All-sky/All-surface Radiance Satellite Data Assimilation Physical Scientist (AI/ML)

Location: Hybrid role in College Park, Maryland, USA. Candidates must be U.S. citizens or Green Card holders and must have lived in the US for 3–5 years before applying.

Salary: $70,000–$110,000 per year

Company

hirify.global supports the National Weather Service’s Office of Modeling and Development with research, development, and operational transition for satellite data assimilation and the Unified Forecast System.

What you will do

• Develop and enhance techniques for assimilating microwave radiance data from prototype and operational low Earth orbit satellites.
• Advance all-sky assimilation over heterogeneous surface conditions, including data affected by clouds and precipitation.
• Improve quality control, bias correction, and observation error specification using AI/ML techniques.
• Use the Community Radiative Transfer Model and contribute to Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation and JEDI activities.
• Design and execute impact assessments and pre-implementation testing to support operational transition.

Requirements

• Knowledge of satellite data assimilation for numerical weather prediction.
• Knowledge of geophysical modeling and experience running advanced numerical weather prediction models.
• Advanced knowledge of radiative transfer and experience with CRTM, RTTOV, or comparable radiative transfer models.
• Programming experience with object-oriented Fortran, Python, and/or C++.
• Experience working in a UNIX environment with advanced scripting languages.
• Good written and oral English communication skills; U.S. citizenship or Green Card status and prior US residence are required.

Nice to have

• Experience running numerical models on HPC platforms with MPI, OpenMP, Slurm, or LSF.
• Familiarity with variational data assimilation and satellite radiances affected by clouds and precipitation.
• Experience with coupled Earth system models.
• Knowledge of software engineering practices including version control, integration, testing, and documentation.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative work with OMD scientists and external research collaborators.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and life insurance.
• Matching 401(k) contribution.