Context And Mission
The aim of the Earth System Services Group (ESS) is to research the impact of weather, atmospheric chemistry and climate upon socio-economic sectors such as renewable energy, agriculture, water management, forest fires and urban development and to demonstrate the ongoing value of earth system services to society and the economy.
The mission of the CS Team is to apply state-of-the-art scientific climate knowledge for the co-development of actionable climate information and solutions relevant for key societal sectors agriculture, renewable energy, health) in their adaptation to climate change.
The position is suited for a technically strong early-career researcher or research engineer with a background in climate science, atmospheric physics, applied mathematics, computer science, or a related quantitative discipline. The ideal candidate combines domain knowledge in climate prediction with advanced data engineering and software development.
The candidate will benefit from interdisciplinary training opportunities tailored to their experience and interests. The research will be positioned within the context of WMO’s Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), whose aim is to provide actionable climate information to key sectors of society. This position presents an opportunity to work alongside a wide range of leading international climate scientists delivering cutting-edge climate services to inform policy makers across Europe and worldwide.
Key Duties
* Develop and refine methodologies to produce user-oriented climate information from subseasonal-to-decadal climate predictions
* Support the development of automated workflows that include data loading, post-processing, evaluation, and saving, aligned with coding standards and testing practices, and deployable on HPC systems
* Statistical downscaling tailored to regional and sector-specific applications
* Develop seamless prediction frameworks bridging seasonal-to-decadal and decadal-to-projection timescales
* Explore and operationalise hybrid methods that combine dynamical modelling with statistical or machine-learning techniques
* Calibrate daily data using approaches such as quantile mapping
* Conduct comprehensive forecast evaluation using deterministic and probabilistic metrics, as well as user-relevant indicators
* Consider a number of observational references describing (and reconciling when possible) the discrepancies between them
* Deliver forecast products in appropriate formats such as CSV, NetCDF, and other interoperable structures, depending on user needs
* Contribute to scientific publications, technical documentation, and project deliverables
* Transition of research prototypes to operational environments
Requirements
* Education
o Having a minimum of a masters degree in Physics, Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Computer Sciences or a related discipline.
* Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
o Experience handling, analysing and validating datasets.
o Proficiency in scientific programming in a suitable language R, Python) and familiarity with working in a Linux environment.
o Experience working with large geospatial or climate datasets, including gridded observational products and model outputs
o Knowledge in statistical analysis
o Good written and verbal communication skills in English. Spanish/Catalan desirable
o Ability to work in a professional environment within a multidisciplinary and international team.
* Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
o Knowledge in climate statistics and processes, or geophysical data analysis, with interest in subseasonal-to-decadal timescales
o Knowledge of some of the following topics: climate model validation, forecast quality assessment, multi-model approach, modes of variability, will be positively evaluated.
o Ability to design reproducible and scalable workflows within Linux-based and HPC environments.
o Familiarity with software development best practices such as version control, testing, documentation, and coding standards.
o Interest in user-driven climate services and the translation of technical developments into operational products.
* Competences
o Problem-solving, proactive, result-oriented approach to work.
o Capability to work independently and as a team an international, very interactive and fast-paced environment.
o Good communication skills.
Conditions
* The position will be located at BSC within the Earth Sciences Department
* We offer a full-time contract a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, support to the relocation procedures
* Duration: Open-ended contract due to technical and scientific activities linked to the project and budget duration
* Holidays: 22 days of holidays + 6 personal days + 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
* Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Barcelona
* Starting date: As soon as possible