Careers
Full Time
Industrial Post-Doctoral Scientist in Climate Data Analytics | [PDF]
position overview
We are hiring an Industrial Post-Doctoral Researcher in Climate Data Analytics to develop usable climate data and products. Primary responsibilities will include developing novel approaches and derived products (i.e. summaries, indices or metrics) that help provide users with appropriate, quality-controlled climate and historical weather data. An example of this would be developing methods that assess the credibility of a climate model for a user’s location and variable of interest that can be run in real time in the cloud.
The Post-Doctoral Researcher will also help build and deploy a real-time historical weather data platform that provides high resolution and quality historical observations for the climate data platform. This position will be a mix of applied research and development of software and toolkits for a technical (but not necessarily scientific) audience. This is a public facing project, supporting California’s electricity and natural gas ratepayers -- this position will involve frequent stakeholder engagement and collaboration with project partners at the California Energy Commission, the University of California, and private industry.
We know that scientists are a varied lot, and will consider full and part-time applicants, applicants seeking to work non-traditional hours and applicants working remotely. If your experiences don’t line up with what is outlined below, but think you’d be a great fit for the project, please still apply so we can learn more about you.
Due to COVID-19 we are working remotely for the foreseeable future. If employees are interested in returning to the office when it’s safe, proof of vaccination will be required.
The Post-Doctoral Researcher will also help build and deploy a real-time historical weather data platform that provides high resolution and quality historical observations for the climate data platform. This position will be a mix of applied research and development of software and toolkits for a technical (but not necessarily scientific) audience. This is a public facing project, supporting California’s electricity and natural gas ratepayers -- this position will involve frequent stakeholder engagement and collaboration with project partners at the California Energy Commission, the University of California, and private industry.
We know that scientists are a varied lot, and will consider full and part-time applicants, applicants seeking to work non-traditional hours and applicants working remotely. If your experiences don’t line up with what is outlined below, but think you’d be a great fit for the project, please still apply so we can learn more about you.
Due to COVID-19 we are working remotely for the foreseeable future. If employees are interested in returning to the office when it’s safe, proof of vaccination will be required.
position responsibilities
The Post-Doctoral Researcher will be expected to lead and contribute to the following tasks:
This position requires a lot of computer work, applicants will need to be capable of working at a desk or computer for the majority of the workday. Very rarely you may be asked to work late or on weekends, (likely due to project/proposal deadlines).
- develop analytics and metrics to create understandable and usable data and toolkits for developing resilience in the energy system (i.e. credibility assessments, quantifying uncertainty, guiding users to customized scenarios, creating stress tests for energy system); and
- develop a cloud-based platform for historical weather data at high resolution that can support and connect climate data with other natural gas sector climate risk research.
- Communicate directly with and engage project partners and stakeholders. This is an applied research project; you will be responsible for ensuring research benefits partners and stakeholders.
- Develop professional networks and contacts, identify funding opportunities and proposal writing.
- Provide mentoring and/or supervision of junior staff.
- Periodic travel (when it is safe to do so) to workshops, seminars, conferences and meetings with our partners.
- Perform other duties as required. We are a small team, and sometimes you’ll have to do tasks that are outside of traditional post-doctoral scope.
This position requires a lot of computer work, applicants will need to be capable of working at a desk or computer for the majority of the workday. Very rarely you may be asked to work late or on weekends, (likely due to project/proposal deadlines).
required qualifications
- Share our values and vision, particularly in creating an inclusive and welcoming workplace.
- Expertise in analyzing and working with very large geospatial datasets (ideally GCM output and CMIP 5/6).
- Subject mastery in atmospheric/climate science or similar geophysical, environmental, computational, or adjacent engineering/mathematical fields.
- You need a PhD to be a Post-Doc, but we’ll happily review applications from applicants with other great experience and education (although we’ll have to change your job title).
- This position is remote, but our funding source encourages residence within California.
Desired Qualifications
We anticipate applicants having some of these qualifications.
- Experience performing scientific/computational work in the cloud, or better -- experience developing applications on AWS.
- Expertise with a modern computing language (such as Python, R, or Fortran77) or proprietary/dying computer languages (such as MATLAB or IDL), along with the willingness to learn other languages. Experience working with scientific (geophysical) toolkits (i.e. nco, cdo, ncl), repositories/libraries (i.e. MetPy, numpy, scipy, tidyr), or visualization packages (i.e. ggplot, matplotlib, cartopy) a plus. Basically, we hope to find a candidate who has knowledge of any setup for working with big geospatial data, and trust in your capacity to learn our particular approach (i.e. python).
- Personal accountability and the capacity to work independently while managing multiple concurrent projects with overlapping deadlines.
- Familiarity with GCM skill/uncertainty/confidence assessment, downscaling techniques and/or modeling experience.
- Familiarity developing and/or applying automated methods for QA/QC on geospatial data.
- Experience developing, managing, or contributing to open-source repositories.
- Experience in working with large diverse and multidisciplinary teams or a willingness to learn (leadership or project management a plus).
- Demonstrated interest in stakeholder engagement, public policy and/or doing science that benefits public interest. The two projects the successful candidate will be working on benefit California’s electric and natural gas ratepayers. We’re looking to hire someone who’s excited to do science that increases reliability, safety, and lowers the cost of the energy system. Familiarity with California energy system rules, regulations and legislation a plus.
- Excellent communication skills (writing and oral) and comfort speaking to technical and non-technical partners as well as colleagues at state and federal agencies. At a minimum this includes the capacity to write technically (proposals and manuscripts), write directly and simply in executive summaries and informal communication, orally communicate at professional meetings, and communicate informally with partners. Communication (to us) includes the capacity to engage partners with empathy, openness to feedback and constructive criticism, and the capacity to engage partners and colleagues with tact and sensitivity.
- Capacity to make decisions and execute project tasks amidst an incomplete and evolving understanding of partner and stakeholder needs.
- General and broad knowledge of modern software and applications, such as videoconferencing, MS office, collaboration tools (like GitHub) and team communication software (we use Slack). You will be working with colleagues working remotely, partners at other institutions and/or be working remotely yourself – so we expect you to communicate effectively asynchronously and without supervision.
About Eagle Rock Analytics
We are a small climate and environmental consulting firm who focuses on applied research that transforms large geospatial data into understandable information that answer questions or advances the science. We don’t take profits on most projects, allowing us to prioritize our clients and stakeholders, maintain professionalism and scientific ethics, and do work without ego. We’re hoping to find people to join our team who agree that slow, steady, methodical and empathetic is better than a fast-paced, work-hard-play-hard, everyone is a unicorn/rockstar approach.
Benefits & Compensation
Salary for this position will be a minimum of $6,250 per month or ~$75,000 per year, and higher for experienced candidates. Salary for this project was set by referring to NSF Survey of Doctorate Recipients and the State of California payscale for Air Pollution Specialists, and is competitive with jobs in the environmental sector within California. We are advertising this position as a full-time, non-exempt position based in Sacramento, CA but will strongly consider applicants seeking part-time employment and/or permanently working remotely.
Eagle Rock Analytics offers a flexible workplace with a generous benefit package, including at a minimum health & dental insurance, retirement (i.e. 401k) with employer matching, liberal paid time off, and professional development opportunities. As a smaller company we are able to work with employees to meet their needs. We’ll offer some of the following benefits to full time employees, based on stated needs of our staff: life insurance, long-term disability insurance, childcare spending accounts, and other tax advantaged fringe benefits. ERA will take no profit on this work, budget slack will support additional employee perks.
Eagle Rock Analytics offers a flexible workplace with a generous benefit package, including at a minimum health & dental insurance, retirement (i.e. 401k) with employer matching, liberal paid time off, and professional development opportunities. As a smaller company we are able to work with employees to meet their needs. We’ll offer some of the following benefits to full time employees, based on stated needs of our staff: life insurance, long-term disability insurance, childcare spending accounts, and other tax advantaged fringe benefits. ERA will take no profit on this work, budget slack will support additional employee perks.
How to Apply
Questions?: Submit your questions about the application process, position, or working at Eagle Rock Analytics to jobs@eaglerockanalytics.com. You can also consult our careers FAQ for additional information.
To Apply: E-mail a resume/cv to jobs@eaglerockanalytics.com with the subject line of “Industrial Post-Doctoral Researcher.” In lieu of a cover letter, we welcome a Statement of Qualification which addresses in your own words why you are qualified for the position. Please limit replies to 2 pages, with 1” margins and size 12 Times New Roman font.
Deadline and Process: We’ll begin reviewing applications on July 26th, and will continue to do so until the listings are removed from our website. We will reach out to successful applicants for references and interviews in July. All applicants will be notified when the position is filled
To Apply: E-mail a resume/cv to jobs@eaglerockanalytics.com with the subject line of “Industrial Post-Doctoral Researcher.” In lieu of a cover letter, we welcome a Statement of Qualification which addresses in your own words why you are qualified for the position. Please limit replies to 2 pages, with 1” margins and size 12 Times New Roman font.
Deadline and Process: We’ll begin reviewing applications on July 26th, and will continue to do so until the listings are removed from our website. We will reach out to successful applicants for references and interviews in July. All applicants will be notified when the position is filled
