CPAESS Associate Scientist IV

Job Description Summary:UCAR is excited to announce the job opening for the CPAESS Associate Scientist IV role working with NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL). This position will involve developing methodologies to quantify and map the past and future annual changes in Earth’s Radiation Budget (ERB) using NOAA's state-of-the-art global atmospheric models. In particular, the contributions to the changing solar, longwave, and net radiation budget from anthropogenic and natural drivers will be investigated, on timescales from “beyond weather” or subseasonal to decadal, and how a variety of processes act on the ERB, including regional and seasonal changes. This understanding will contribute to determining the relative importance of the changing atmospheric constituents to Earth’s Radiation Budget.

A key responsibility is the development of advanced atmosphere and earth-system models for understanding the impact of changes in aerosol emissions over this period on atmospheric variability, trends, and extreme events. This work will include evaluating the quality of aerosol-cloud interactions within the GFDL atmospheric models to assess the fidelity to capture recent trends. Another key responsibility is the development of other aspects of numerical models to improve processes related to ERB, including resolved and subgrid transport and mixing, atmosphere-surface interactions, and aerosol-cloud-precipitation-radiation interactions. Improving the general scientific quality of the model will greatly increase the accuracy of key ERB processes and enhance the credibility of the model results.

CPAESS (Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science) serves the Earth System Science community in three distinct areas of service. We partner with federal agencies and businesses to hire critical scientific staff, enabling a more robust workforce. Through our scientific programs, we seek to edify new research with our postdoctoral programs, our visiting scientists and internship programs, along with our interagency support programs. We also help build the Earth system science community by convening and managing summer schools and institutes, conferences, and advisory committees.

Position Details:

Visa Sponsored Job:

No

Relocation Assistance Eligible:

No

Job Location:

Princeton, New Jersey

Position Type & Term:

Full time, Term - 6 months or more (Fixed Term)

Compensation Range:

Salary Range: $109,097 - $136,370

*Final salary and rates are based on education, experience, and skills relevant to the role.*

Application Notes

Application Deadline:

• This is a full-time, 1-year term position.

• This is a hybrid role based in Princeton, NJ, with a requirement of at least 3 weekly in-office days.

• Application Deadline: This position will be posted until 11:59:59 pm MST on July 30, 2025. Applications will not be accepted past this date.

Required application materials (preferably in PDF Format): 

• Resume

• Cover Letter - Please address how your skills and experience meet the needs of this position (for more information, please refer to the Key Responsibilities and Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities sections of this job posting).

Background Checks: Conducted for candidates selected for hire. Learn more.
 

Work Location: Regardless of flexible work arrangements, UCAR requires ALL positions to be performed within the U.S., excluding U.S. Territories.

What You Will Do

Here is a summary of what one would expect to be generally responsible for in this role.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development of the GFDL atmospheric and coupled Earth system models and evaluate the results compared to observational data, with a particular focus on observations of ERB. 

• May author technical reports, scientific publications, and present papers at seminars and scientific meetings.

• Evaluate and develop broad improvements of modeled processes relevant to ERB across timescales, from subseasonal to decadal

• Lead the evaluation of the quality of the simulation of cloud-aerosol interactions within GFDL models and their effects upon atmospheric variability, trends, and extreme events. 

• Oversee and evaluate the impact on the simulation of ERB due to different input datasets of sea surface temperature and aerosol emissions.

Who We'd Love To Join Our Team

Successful candidates will ensure their application materials speak to the following criteria:

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's (or equivalent) degree in a scientific discipline pertinent to a NCAR/UCAR scientific program

• Considerable experience (e.g., five or more years as an Associate Scientist III or equivalent position), with evidence of professional progress leading to the advanced level of knowledge and skills outlined above, or: 

• Additional education (as in a program leading to a Master's degree).  Experience or education must involve scientific research pertinent to the UCAR program.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Demonstrated ability to develop and perform advanced analyses of leading-edge Earth System models  

• Advanced ability to understand and write code in Fortran and Python, and to develop codes and methodologies within complex Earth System models.

• Demonstrated ability to work independently and formulate and test new scientific ideas

• Advanced skill to develop and run global-scale Earth System models.

• Advanced ability to determine useful observational datasets and apply them towards model validation and evaluation.

• Advanced knowledge of the science and sophisticated research methodologies pertinent to this scientific program.

• Strong familiarity with recent advances in Earth System model development.

• Advanced skills or "expertise" in one or more scientific or technical specialties pertinent to this scientific program.

Benefits Overview 

UCAR affirms its commitment to employees through competitive benefits. In addition to medical, dental, vision, retirement, and life insurance,  UCAR offers a variety of programs focused on work-life balance and professional, and personal development. These include:

• Tuition Assistance, time off allowance to attend classes, and other professional development opportunities

• UCAR contributes 10% of your eligible pay into your retirement account; 100% fully vested on day one

• Starting minimum accrual of 20 days of personal time off each year (prorated for less than full-time positions)

• 10 paid holidays

• 10 days of sick leave each year

• 12 weeks of paid parental leave

• Short-term medical leave paid at 100% of your regular salary

• EcoPass for local Colorado residents to use the Denver and Boulder-area transit system at no cost

Commitment to Job Application Fairness

Applicants are not required to provide age or age-related information and may redact information related to age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution from any submissions during the initial application process.

Some Final Considerations

At UCAR|NCAR|UCP, you will work alongside a dedicated team of professionals conducting critical research and community outreach to solve complex Earth system science  problems including climate change, air pollution, extreme weather, floods, drought, wildfires, and space weather, all with the goal of improving human life and reducing economic loss. Each of us, from scientists to the professionals who support their work, serves the public and a collaborative community of scientists in our mission to understand the complex processes that make up the Earth system, from the ocean floor to the Sun’s core.

Flexible Work

At UCAR, we are committed to supporting our mission by giving staff the flexibility to find the schedule and location that works best to maintain their own work-life circumstances and reach their full potential as professionals. Many positions within our organization are eligible for fully on-site, hybrid (three days per week) and/or flexible work hours.

Equal Opportunity Employer

UCAR is committed to providing equal opportunity for all employees and applicants for employment and does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, creed, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or pregnancy. Whatever your intersection of identities, you are welcome at UCAR.

Export Control

All positions are required to comply with U.S. export compliance regulations work location requirements regarding access to facilities and research systems.

Visa Wait Times

Please consider the length of visa procurement when applying for this posting, understanding that you will not be able to begin employment until you are able to get a visa and enter the U.S.

Work Location

UCAR requires ALL positions to be performed within the U.S., excluding U.S. Territories.

AI Software

ChatGPT and similar AI software are powerful tools that are changing the way society receives, processes, and leverages information promptly. While we acknowledge its benefits and do not restrict leveraging it with job applications, we highly encourage a majority of the applicant material to be original work.