Geographical information systems officer: Employers and vacancy sources

With many organisations needing to relate physical information (e.g. the location of properties, quality of land, placement of utility cables) to other economic and social data (e.g. the density of population, anticipated social and healthcare needs of that population), geographical information systems (GIS) officers have the possibility of working for a range of organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors, including:

• utility companies, such as gas, electricity and water;
• telecommunications companies;
• retail organisations, including financial and leisure services;
• insurance companies;
• police authorities and emergency services, including all the motor vehicle rescue services and the armed forces;
• market research groups and advertising agencies;
• private healthcare companies;
• non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The public sector has been a major source of GIS roles, however, recent cuts and recruitment freezes have meant there are currently fewer roles than in the past. Despite this, there may still be vacancies at:

• local authorities;
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
• Environment Agency (EA)
• HM Land Registry

GIS consultancies tend to specialise in one or more specific areas, such as natural resources and the environment, military, utilities, oil and gas, or property. They vary widely in size and scope.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Computer Weekly
• Earthworks Jobs - lots of overseas roles.
• GEO:connexion
• GeoPlace
• GIS Jobs - US site for roles overseas.
• gis-jobs.co.uk
• Local Government Jobs
• New Scientist Jobs - mainly US roles.
• Technojobs

For management-level jobs, recruitment agencies that specialise in IT, surveying and scientific jobs may be helpful. You can find agencies online through the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) .

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