Research Software Engineer – Flood Forecasting

Your role 

We are in search of a highly motivated Research Software Engineer (A2) to bolster ECMWF flood forecasting activities. This role is an integral part of a dynamic and interdisciplinary group, consisting of scientists and software engineers dedicated to the development and operation of hydrological forecasting systems within the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS), led by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. 

As the Computational Centre of the CEMS hydrological forecast, ECMWF develops, maintains, and operates the EFAS (European) and GloFAS (global) Early Warning Systems, providing critical flood alerts for European partners and international humanitarians organisations. This position will actively contribute to delivering the next generation of Early Warnings Systems, helping to mitigate against some of the most devastating impacts of the climate crisis and actively contributing to the UN “Early Warnings for All’ initiative. 

In this role, you will take on key responsibilities including the development of leading-edge, open-source software for comprehensive and efficient data analysis. You will be responsible for contributing to ECMWFs open-source software stack and leveraging this software in the context of flood forecasting, to enable higher-resolution, higher-frequency EFAS/GloFAS operations, thus increasing the societal impact of these systems. As the primary focus of your role, you will be tasked with developing and maintaining the ECMWF hydrological library and analysis tools. You will also be actively involved in integrating ECMWF interpolation tools into flood forecasting systems. Lastly, you will lead the hydrological data and product management at ECMWF, including the development of data management tools and workflows.

The role sits in the Data Processing Services team, within the Development Section in the Forecast Department. The primary focus of the team is to ensure the scalability, performance, and robustness of the operational weather forecasting pipeline. Effort is dedicated to navigating challenges posed by future model upgrades, by exploring new technology, such as accelerators and novel storage hardware, and new algorithmic methodologies, including machine learning. We aim to be ahead of the curve, in order to maintain ECMWFs world-leading position for global weather prediction.     To fuel these research endeavours, the team is driven by internal and external funding. As part of the team, your goal will be to ensure that the latest technologies developed in these projects are leveraged in the CEMS hydrological workflows, maintaining the Early Warning Systems at the peak of innovation.

Finally, collaboration is a cornerstone of this role. You will forge close working relationships with various teams within the Forecast Department. Extensive collaboration with the Research Department is also expected for shaping the future of flood forecasting technologies.

In this role you will: 

• Develop and maintain the hydrological analysis and verification software stack
• Contribute to the ECMWF open-source software stack and feedback new technologies into the CEMS-Floods systems (Core data access and processing functions; Hydrological module; Interpolation library)
• Support the hydrological data and product management at ECMWF:
  • Coordinate the archival of hydrological model outputs and post-processed products in the ECMWF Meteorological Archival and Retrieval System (MARS)
  • Develop and maintain tools related the archival of hydrological products
  • Maintain a robust data governance system, ensuring the quality and the consistency of the hydrological archive and datasets on the ECWMF HPC infrastructure

What we’re looking for:

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with a proactive, continuous improvement approach
• Initiative and ability to work collaboratively with other ECMWF teams but also able to work independently
• Good interpersonal and communication skills
• Dedication, passion, and enthusiasm to succeed both individually and across teams of developers
• Highly organised with the capacity to work on a diverse range of tasks to tight deadlines

Your education and experience:

• Advanced university degree (EQ7 level or above) or equivalent professional experience in computer science or engineering, computational science, physics or natural sciences, mathematics, or a related discipline
• Demonstrated experience developing large scale, object-oriented software in Python
• Experience developing scientific software to process large datasets
• Experience developing or operating software in high-availability operational environments would be advantageous

Knowledge and Skills

• Competence in Object-Oriented Analysis and Design, preferably in Python
• Familiarity with software lifecycle maintenance is highly desirable
• Demonstrated ability programming in UNIX/Linux
• Ability to write software in an HPC or scientific computing environment would be advantageous
• Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and interviews will be conducted in English
• Good knowledge of one of the Centre’s other working languages (French or German) would be an advantage

We encourage you to apply even if you don’t feel you meet precisely or have extensive experience all of the criteria listed.

About ECMWF 

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is a world-leader in weather and environmental forecasting. As an international organisation we serve our members and the wider community with global weather predictions and data that is critical for understanding and solving the climate crisis. We function as a 24/7 research and operational centre with a focus on medium and long-range predictions, holding one of the largest meteorological data archives in the world. The success of our activities builds on the talent of our scientists and experts, strong partnerships with 35 Member and Co-operating States and the international community, some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, and the use of innovative technologies and machine learning across our operations.

ECMWF is a multi-site organisation, with a main office in Reading, UK, a data centre/supercomputer in Bologna, Italy, and a large presence in Bonn, Germany. We appreciate the need for flexibility in the way our staff work. We adopted a hybrid work model that is widely used by staff across ECMWF – allowing everyone to work in the office working as well as remotely up to 10 days/month, including away from the duty station.

ECMWF has also developed a strong partnership with the European Union and has been entrusted with the implementation and operation of the Climate Change and Atmosphere Monitoring Services of the EU Copernicus Programme. We also contribute to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service. Other areas of work include High Performance Computing and the development of digital tools that enable ECMWF to extend provision of data and products covering weather, climate, air quality, fire and flood prediction and monitoring.

During COP 27 in November 2022, the UN Secretariat General launched the ‘Early Warning for All’ initiative, with the ambition that anyone in the world is covered by an early warning system or climate service by 2027, so that they are informed on upcoming climate-related disaster and lives can be saved. ECMWF is one of the world-leading centres for global hydro-meteorological forecasting and climate services, operating the Hydrological Forecast Computational Centre of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service since 2011. Every day, we generate hydro-meteorological forecast data for thousands of points and make the information available to registered users through dedicated web applications such as the CEMS European and Global Flood Awareness Systems, or data services such as the Climate Data Store. In a process of continuous evolution and improvement, ECMWF also conducts research on how to improve its Early Warning Systems and Climate Services especially on hydrological-related hazards such as floods and droughts. This software engineer for flood forecasting position is at the core of the next-generation of Early Warning Systems needed to inform and improve emergency response. 

To learn more see www.ecmwf.int.

CEMS Hydrological Forecast Computation Centre 

ECMWF has long recognised the value of high-quality forecasts in mitigating the effects of natural disasters. Recognising that floods are among the costliest natural disasters in Europe, the European Commission instigated the development of the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) at its Joint Research Centre (JRC). Development and testing were carried out in close collaboration with national hydrological and meteorological services, European civil protection agencies (through the Emergency Response and Coordination Centre, ERCC), and other research institutes.  Since 2011, ECMWF has been part of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service – Early warning for floods (CEMS-Flood), becoming the Hydrological Computational Centre (COMP) responsible for the operational production and dissemination of EFAS forecasts data and services first, and from 2018, those of the Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS). COMP also provides data for the CEMS-Drought EWS.  CEMS-Flood helps to protect citizens, the environment, property and cultural heritage when major floods occur by providing:

• Added value early flood forecasting products for hydrological services
• Unique overviews of current and forecast floods in Europe (EFAS) and the world (GloFAS) more than three days in advance and
• A network of operational hydrological services
• More than 140 hydrological services and civil protection services in Europe are part of the EFAS network, whilst there are over 12.000 registered GloFAS users. ECMWF is also part of the Aristotle-partnership delivering multi-hazard information to the Emergency Response Coordination Centre of the European Commission on possible upcoming floods in Europe and the world.

Who can apply 

Applicants are invited to complete the online application form by clicking on the apply button. 

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 Cooperating States, listed below, 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, Hungary, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey 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. 

Other information 

The successful candidates will be recruited according to the scales of the Co-ordinated Organisations. The position is within the employment categories of the ECMWF Staff Regulations. For details, salary scales and allowances available on the ECMWF website at . 

Candidates are expected to relocate and reside at the duty station. ECMWF allows flexibility for staff to mix office working and teleworking, including working away from the duty station for up to 10 working days per month, subject to business requirements.

Interviews by videoconference (MS Team) are expected to take place shortly after the closing date.