(Senior) Atmospheric Scientist, Human-Centered Weather Forecasts - Development Innovation Lab

The Development Innovation Lab - India (DIL-India):

at the uses the tools of economics to develop innovations with the potential to benefit millions of people in low- and middle-income countries. It was founded and is led by Nobel laureate Michael Kremer.

Human-Centered Weather Forecast Initiative:

works with governments, academia, tech companies, and other partners to deliver tailored forecasts that can improve human lives. Weather forecasts should be accurate as well as oriented around the specific human needs on the ground, then delivered at the right time and place to inform decisions-like giving farmers advanced notice of the start of the rainy season.

HCWF brings together climate scientists, artificial intelligence (AI) experts, and economists to build and evaluate weather forecasts that can target what citizens need to know, leveraging novel technologies, including AI, and scientific understanding. The interdisciplinary team then works with low- and middle-income countries to test forecast dissemination strategies, refine those strategies based on user response, and scale forecast disseminationto improve decision-making.

Formal employment will be through an in-country employer of record (EoR) under contract with DIL. Additional details regarding salary, benefits, and terms and conditions of employment offered by the EoR will be provided to individuals during the hiring process.

Job Summary:

The Atmospheric Scientist will help create advanced, built-for-purpose forecasts of high-impact weather phenomena for deployment at scale in Indonesia. As part of a multidisciplinary collaboration between universities, international development agencies, and governmental ministries, the selected candidate will contribute to the development of forecasts of dangerous heat stress, precipitation, monsoon onset, and other tropical phenomena using AI, statistical, and physics-based weather prediction models. This is not a traditional postdoctoral position, and is focused on large-scale delivery of decision-oriented forecasts together with research and development. The position may be especially well-suited for candidates with expertise in one or more of the following areas: monsoon onset prediction short- or medium range precipitation forecasting tropical intra seasonal variability and extreme heat and heat stress forecasting.

Responsibilities:

• Develop novel decision-oriented forecasting metrics and forecasting systems for Indonesia using AI, statistical, and physics-based methods evaluate forecast skill against baselines tailored for decision-makers.
• Build fundamental understanding of the forecasting potential for high-impact phenomena, such as extreme heat and monsoon onset, using AI and statistical weather models.
• Collaborate with BMKG, BRIN, and other national and international stakeholders to help build an operational system providing actionable, real-time predictions, leveraging last-mile delivery pipelines developed by non-governmental partner organizations.
• Conduct benchmarking and validation of AI-based and physics-based forecast systems against observational data.
• Collaborate with data scientists and ML engineers to build scalable and reproducible forecast pipelines.
• Contribute to the design of field experiments, including randomized controlled trials, to evaluate the impact and uptake of improved forecasts.
• Contribute to grant proposals and the preparation of research reports, technical documents, and academic publications.
• Perform other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in atmospheric science, meteorology, climate science, agrometeorology, geophysical sciences, or a related field.

Work Experience:

• Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 3+ years of work experience in a related job discipline, including research or operational roles in weather forecasting or climate science.
• 5+ years of experience is required for the Senior Atmospheric Scientist position.

Preferred Qualifications:

Education:

Ph.D. in atmospheric science, meteorology, climate science, agrometeorology, physical oceanography, applied math, statistics, physics, engineering, or a related field.

Experience:

• Experience applying machine learning or statistical methods to weather or climate prediction. Experience with numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems.
• Prior work in Indonesia or otherlow- and middle-income country contexts, data-sparse environments, or experience with field work in developing countries, preferably including randomized controlled trials.

Preferred Competencies:

• Strong programming and numerical skills proficiency in Python and common scientific computing libraries (e.g., NumPy, xarray, PyTorch, TensorFlow).
• Experience with high-performance computing and analysis of large meteorological or climate datasets (e.g., reanalyses and NWP or AI weather prediction ensemble products).
• Expertise in weather forecasting, climate modeling/dynamics, or related geospatial applications.
• Familiarity with theoretical and practical aspects of scientific deep learning and AI weather models (e.g., GraphCast, AIFS).
• Knowledge of forecast verification methods (e.g., CRPS, reliability diagrams, skill scores).
• Strong communication and presentation skills, including ability to present to nonspecialist audiences.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a fast-paced, multidisciplinary, multiinstitutional team.
• Prior work experience in Indonesia, India, Phillipines, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ethiopia is a plus.

Working Conditions:

• This position involves collaboration with international partners and will require travel to field sites in low- and middle-income countries.
• This position provides critical applied research support towards operationalizing weather forecasting for farmers globally. This position will involve scientific work and publication, but is not a traditional postdoc position.

Anticipated Salary Range:

378,559,350 - 811,471,050 Indonesia Rupiah/annually

The above salary range represents the Organization's good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer based on the currency of Indonesia for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Information:

Yes. This position is eligible for benefits in accordance with local Indonesian labor laws. Benefits include, local and private health insurance, travel insurance, annual vacation benefits and public holidays.

Additionally, this position is eligible for annual professional development funds and technology support.

AI Statement:

The Development Innovation Lab uses AI-assisted tools to streamline and augment some recruitment processes however, AI is not used to make hiring decisions.