Scientific Programmer

About the role

The Scientific Programmer supports the CPC International Desks in College Park, MD, with system upgrades, code migration, training, operational workflow support, and implementation of model and forecasting enhancements. The position is contingent and requires a minimum of 2-3 days/week on-site.

Responsibilities

• CPCI v7.0 Python Upgrade / Code Migration Lead and/or support the migration of CPC International Desk workflows from legacy GEMPAK-based development to Python-based development (CPCI v7.0)
• Lead and/or support regionalized NCEP GFS and GEFS postprocessing and transitioning to operations in support of the WMO Severe Weather Forecast Project (SWFP)
• Refactor, validate, and document code to ensure operational readiness, maintainability, and reproducibility
• Coordinate testing and delivery milestones supporting planned code delivery NMME Version 3 Upgrade Support
• Support implementation and transition activities for NMME v3 for the International Desk, including updates needed for ingest, post-processing, and product generation
• Maintain and improve operational workflows supporting International Desk production, including job scheduling, monitoring, troubleshooting, and continuity support across platforms
• Provide hands-on support for operational cron jobs and related automation on the CPC compute farm and WCOSS platform
• Train and knowledge transfer support for International Desk visitors and staff on: International Desk website tools and publishing workflows, Post-processing of model data and generation of operational products, Practical operational procedures (cron jobs, platform usage, troubleshooting patterns)
• Develop and maintain training materials and quick-reference guides to support repeatable onboarding and knowledge transfer
• Data Support for Forecasting Studies
• Provide data handling and support for climate forecasting studies, including accessing, transforming, and organizing model and observational datasets used by the International Desk
• Support evaluation/verification workflows where needed to improve product utility and performance
• Carry out other contingent tasks to support mission needs, operational continuity, and evolving CPC priorities

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Atmospheric Science, Meteorology, Hydrology/Hydroclimate, Computer Science, or a related discipline (or equivalent relevant experience). PhD preferred.
• Experience with cloud computing platforms such as Amazon Web Services (e.g., S3, EC2, Lambda)
• Strong programming skills in Shell (Bash) utilities, Python and/or R for data analysis and modeling
• Experience with data manipulation, statistical analysis, and machine learning
• Understanding of data engineering concepts (data pipelines, processes, APIs)
• Experience with AI/deep learning (PyTorch, TensorFlow)
• Understanding of climate science and impact-based forecasting
• Strong analytical thinking, problem-solving, and interdisciplinary collaboration skills
• Ability to translate complex analytical results into actionable insights for policy and decision-making
• Basic knowledge of GIS tools (e.g., QGIS, ArcGIS, GeoPandas, raster/terra)
• Familiarity with spatial and spatiotemporal modeling techniques

Qualifications

• US Citizen or Permanent Resident and able to pass a background investigation to obtain a security badge to access applicable government information and systems.

Benefits

• Medical, Rx, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan with company-matching
• 11 Paid Federal Government Holidays
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability
• Employee assistance program (EAP)
• Tuition Reimbursement, Personal Development & Learning Opportunities
• Competitive compensation plan
• Discretionary variable incentive bonuses based on factors such as individual performance, business unit performance, and/or the company’s performance