Consultant on forecast product development, use and evaluation

Reference no.: AP10-22

Location:

ECMWF Headquarters at Shinfield Park, near Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom

Environment:

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is an international organisation supported by 32 States*. Its prime objectives are the operational production of analyses, medium-range forecasts of weather and ocean waves, and seasonal forecasts, as well as scientific and technical research directed to the improvement of these forecasts. ECMWF operates a large computing facility including supercomputers, data archiving systems and networks. For details see:

The vacancy is for a post within the Meteorological Operations Section of the Operations Department.  The Meteorological Operations Section carries out the monitoring and assessment of the meteorological performance of the ECMWF operational forecast systems. The work of the section includes liaison with users to improve and broaden the use and understanding of ECMWF meteorological products, and the development of new products to meet the evolving needs of the users.

The overall aim of the post is to develop the usefulness of ECMWF products for operational forecasters in the ECMWF Member States, in particular for early warnings of severe weather events. The main duties of the post are:

• To promote the appropriate use of the existing range of ECMWF forecast products by providing information and guidelines, including examples, to forecasters
• To propose, develop and implement complementary new forecast products, with special emphasis on providing early warnings for severe weather
• To evaluate the meteorological performance of the ECMWF forecasting system from the forecaster perspective with a focus on sensible weather (temperature, precipitation and snow cover) including predictions of severe weather events
• To participate in the daily monitoring of operational forecasts from a meteorological point of view

Qualifications:

A university degree or equivalent in meteorology or a related subject is required, together with experience in the development, use or verification of weather forecast products. The ideal candidate will have substantial experience as a senior operational forecaster and will be familiar with using a range of numerical weather prediction (NWP) forecast products from both deterministic and ensemble forecast systems. The post provides an opportunity to pass on this experience to other users, to give ECMWF feedback on forecaster requirements and to contribute to a better understanding of the meteorological strengths and weaknesses of the ECMWF forecasting systems. Knowledge of NWP models and experience in developing computer applications in a UNIX environment would be an advantage.

The working languages of ECMWF are English, French and German.  Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and have a good knowledge of one of the other working languages of ECMWF.  Interviews will be conducted in English.

Remuneration:

Typically within the range of £3,795.00 to £5,255.00 per month net of tax, depending upon qualifications, experience, personal situation and eligibility for expatriation allowance.  Exceptionally, for a highly qualified and experienced candidate, the following range may be considered: £4,685.00 to £6,360.00 per month net of tax. A deduction of either £33.62 per beneficiary or 4.38% of the monthly remuneration will be made for the supplementary health insurance scheme.

Starting date: As soon as possible.

Length of contract: One-year contract initially, with the possibility of an extension of a further year.

Applications: Application forms in word format can be downloaded from here (162kb) and completed on-line. If you download, you may (if near to the closing date) e-mail the completed form only back to ECMWF at jobs@ecmwf.int. Please note, however, that you must still send your full application form together with all the attachments to ECMWF by post. Under no circumstances should you e-mail your attachments.

Closing date: Completed applications for this post must reach the Personnel Section of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts not later than 26 October 2010.

[Version française] [Deutsche Fassung ]

* The ECMWF Member States are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

The ECMWF Co-operating States are Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Morocco, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.