Your role 

This Associate Scientist position is at the forefront of research and development to design high quality hydro-meteorological climate service information that can be adopted by users. Joining us as an Associate Scientist you will contribute to developing new ways to evaluate forecast skill from information collected from relevant stakeholders. You will deliver forecast data to other partners to build their own EWS and help design new forecast products. Other technical activities include generating new data and evaluating forecast skill. Your role also involves designing ways to engage a range of users (e.g. through surveys and interactive on-line workshops) to gather intelligence to deliver user-centred services.

You will work in the Environmental Forecast team which is part of our Evaluation Section. This is an outstanding opportunity to benefit from hands-on experience with hydro-climate data and forecast production, closely interacting with scientists and experts in a science-driven, world-leading and innovative international organisation. In your role you will actively contribute to shaping the next generation of Early Warnings Systems, helping to mitigate against some of the most devastating impacts of the climate crisis. 

Your responsibilities 

• Contribute to the design of activities to gather user intelligence on hydro-meteorological climate services, and support their delivery 
• Contribute to the development of scientific methods for user-driven evaluation workflows to be applied to hydro-meteorological forecasts 
• Contribute to the development and enhancement of hydrological forecast products 
• Develop forecast evaluation scripts and conduct user-driven evaluation activities 
• Generate and disseminate hydro-meteorological forecast data for specific use cases 
• Write scientific documentation and extract visual outputs 
• Contribute to deliverables and reporting activities and engage to projects meetings 

Two Climate Services and Early Warning System projects at ECMWF 

ECWMF is a partner of two complementary projects aiming to design and deliver better hydro-meteorological-forecast information, paving the way for a new generation of user-centred EWS and climate services. 

• I-CISK, a European project funded under Horizon Europe (https://icisk.eu/about-icisk/) has the ambition to innovate the way that climate information is used, interpreted and acted upon. It aims to develop a next-generation of Climate Services following a human-centred approach that integrates the knowledge, needs and perceptions of citizens and decision-makers with climate information, creating tailored information at a spatial and temporal scale that is relevant to them. 
• MedEWSa, a Horizon Europe funded project starting autumn 2023, aims to provide novel solutions that support the rapid deployment of first responders to vulnerable areas. Specifically, MedEWSa will deliver a sophisticated, comprehensive, and innovative pan-European–Mediterranean–African solution comprising a range of complementary services including a fully integrated impact-based multi-hazard EWS. 

In this two projects ECMWF is in charge of developing effective users engagement activities, collecting intelligence on what users expect from EWS and climate services, designing products to communicate the skill associated with forecasts, and delivering forecast information for case studies in Europe.

ECMWF is also the Hydrological Forecast Computing centre for Copernicus Emergency Management Service, responsible for the operational development, production and dissemination of EFAS and GloFAS forecasts data, products and services, and to provide data for the CEMS-Drought EWS

What we’re looking for

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with a proactive and constructive approach
• Flexibility, with the ability to adapt to changing priorities
• Ability to work with limited supervision and as part of multidisciplinary and geographically distributed teams
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Enthusiastic for engaging and collaborating with others
• Organised  with the capacity to work on a diverse range of tasks to tight deadlines
• Genuine interest in ECMWF, especially on hydro-meteorological climate services and Early Warning Services

Education and experience

• ​​​​​​​University degree (EQF level 6), or recent advanced university degree (EQF Level 7 or above  ) or equivalent professional experience or professional qualification in Earth System Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related discipline
  Experience in working with observations and modelled data
• Understanding of Early Warning Systems, Climate Services and their users is desirable
• Some knowledge of meteorology and hydrology would be an advantage
• Some experience with communicating scientific results to a general audience would be beneficial.
• Some experience in working with scientists and non-experts across different regions and sectors would be an advantage

Knowledge and skills 

• Experience developing with Python is required
• Experience in shell-scripting in a UNIX environment would be desirable
• Knowledge of the software management practices would be an advantage
• Experience in environmental geospatial data analysis with Python would be an advantage
• Experience in Machine Learning would be an advantage

Candidates must be able to work effectively in English. A good knowledge of one of the Centre’s other working languages (French or German) is an advantage.

Other information 

Grade remuneration:  The successful candidate will be recruited at the A1 grade, according to the scales of the Co-ordinated Organisations. The annual basic salary will be GBP 53,512 NET of tax (ECMWF salaries are exempt of national income tax). ECMWF also offers a generous benefits package, including a flexible teleworking policy. The position is assigned to the employment category STF-PL as defined in the ECMWF Staff Regulations. Full details of salary scales and allowances available on the ECMWF website at www.ecmwf.int/en/about/jobs, including the ECMWF Staff Regulations and the terms and conditions of employment. 

Starting date:              As soon as possible

Length of contract:   25 months, with the possibility of extension

Location:                      Reading, UK

As a multi-site organisation, ECMWF has adopted a hybrid organisation model which allows flexibility to staff to mix office and tele-working. Successful applicants and members of their family forming part of their households will be exempt from immigration restrictions. Interviews by videoconference (MS Teams) are expected to take place in June/July, likely during week of 26 June or the week of 3 July.

Who can apply 

Applicants are invited to complete the online application form. 

At ECMWF, we consider an inclusive environment as key for our success. We are dedicated to ensuring a workplace that embraces diversity and provides equal opportunities for all, without distinction as to race, gender, age, marital status, social status, disability, sexual orientation, religion, personality, ethnicity and culture. We value the benefits derived from a diverse workforce and are committed to having staff that reflect the diversity of the countries that are part of our community, in an environment that nurtures equality and inclusion. 

Applications are invited from nationals from ECMWF Member States and Co-operating States, as well as from all EU Member States. 

ECMWF Member and Co-operating States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. 

In these exceptional times, we also welcome applications from Ukrainian nationals for this vacancy.  

Applications from nationals from other countries may be considered in exceptional cases.