Cartographer : Employers and vacancy sources

Many cartographers are employed by parts of the government; they work mainly for the following departments:

• Ordnance Survey (OS)
• Intelligence Collection Group (ICG) , which includes the Defence Geographic Centre (DGC), whose primary role is to provide land maps, aeronautical charts and geo-referenced imagery for UK defence forces;
• United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) , which produces the nautical charts required by the Royal Navy.

Small numbers are employed in other government departments, such as:

• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
• Scottish Government environment department;
• Department for Environment, Planning & Countryside (Wales);
• Met Office
• Department for Transport (DfT)

Public utilities companies, such as electricity, gas and water, employ people with cartographic skills, as do the planning departments of local authorities, although they may not have the job title cartographer. Cartographers are also employed by oil companies and by private consultancies. Some cartographers may work for commercial map publishers who produce the 'A to Z' series, road atlases (which need constant updating), and historical and commemorative maps.

The Royal Air Force (RAF)  takes on air cartographers at the technician level.

Other employers include geographical information systems (GIS) companies, automotive service agencies and land and air survey consultants. They are also employed by specialist cartographic and mapping companies as well as by specialist bodies, such as The Macaulay Institute , the British Geological Survey (BGS) and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). Visit the corporate members directory on the British Cartographic Society website for an insight into private companies in this area.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• British Cartographic Society
• Society of Cartographers
• Earthworks Jobs
• GPS World
• Geomatics World
• Association for Geographic Information (AGI)
• Ashton GEO
• National press.
• Local press.

The British Cartographic Society Corporate Directory and the Geo Directory are useful for speculative applications.

Get tips on job hunting, CVs and covering letters and interviews.