Scientific Developer/Researcher in Atmospheric Transport Modelling

About the position

Does your passion lie in scientific development and programming in an environment of high-quality research and operational tools? Then join our team at the Meteorological Institute on dispersion of radioactivity, volcanic ash and air pollution. 

We have a position open as researcher/developer/scientific programmer in the field of atmospheric transport modelling related to nuclear accidents, volcanic eruptions and air pollution. The person filling the position is expected to contribute to the technical and scientific developments of the emergency modelling, as well as the development of evaluation tools (comparing model results to observations) related to atmospheric dispersion in general (including air quality and climate modelling results). Presently, new AI based tools are under development and the candidate is also expected to take part in this activity. 

MET Norway provides the society at large with meteorological services for both civilian and military purposes. Weather forecasting, on demand services, climate monitoring and research and development within meteorology and oceanography are prioritized activities.

Our main goal is to help protect life and property.

To achieve this we run a suite of forecast models for the atmosphere as well as a number of downstream services based on these forecasts. An important task is the development, running and maintenance of our suite of dispersion models for our emergency preparedness services. These include models for the dispersion of radioactive material and volcanic ash in the atmosphere to support and serve the national authorities on radioactivity (DSA) and civil aviation (Luftfartsttilsynet). 

Modelling the dispersion of radioactivity came in focus at MET after the Chernobyl accident and models were developed already in the nineties. As an example, dispersion calculations are presently carried out for all the Ukrainian nuclear reactors four times per day to be prepared if an incident would occur. After the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010 that caused large disruptions in civil aviation, MET also developed a dispersion model for volcanic ash as part of the preparedness modelling system.

Modelling of the formation and dispersion of air pollution on a local, regional and global scale has been a central task for MET Norway for many years. MET Norway also delivers regional air quality forecasting in the European CAMS project (http://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/), and we are responsible for the local air quality forecasting for Norway (https://luftkvalitet.miljodirektoratet.no/ and yr.no). 

Responsibility

The successful applicants will work within the field of dispersion modelling in the atmosphere for contingency/emergency preparedness (e.g. dispersion of ash plumes and radioactivity). She/he will contribute to the development of our technical systems supporting our transport models as well as the dissemination of model results, technical implementation and advanced scientific diagnosis of results both independently and in cooperation with others. He/she will also work on the evaluation of air pollution and climate models in our group, contributing to development of tools/scripts (in Python) that will be used for diagnosing air quality and climate model results. 

Our scientific activities will partly depend on external funding, and the candidate might contribute to the acquisition of relevant projects. 

The work place will be Oslo. 

The Norwegian Meteorological Institute is subject to the Security Act and for this position it will therefore be assessed whether there is a need for security clearance.

Qualification requirements

• PhD or MSc in meteorology,  oceanography, physics, applied mathematics, or computer science
• Documented skills in scientific programming
• Familiarity with UNIX/LINUX, and both strongly and weakly typed programming languages (Python and Fortran or C)
• The candidate must have the ability to work independently while also collaborating in teams. Experience from scientific collaboration is important
• The working language at MET Norway is Norwegian, and fluency in Norwegian is an advantage. Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and demonstrate fluency, written and oral. Foreign candidates must be willing to learn basic Norwegian

Experience with the following is an advantage:

• Experience with atmospheric modelling
• Meteorological/physical/chemical processes relevant for air pollution modelling 
• Assessing high volumes of data and plotting of informative graphs
• Standardized data formats such as NetCDF/CF, HDF5, ZARR 
• High Performance computing environments, parallelization and optimization of model code
• Distribution of data through web-services (REST, OGC-EDR)
• High Availability services
• Front-end development (ECMAScript, TypeScript, React, Vite, Bootstrap)
• Cloud-management, cloud-storage, cloud-computing
• Application of machine learning to physical/chemical processes
• Project management of scientific projects

Personal skills

• Strong motivation and personal capabilities
• Creativity and ability to work result-oriented, accurately and structured.
• Analytical ability, ability to work independently as well as the ability to be a good team player
• Willingness to learn Norwegian
• Excellent grades from master and/or bachelor

We can offer

• A demanding but meaningful job in a modern technological environment.
• Flexible working conditions  in a pleasant working environment.
• Salary range NOK 520 300 - NOK 800 000 per annum depending on qualifications. For particularly qualified candidates, a higher salary may be considered.
• Membership in the governmental pension fund, SPK (2% deducted from gross salary), one of the best pension funds in Norway.
• Insurances and mortgage through SPK.
• Possibility of one hour of training during working hours per week.
• The first 6 months is a mutual trial period.

Diversity and positive discrimination

We believe that diversity is a strength, and want employees with different skills, subject combinations, work experience, gender, life experience and perspectives.We encourage all qualified candidates to apply for a job with us regardless of ethnic background, age or ability.

We practice positive discrimination, and will call at least one qualified applicant in each of these groups for an interview: applicants with a disability, immigrant background or gaps in the CV.To be considered in one or more of these categories, you must mark the appropriate category in your application.

Functional impairment: applicants who need accommodation in the workplace or in the working relationship.

Immigrant background: applicants who have themselves immigrated to Norway. Or who was born in Norway with two parents who both immigrated to Norway.

Gaps in CV: applicants who have had a break from work, education or training for a total of at least two years in the last five years due to e.g. physical or mental illness or injury, intoxication or punishment.

The ticks can be used for anonymised statistics or reporting purposes.

Publication of applicant lists for public sector positions is an important principle to ensure transparency. If you want your name to be excluded from the applicant list, you must ask for it yourself, and give us a reason. In order to be exempted from the public applicant list, your justification for exemption must outweigh the consideration of transparency in the applicant list. If your request is not accepted, you will have the opportunity to withdraw your application.

The application

The application with CV and other attachments is sent electronically via Jobbnorge.no. Attach certificates and all pages of diplomas. The documents must be in Norwegian, a Scandinavian language or English. Translations must be authorized. Before any employment, we will check the documents. In the case of foreign education, we ask that you attach an explanation of the grading system.