Coastal Fisheries Information and Database Manager At Pacific Community

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Description

The Pacific Community (SPC) is the principal scientific and technical organisation in the Pacific region, supporting development since 1947. We are an international development organisation owned and governed by our 27 country and territory members. In pursuit of sustainable development to benefit Pacific people, our unique organisation works across more than 25 sectors. We are known for our knowledge and innovation in such areas as fisheries science, public health surveillance, geoscience, and conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.

The Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems (FAME) division is composed of three programmes: the Coastal Fisheries and Aquaculture Programme (CFAP); the Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP); and the Marine Ecosystems Programme (MEP). The Director’s Office provides implementation support and strategic direction across the three programmes and cross-cutting projects. Working with all 22 PICTs, SPC FAME has strong partnerships with regional, sub-regional and national entities working in the marine sector. SPC FAME staff are based in New Caledonia, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, and Tonga, with most of the staff being based in New Caledonia.

The Coastal Fisheries Information and Database Manager will provide strategic and technical expertise in the design, development, governance, and deployment of coastal fisheries and aquaculture data systems, including databases, digital platforms, and AI-enabled solutions. Support evidence-based management and strengthen capacity across Pacific Island countries through innovative, standardised, and sustainable data systems.

The key responsibilities of the role include the following:

Develop and maintain high-quality regional and national coastal fisheries and aquaculture databases and information systems and provide training in their use

  • Develops, maintains and updates the regional coastal fisheries (science, management and development) and aquaculture databases including training in the use of databases, data extraction and analysis
  • Develops new web and mobile applications for the regional and national databases in line with country needs and the needs of the coastal fisheries and aquaculture programme staff
  • Develops and assists in maintaining national databases based on the regional databases and additional modules.
  • Develops specific queries for data extraction and analysis as required by countries or the coastal fisheries and aquaculture programme staff.
  • Promotes and encourages the use of standard databases and information systems across the region for coastal fisheries and aquaculture data, and countries to providing the data they collect for back-up and storage at SPC.
  • Identifies and develops linkages between the coastal fisheries and oceanic fisheries databases in collaboration with oceanic fisheries statistics and data collection section.
  • Identifies ways to better use GIS and remote sensing products in relation to the analysis of coastal fisheries and aquaculture data.

Practical assistance to members in the designing and targeting of appropriate awareness raising and educational information

  • Develops training materials on data entry, cleaning and extraction.
  • Assists with developing and maintaining the website for the CFAP with the Information Unit to assist with the dissemination of information in general.
  • Provides input to awareness raising and educational materials focused on coastal fisheries science and/or management or livelihoods and aquaculture

Develop Artificial Intelligence based tools and models for data collection

  • Improves coastal fisheries and aquaculture data collection using photos and videos automatically processed by computer vision and artificial intelligence
  • Develops and trains models to calibrate and reproject pictures for measurement from picture
  • Develops and trains models to automate measurements of fishes and invertebrates for the various types of measurements
  • Develops and trains models for species identification

Promote inter-agency networking and cross-sectoral collaboration in coastal fisheries and aquaculture

  • Develops links with other CROP agencies and NGOs in regard to database needs and design for coastal fisheries and aquaculture
  • Advocates at global forums on behalf of the Pacific region sectoral interests
  • Develops and promotes collaborations within the CFAP on issues such as food security, small-scale livelihoods, climate change adaptation, etc.
  • Works closely with other sections of CFAP to ensure smooth implementation of projects.

Administration and communication

  • Assists the CFAP Deputy Director and Section heads, to include information and database needs in the annual work plans and work plan reports for each Section, consistent with the strategic plan.
  • Maintains up to date corporate and administrative procedures for all activities undertaken.
  • Contributes where applicable to Programme, Divisional and Corporate publications, such as Fisheries Newsletters, annual reports, and Divisional reports for CRGA.
  • Produces reports for all activities undertaken in the appropriate format for the activity including technical reports and trip reports, and input to funding proposals, donor reports.
  • Manage, develop and train direct report.
  • Fills in for senior staff when they are on leave or duty travel, when required

For a more detailed account of the key responsibilities, please refer to the online job description.

Key selection criteria

Qualifications

  • Master’s in computer science, database development or a related field/discipline or equivalent body of knowledge and experience.

Technical expertise

  • At least 12 years’ of demonstrated experience in database management, project management and software development associated with the successful implementation of medium- to large-scale web and desktop application systems.
  • At least 8 years’ of demonstrated experience in the use of Microsoft products, both as a user and developer, in particular, (i) experience in software engineering, (ii) programming in client-server environments in C# with MS Visual Studio, (iii) ASP.NET Core and single page web applications with MS Visual Studio (C#, JavaScript and angularjs), (iv) database technologies (preferably SQL Server) and other database formats, (v) development of mobile application in C# (.NET MAUI).
  • Demonstrated experience with (i) producing system and user manual documentation, (ii) user training and (iii) ongoing technical support for deployed applications.
  • Demonstrated problem solving skills, detail orientation, and ability to multi-task.

Language skills

  • Excellent communication skills (oral and written).

Interpersonal skills and cultural awareness

  • Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to work in team as well as undertake unsupervised work, and negotiate with people from different ethnic, cultural and educational backgrounds.
  • Willingness to travel and undertake overseas assignments in SPC member countries.

Salary, terms and conditions

Contract Duration – This contract is budgeted for 3 years and is subject to renewal depending on funding and performance.

Remuneration – the Coastal Fisheries Information and Database Manager is a band 12 position in SPC’s 2026 salary scale, with a starting salary range of SDR (special drawing rights) 5,012-6,169 per month, which converts to approximately XPF 723,251-890,185 (USD 6,717-8,267; EUR 6,061-7,460). SPC salaries are not presently subject to income tax in New Caledonia. An offer of appointment for an initial contract will normally be made in the lower half of this range, with due consideration given to experience and qualifications. Progression within the salary scale will be based on annual performance reviews.

Benefits for Staff in a position advertised internationally (EPAI) whose duty station is Noumea – SPC provides housing support in Noumea. Establishment and repatriation grant, removal expenses, airfares, home leave travel, health and life and disability insurances and education allowances are available for eligible employees and their eligible dependents. Employees are entitled to 25 working days of annual leave per annum and other types of leave, and access to SPC’s Provident Fund (contributing 8% of salary, to which SPC adds a 10% contribution).

Languages – SPC’s working languages are English and French.

Recruitment principles – SPC’s recruitment is based on merit and fairness, and candidates are competing in a selection process that is fair, transparent and non-discriminatory. SPC is an equal-opportunity employer, and is committed to cultural and gender diversity, including bilinguism, and will seek to attract and appoint candidates who respect these values. Due attention is given to gender equity and the maintenance of strong representation from Pacific Island professionals. If two interviewed candidates are ranked equal by the selection panel, preference will begiven to the Pacific Islander. Applicants will be assured of complete confidentiality in line with SPC’s private policy.

How to apply

Application procedure

Closing date: 29 November 2026 – 11:00 pm (Noumea time)

Job Reference: CR000635

Applicants must apply online at http://careers.spc.int/

Hard copies of applications will not be accepted.

For your application to be considered, you must provide us with:

  • an updated resume with contact details for three professional referees
  • a cover letter detailing your skills, experience and interest in this position
  • responses to all screening questions

Your application will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed at shortlisting stage if all the above documents are not provided. Applicants should not attach copies of qualifications or letters of reference.

Please ensure your documents are in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format.

SPC does not charge a fee to consider your application and will never ask for your banking or financial information during the recruitment process.

Screening questions (maximum of 2.000 characters per question):

  1. The most important component of this role is developing and maintaining regional databases and repositories of Pacific Island coastal fisheries and aquaculture data and information and assisting developing country governments to organise their own systems. Please give an example of your own experience in setting up or maintaining international databases for the benefit of developing countries.
  2. What do you think are the greatest challenges likely to be faced by island governments in compiling quantitative information to guide sustainable management and economic development of coastal small-scale fisheries and aquaculture?
  3. Please tell us about your experience with computer vision, image classification and training custom AI models for field application under challenging conditions – such as on board small boats, in fish markets, in village fish farms, or on the wharf.