27-102 Fire Weather and Atmospheric Composition Model Developer

Job Description

The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) with Colorado State University (CSU) seeks to fill a full time, professional research associate position to conduct collaborative research with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at the Global Systems Laboratory (GSL) in Boulder, CO. The office for this position is located in Boulder, CO, at a federal facility, and requires the ability to pass a tier one federal background check for building and high-performance computing (HPC) access. An onsite presence at the laboratory in Boulder, CO is required with potential part-time telework available.

CIRA is a multi-million dollar research organization located on CSU’s Foothills Campus in Fort Collins, Colorado, and it is a cooperative institute that is also a research department within CSU’s College of Engineering, in partnership with the Department of Atmospheric Science. Its vision is to conduct interdisciplinary research in the atmospheric sciences by entraining skills beyond the meteorological disciplines, exploiting advances in engineering and computer science, facilitating transitional activity between pure and applied research, leveraging both national and international resources and partnerships, and assisting NOAA, Colorado State University, the State of Colorado, and the Nation through the application of our research to areas of societal benefit.

NOAA's GSL is a federal science and research laboratory under NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. GSL provides the National Weather Service (NWS) and the nation with environmental observation, prediction, computer, visualization, and information systems. These systems deliver data, forecasts, and predictions of weather and air quality, including severe weather events. GSL is a leader in the applied research, directed development, and technology transfer of environmental data, models, products, and services that enhance environmental understanding with the outcome of supporting commerce, protecting life and property, and promoting a scientifically literate public.

NOAA/GSL/Earth Prediction Advancement Division (EPAD) Fire Weather and Atmospheric Composition Branch (FWACB) has been leading the development of regional and global aerosol and air quality models in collaboration with other laboratories and universities over many years. One of these models is the meteorology-chemistry model Weather Research and Forecast coupled with chemistry (WRF-Chem), which has been widely used in a wide range of atmospheric composition modeling applications around the world. The High-Resolution Rapid Refresh coupled with Smoke (HRRR-Smoke), which is based on the WRF-Chem framework, is currently NOAA’s flagship operational model for smoke prediction. GSL led the development of NOAA’s next-generation coupled weather-aerosol model Rapid Refresh Forecast System with Smoke and Dust (RRFS-SD). The experimental forecast products from this model are displayed on a public website: [https://rapidrefresh.noaa.gov/RRFS-SD/]. The coupled meteorology-chemistry models developed at GSL allow simulating complex gas/aerosol chemistry and aerosol-meteorology interactions on regional and global scales. Currently GSL/EPAD in collaboration with other groups is leading the development and testing of new aerosol and fire weather forecasting models coupled to the Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS). This new model (cheMPAS-Fire) is being tested in real time at 3.75km resolution over the contiguous US [https://rapidrefresh.noaa.gov/cheMPAS-Fire/]. Going forward, we intend to transition impactful aspects of this work to the NWS. This will require the integration of these capabilities in the MPAS-based Unified Forecast System (UFS) [ufs.epic.noaa.gov] and its associated infrastructure, which includes the Common Community Physics Package (CCPP), the Configurable Atmospheric Chemistry (CATChem) package, and the Community Emissions Computing Engine (CECE). The model development will be conducted in collaboration with NCAR’s Multi-Scale Infrastructure for Chemistry Modeling (MUSICA) and other teams.

Position Summary

• CIRA seeks candidates with a strong background in atmospheric and/or computational sciences, alongside demonstrated experience developing numerical models and workflows on HPC systems. The ideal candidate will possess robust scientific software engineering skills and the ability to test and deploy atmospheric models across large-scale HPC architectures utilizing CPUs and GPUs. Key responsibilities include maintaining the code repositories for FWACB,
• transitioning scientific and technical advancements developed by the FWACB into real-time applications (e.g. fire weather forecasting) and assist with operational transition, and ensuring that new model parameterizations adhere to software standards like those of the UFS and portability across different HPC platforms.

Full Consideration Date: please apply by Thursday, October 15th, 2026, 11:59pm (MT).

Essential Job Duties

Maintain GitHub repositories and workflows for GSL's fire weather and atmospheric composition models, including adding regression tests for the models and workflow updates and incorporating changes into NOAA’s authoritative repositories.

Evolve the model code (mostly based on Fortran) to leverage modern software capabilities and scientific libraries (e.g., CATChem, MUSICA, and CCPP).

Provide technical expertise to couple the Community Fire Behavior Model with the UFS and the MPAS dynamical core using an ESMF/NUOPC interface.

Enhance interoperability of GSL-led fire weather and atmospheric composition modules to maintain a single code base, which is usable across multiple host models (including standalone MPAS and coupled MPAS-UFS).

Advance software capabilities for GSL’s real-time atmospheric composition evaluation system.

Leverage state-of-the-art AI tools and modern methodologies to accelerate software development and quality, and optimize the workflows.

Maintain the software documentation and user guides in collaboration with the FWACB members.

Give technical presentations and write project reports as needed.

Conditions of Employment

This position requires onsite presence three (3) days/week with the option to telework two (2) days/week (contingent upon satisfactory performance), because it requires significant collaboration with on-site teams.

This full-time position in Boulder, CO, requires a National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI), tier 1 federal background check and a NOAA Common Access Card (CAC) ID badge for systems access. Therefore, only US citizens and lawful permanent residents with a physical USCIS “Green Card” are eligible.

The expected start date for this position is January 4, 2027, and open to negotiation.

Required Qualifications

NOTE: In the body of your resume, please specifically address all required qualifications when describing your work experience. A resume that fails to specifically address the qualifications of this position may not be further considered after review by the search committee.

M.S. degree in Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Physical Sciences, Atmospheric Science, or related field, plus 2 years of related work experience or PhD degree in Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Physical Sciences, Atmospheric Science, or related field

At least 4 years of experience in programming in C/C++ or Fortran

Experience working in HPC Linux environments

Experience with GitHub for version control, continuous integration/testing and collaborative codebase management

Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Proven ability to work independently on well-defined tasks and demonstrated ability to work in a team environment

Preferred Qualifications

NOTE: In the body of your resume, please specifically address all applicable preferred qualifications when describing your work experience. A resume tha