Technical Officer, Hydrogeological Modelling
Founded in 2002, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is a not-for-profit organization tasked with the safe, long-term management of Canada’s intermediate- and high-level radioactive waste, in a manner that protects people and the environment for generations to come.
The NWMO has been guided for more than 20 years by a dedicated team of world-class scientists, engineers and Indigenous Knowledge Holders who are developing innovative and collaborative solutions for nuclear waste management. In 2024, the NWMO selected Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation (WLON)-Ignace area as the site for our Deep Geological Repository for used nuclear fuel.
This decision means our office and staff will, in the future, be relocating to Ignace, ON, and the DGR will be situated in the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation-Ignace area. Infrastructure planning and development is underway to support this transition and ensure that both the community and our employees are well-served and supported now and in the future.
Technical Officer, Hydrogeological Modelling
Fulltime – One (1) Position Available
Position Location: Toronto Head Office – 22 St. Clair Avenue East
Job Summary:
Reporting to the Section Manager, Hydrogeological Systems, the incumbent will be a technical expert in hydrogeological modelling and be responsible for providing hydrogeological advice, guidance, and consultation to assess the suitability of potential sites for hosting a deep geological repository for the long-term management of used nuclear fuel and to support the successful completion of Impact Assessment and Licensing phase deliverables. The incumbent will contribute to hydrogeological site investigations that support modelling activities as part of on-going site characterization, and advancing geoscientific understanding, of potentially suitable sites.
Responsibilities
- Provide advanced technical expertise in hydrogeological modelling, including numerical flow and solute transport simulations, conceptual model development, and parameterization, to support Geoscience and other functional groups at the NWMO in support of on-going site characterization activities and the regulatory decision-making process.
- Contribute to the design, acquisition, processing, and integration of hydrogeological datasets, ensuring consistency, quality, and suitability for use in groundwater flow models at various scales.
- Collaborate on hydrogeological modelling projects, including developing detailed work plans, performing model setup and calibration, conducting sensitivity and uncertainty analyses, troubleshooting model issues, and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to integrate geological, geochemical, geomechanical, and surface hydrology data into cohesive model frameworks.
- Support the development of contracts for hydrogeological data acquisition, modelling, and integration projects including:
- the development and issuance of contracting documents (RFPs etc.);
- the evaluation and selection of contractors; and
- monitoring contractor performance from technical, budget, and schedule perspectives.
- Produce geoscientific reports or other documents and/or presentations, as required, related to geoscientific research and supporting documents.
- Communicate (written and oral) findings of geoscientific work to technical and non-technical audiences.
- Perform other duties as required.
- Contribute as required to committees’ task forces to conduct studies and or carry out work programs.
- Appear before government authorities, agencies, regulator bodies and legislative hearings as an expert in hydrogeological modelling, as required.
Qualifications and Experience
- A 4-year university degree in a relevant major such as hydrogeology, geology, geophysics, geotechnical, environmental or civil engineering.
- Demonstrated experience in quantitative hydrogeological modelling and analysis.
- Demonstrated experience in developing approaches for modelling groundwater systems in crystalline rock environments..
- Demonstrated experience in incorporating multi-disciplinary geoscientific data to investigate groundwater migration, including geological model elements and field hydraulic data.
- Experience with relational hydrogeological databases, GIS, scientific visualization, groundwater flow and solute transport modelling, including the development of pre- and post-processors for model inputs and outputs
- Experience with sensitivity and uncertainty analyses or methods in groundwater modelling studies.
- Demonstrated understanding of data QA/QC and data management standards.
- Experience in reviewing and writing high-quality hydrogeological modelling technical reports and journal publications, and in developing other presentations of a technical nature.
- Demonstrated ability to work within a multi-disciplinary team and interact with external contractors.
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
- Experience in project management and the ability to facilitate work projects and liaise between a variety of technical and non-technical colleagues.
Preferred
- P.Geo. or P.Eng. is considered an asset.
- A master’s or Ph.D. degree with specializations in hydrogeological modelling would be considered an asset.
- Knowledge and experience in ArcGIS, Paraview, and solute transport modelling (HydroGeoSphere, OpenGeoSys, MODFLOW, MT3D, MODPATH)
- Knowledge and experience with programming or scripting languages (e.g. VBA, Python, Fortran, bash, etc.) for the development of pre- / post-processors, application of numerical methods, and scientific computing.
- Ability to provide group-leading hydrogeological modelling expertise in support of advancing site understanding and the regulatory process for a Deep Geologic Repository is considered an asset.
Other Information
Must be eligible to work in Canada and must be able to meet security clearance requirements.
NWMO currently operates in a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office (Tuesdays being universal) and 2 days working from home.
We offer a competitive base salary, health care benefits and pension plan.
The NWMO is committed to contributing to Reconciliation in all its work by co-creating a shared future built on rights, equity and well-being. As an employment equity employer, NWMO actively seeks Indigenous Peoples, members of visible minorities, women, people with disabilities, and additional diverse identities for our workforce. The NWMO will provide accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you require accommodation, please contact us.
We review applications on a rolling basis and encourage interested candidates to apply at their earliest convenience to ensure full consideration.
The NWMO is committed to a fair, transparent, and efficient recruitment process. While we sincerely appreciate every expression of interest, only those candidates selected to continue in the recruitment process will be contacted directly.