Scientific support staff

Job description: Scientist for Climate Model Development and Testing (d/x/m/f)BackgroundThe Climate Dynamics section of the AWI in Bremerhaven is welcoming applications for a position focused on climate model development and testing within the Destination Earth Climate DT Phase 3.

Destination Earth is an ambitious initiative of the European Union to build a digital twin of the Earth’s climate system, providing projections at multi-decadal timescales with very high spatial and temporal resolution (5-10km, hourly output). It will enable policymakers to develop, monitor, and assess the environmental and climate impacts of policy and legislative measures (https://destine.ecmwf.int/climate-change-adaptation-digital-twin-climate-dt/).

At AWI, we focus on developing and running one of the core climate models: IFS-FESOM. This requires continuous model development and integration into the larger digital twin framework. The work involves close collaboration with our team at AWI and with leading European climate modellers, computational scientists, and software engineers from our partner institutions.

We are seeking someone to continue developing and improving our climate model and ensure it performs efficiently on Europe’s largest supercomputers. There are two main areas for expanding our model’s capabilities: increasing its versatility by enabling it to run a wider range of scenarios, and improving model quality through advances in physics and parameterisations. Your main responsibility will be to implement and test these developments together with our team.
Your TasksYou will be part of the Climate DT model team and will work closely with the operations, workflow, and testing teams. Your responsibilities will include:

• Model development to support tailored simulations (different scenarios, storylines, and emulator-training simulations) in operations
• Integration of external model developments into operational configurations (CMIP7 forcing, sea ice coupling, coupler improvements, reduced precision)
• Testing and evaluation of new model developments, possibly tuning
• Supporting the generation and refinement of what-if scenario protocols and feasibility studies
• Supporting the transition of tested model updates and tailored configurations to operational teams
• Testing model integration to FDB/portfolio and improving model-to-workflow interaction
• Documentation of climate models used in operations

Your Profile

• Master's degree (or equivalent) in climate science, meteorology, oceanography, software engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics, or a related field
• Experience with climate or geophysical model development, configuration, and testing
• Practical programming experience (e.g. Fortran/C/C++, Python, Bash)
• Experience with Linux/Unix and HPC systems
• Experience with version control (git), testing practices, and technical documentation
• Very good English knowledge (approximately equivalent to CEFR levels C1)

Preferred Qualifications and Skills

• Several years of professional experience in one or more of the following fields: climate science, meteorology, oceanography, software engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics
• Experience with IFS-NEMO, IFS-FESOM, ICON, or comparable Earth-system modeling workflows
• Experience with CI/CD and reproducible software environments
• Familiarity with geoscience data formats (netCDF, GRIB, zarr)
• Experience with data analysis using cdo/nco, or modern equivalents xarray, dask
• Experience with performance analysis/optimization for large-scale model runs

Further InformationThe AWI is characterized byThe AWI is characterized by

• Our scientific success - excellent research
• Collaboration and cooperation - intra-institute, national and international, interdisciplinary
• Opportunities to develop – on the job and towards other positions
• An international environment – everyday contact with people from all over the world
• Flexible working hours
• 30 days of vacation (for full-time employees) plus additional days off on December 24th and December 31st
• Health promotion and company fitness with Hansefit and Wellhub
• Support services and a culture of reconciling work and family
• Occupational pension provision (VBL)

AWI values diversity and actively promotes gender parity, as well as an open, inclusive environment that provides equal opportunities. We are convinced that diverse teams and a variety of perspectives enrich our work and our daily collaboration. In a continuous process of learning and reflection, we aim to ensure that all our employees can be themselves and feel a sense of belonging. We welcome applications from qualified people regardless of binary and non-binary genders, race and nationality, ethnic and social background, religion, age, disabilities, neurodivergence, sexual orientation, and other identities.

Applicants with disabilities will be given preference when equal qualifications are present.
AWI fosters work-family compatibility in various ways. And as a new international member of our team, you can be sure that we will help you settle in. Our Family Office and International Office will be glad to support you, even before you start at AWI.

This research center is part of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. With more than 42,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest scientific organisation.