the spatial data module in the web-based E-STDB platforms;

• Conduct technical assistance for the relevant ministry and local governments on effective and efficient implementation of spatial data of the E-STDB platform;

• Developing technical notes and user guidelines;

• Contribute to integration of other existing platforms to work together with E-STDB as necessary;

• Actively contributing to the identification of future development of the platform, including more effective user experience and system reliability.

Stakeholder engagement (30%)

• Engage with key stakeholders of the platform (mainly national government agencies, provincial, and district governments) to better understand the use and improvement of the platform;

• Provide general support to WRI Indonesia’s works on smallholder transformation issues as needed.

What You Will Need

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Geospatial Science, Geography, Geomatics, Geodesy, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field with relevant coursework or demonstrated experience in GIS, spatial databases, and spatial programming

• Minimum 3 (three) years of professional experience in geospatial data analysis and spatial database management including working with large or complex spatial datasets

• Demonstrated experience in spatial database design and management, particularly using PostgreSQL/PostGIS including the ability to write spatial SQL queries, perform spatial data validation, and manage spatial data quality.

• Proficiency in GIS and spatial data processing tools, particularly QGIS and ArcGIS, cloud-based geospatial platforms (Google Earth Engine), and GDAL.OGR for spatial data conversion, reprojection and processing.

• Demonstrated experience in geospatial programming or scripting, particulary Phyton and relevant geospatial libraries/tools such as GeoPandas, Rasterio/Fiona, GDAL Python bindings, Shapely

• Strong understanding of spatial data concept and quality assessment with ability to analyze spatial data issues, identify potential solutions, and translate technical findings into practical recommendations for improving spatial data and platform functionality.

• Detail-oriented, organized, and systematic individual with strong time management skills

• Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to a wide range of audiences, including government users and non-technical stakeholders, and to develop clear technical documentation and user guidelines

• Good written and verbal communications skills in Bahasa Indonesia and English

• Ability and willingness to travel as assigned

• Legally able to work in Indonesia;

Preferred Qualifications:

• Knowledge of spatial data standards and interoperability frameworks: OGC (WMS, WFS, WCS), ISO 19115/19139 metadata, SNI geospatial standards, and Badan Informasi Geospasial (BIG) data specifications

• Familiarity withJavaScript for web-based GIS (Leaflet, OpenLayers, or Mapbox GL JS);

• Familiarity with python-based geospatial analysis

• Familiarity with Linux server environments, spatial service deployment (GeoServer, MapServer), and containerization (Docker) for reproducible spatial workflows

Duration

1 October 2026 – 31 March 2027 with a possibility of extension, subject to individual performance, project needs and budget availability.

Deliverables

1. STDB spatial data quality assessment report with polygon validation diagnostic

2. Improved spatial data management in the E-STDB Platform (automated polygon validation and reporting dashboard deployed)

3. Knowledge and source code transfer to admin in the Ministry of Agriculture

4. Final Report of Technical Specification pertaining to system architecture and recommendations for improvement

5. Troubleshooting

Terms of Payment

Daily rate-based consultant with a maximum of 108 (one hundred and eight) working days for the whole contract or 18 (eighteen) working days per month

How to Apply:

• Please submit a resume with a cover letter by 30 September 2026. You must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered. We may close for applications sooner if we receive a high volume of applications from qualified candidates.

• Must have authorization to work in Indonesia to be eligible for this position.

• Final candidates might be required to take a certain test and/or to produce/share writing samples when needed.

• This is a locally engaged position, Indonesian nationals are encouraged to apply.

What we offer:

• Consultant rate that is commensurate with experience and skill.

• Travel insurance for both domestic and international for any travel duty as assigned by WRI Indonesia

• Access to the WRI global network with the opportunity to exchange with and learn from passionate colleagues working at the cutting edge of their fields.

• A workplace that strives to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work

• The opportunity to join and get involved in different working groups and affinity groups to shape the future of WRI

• Commitment to hybrid working model with flexible working hours

About Us:

World Resources Institute works to improve people’s lives, protect and restore nature and stabilize the climate. As an independent research organization, we leverage our data, expertise and global reach to influence policy and catalyze change across systems like food, land and water; energy; and cities. Our 2,000+ staff work on the ground in more than a dozen focus countries and with partners in over 50 nations.

Our mission and values:

WRI’s mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.

Our values are shared ideals that bind us together: Independence, Integrity, Impact, Partnership, and Care.

Our culture:

WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission including equal opportunities in employment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, caste, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, or protected Veteran status.

Our Human Resources Team carefully reviews all applications.

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