About us
Asterisk Labs is building an interdisciplinary team of AI/ML practitioners alongside Earth systems scientists, to find unexpected uses of Earth data, making it more accessible, impactful, and open. We are the UK’s first worker co-operative research lab, and you could help us build an alternative to the usual routes for doing research, prioritising positive societal impact, and democratic worker control!
We have just begun a large, 3-year project, Earth Compress, funded by the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) and in partnership with the National Oceanography Centre. Earth Compress seeks to develop and operationalise highly performant compression algorithms, massively reducing the size and cost of increasingly large environment datasets. We will be working closely with data producers like ECMWF and EUMETSAT, alongside the wider EO and environmental communities, to create an open-source toolbox that democratises data access, allowing anyone to run global-scale experiments and analysis on petabytes of data.
If you want to learn more about Asterisk Labs, visit our website: https://asterisk.coop/index.html
To hear more about the project, read ARIA’s announcement: https://aria.org.uk/insights/doubling-down-on-earth-scale-data
What we’re looking for
We do not expect any candidates to show competencies in all desired disciplines and skills, but we will be selecting a set of people who we believe cover them well collectively, these are:
- Experience with tera- and petabyte-scale environmental datasets, which could include, for example, Earth observation data, including passive thermal, multispectral and hyperspectral data, active sensors, weather model outputs, climate model and reanalysis outputs, in-situ networks and data sources, other geospatial datasets. In this case, “experience” could include some combination of producing, validating, or using the data sources.
- Experience in designing and/or validating compression algorithms, particularly in the context of spatiotemporal data sources like those listed above (but other domains still welcome). This can include either lossy or lossless compression, and either “traditional” or machine learning-based algorithms.
- Experience with setting up and maintaining scaled deep learning workflows (training, validation, logging, deployment).
- Experience designing and training model-as-representation techniques, such as Implicit Neural Representations.
- Experience in a specific, data-heavy application for some large spatiotemporal data source, which could feasibly act as a use-case for compressed data. For example, this could include data-driven weather forecasting, ML model deployment across large amounts of EO data, hyperspectral feature engineering, streaming of data for near-real time analysis, or something else.
- Scientific domain knowledge in an Earth system such as oceanography, ecology, cryospherics, spatial epidemiology, atmospherics and climate science.
Regardless of which parts of the project you take on, you will also be working with us to shape the future direction of Asterisk, and be part of a growing interdisciplinary lab finding new uses of open Earth data. We want someone who looks at problems with a fresh perspective, and enjoys designing and working on ambitious projects that challenge assumptions and ask the big questions. If you’re someone who has used data imaginatively or in an unexpected way, or if you’ve collaborated across different Earth science disciplines, we’d love to hear about it!
Besides technical skills, Asterisk shares the work that supports our science and our business across the team. We require you to be able to demonstrate some mix of skills in the following areas, or to show a willingness to learn (there is NO expectation for all of these skills, but any relevant experiences will be taken into account):
- Project management
- Financial planning and accounting
- Communications and public-speaking
- Networking
- Fundraising and proposal writing
- Sysadmin and software/hardware management
- Business development
- Interest or experience in the co-operative sector
- Any other administrative or supporting skills
- B2B SaaS lol just kidding
This is a remote position. We can employ you directly in the UK, or use an Employer of Record service if you will be working in another country. Unfortunately, at this time, we are not able to sponsor Skilled Worker visa applications in order to relocate to the UK, so if applying from abroad, you must have the right to work in your country of residence, and be able to travel to the UK a few times a year. We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, or pregnancy and parenthood.
Whilst Earth Compress began at the start of July, we will accept applications for deferred start dates of up to 9 months from now, in the case that you are unable to start immediately due to other commitments. If in doubt, please apply, and we will try to accommodate.
We do not place specific requirements on official qualifications and we welcome applications from people with atypical career paths. With that being said, we see this position as suitable for someone who has the equivalent amount of research experience that a PhD would bring. We especially welcome applicants from underrepresented backgrounds.
What we offer
Terms of employment may differ if you are working in another country, but we will try to make them as similar as possible to what is offered in the UK. The following information is what we offer if employed in the UK.
We have a flat, transparent salary structure. We try to make it as fair as possible across different countries, though some benefits and figures vary due to local laws. In the UK, you would receive:
- £82k per annum gross (with raises agreed upon collectively on a roughly annual basis)
- 8% employer pension contribution
- salary sacrifice scheme
- generous parental leave
- 4-day work week and flexible hours
- 30 days paid leave per year plus public holidays
- life insurance
- personal accident insurance
- personal travel insurance
Alongside other benefits such as:
- Funding for skills and courses
- Opportunities to travel
- (Optional) full membership of the worker co-operative after a 6-month probationary period.
You will be joining a democratically managed, mission-driven organisation. This opportunity comes with both the benefits and responsibilities attached to our co-operative structure. After your probationary period, you will be able to take part in the democratic process that controls your working conditions and the business. You will not be ‘our employee’, but rather working alongside us as an equal partner.
How to apply
This position will remain open until a suitable candidate is found. We will begin reviewing applications and contacting applicants for interviews in monthly batches, with the first batch deadline at 17:00 BST Friday 31st July. We will conduct a short virtual interview of roughly 15 minutes, followed by a longer 45 minute virtual interview for shortlisted candidates. We will endeavour to respond to all applicants as quickly and efficiently as possible.
For the avoidance of doubt, we will not be using any AI tools in the evaluation of your applications. We kindly ask that you refrain from using them to generate any part of your application in whole, though we understand that it may be used to help polish grammar or correct mistakes.
If you’d like to apply, please use this form: https://agate-salto-93b.notion.site/391ef6bddcd980459cffe5e1b51e3226
You’ll need to prepare:
- One-page CV
- Cover letter explaining how you’d like to contribute to Earth Compress, what you’re interested in working on more broadly, and why you want to join Asterisk. We’d appreciate it if this letter could be roughly 1 page long.
- (Optional) A single page portfolio document with a simple list of links to code/datasets/demos/anything else that you think we should see, along with one sentence descriptions of each item. These should be examples that show us the kind of code you work with, and the sorts of projects you’ve contributed to in the open-source space, if you’ve had that opportunity. If you are only a minor contributor to a larger codebase, that’s fine, but please specify this and explain briefly what your contribution was.
- Any reasonable adjustments for the interview process that you would like us to make (e.g. written questions in addition to spoken ones).
For any questions or clarifications on these requirements, please reach out to [email protected].
If you don’t meet all of the criteria listed above, but still think you belong at Asterisk in a different kind of role, we’d love to hear from you too.
Please note that we will process your application data in accordance with our privacy policy, which can be found here: https://asterisk.coop/privacy-policy.html
Pay: £82,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Additional leave
- Company pension
- Life insurance
- Paid volunteer time
- Sick pay
- Work from home
Work Location: Remote
