Features: Ordnance Survey is recruiting 'specialist' graduates

Sourced by Luke Berté, Editor, Graduate Prospects, February 2013

For graduates interested in geography and relevant skills in IT and engineering, a career with Ordnance Survey could be your calling

The national mapping agency of Great Britain, is launching a campaign to recruit a handful of specialist graduates to deal with the demand for high quality, accurate digital mapping data.

 

This means that a team of graduates is required to help one of the most iconic and trusted organisations propel the digital revolution in homes and businesses.

The 'Software Warriors and Topography' experts (SWAT) will capture the UK's ever-changing landscape to help businesses, government and individuals power the country's knowledge economy.

Salaries start at £22,000, with the potential to rise to £24,500 in three years.

Interesting figures for any budding cartographers, with average starting salaries usually around £15,000 to £18,000, this is a significantly higher salary for an entry-level role.

The company's head office is in Southampton where each SWAT recruit will undertake a two-week induction and structured learning path, before transitioning into the organisation’s various business units.

IT skills required

The company urgently requires  'data-ographers' - a rare breed of lateral and imaginative thinkers, who can 'see' connections in geospatial data, understand data modeling, or are skilled in software development and coding.

'We need multi-skilled graduates with a sense of curiosity, and a passion for making a measurable difference to the lives of people,' says Ordnance Survey's head of human resources, Nadine Prior.

The SWAT team will develop innovative products and services, such as 3D mapping and online mapping services, for national and international customers.

IT graduates for the future

'Great Britain's landscape is changing continuously and demand for high quality, accurate, mapping data has exploded to meet the demands of a  mobile, 24/7 world,' explains Nadir.
 
Andrew Wilkinson, CEO at TMP Worldwide, the agency behind the campaign, says, 'Human activity is producing billions of pieces of information every day, affecting the very ground beneath our feet, which requires constant technological innovation to represent and leverage that information properly.'

Ordnance Survey functions 

The growth of mobile and smart devices has fuelled an industry of data products and services heavily dependent on Ordnance Survey data.
Without its data, Briton's daily and digital lives would grind to a halt.

Ordnance Survey records up to 10,000 changes to the nation's landscape every day, which subsequently helps:

• satellite navigation systems;
• online mapping (including Bing Maps and Google Maps);
• emergency services;
• a vast range of mobile apps;
• supermarket home deliveries. 

Ordnance Survey data also underpins the delivery of valuable services for major national projects, including helping councils plan gritting routes during the recent Arctic weather, to mapping the London 2012 Olympic Games. 
 
To apply for a SWAT role and to read about the most recent recruits to the Ordnance Survey team, visit the Facebook page.