Scientist/Senior Scientist (Boundary Layer Parametrization)

Reference no.: AP10-02

Grade: A2/A3, according to the scales of the Co-ordinated Organisations.

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 31 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:

www.ecmwf.int

Main duties:

This vacancy is in the Physical Aspects Section of the Research Department of ECMWF. The Section carries out research into the parametrization of subgrid-scale physical processes for atmospheric models, in particular for implementation in the Centre’s forecasting system. Schemes must be effective across the range of model configurations used for high-resolution deterministic forecasting, for lower resolution ensemble prediction for medium, monthly and seasonal time ranges, and for variational data assimilation.

The successful candidate will:

• Be responsible for the boundary layer scheme, which is a major component of the ECMWF model
• Monitor the performance of the boundary layer scheme in the operational system
• Further develop the boundary layer scheme with initial emphasis on the stable boundary layer and then on boundary layer clouds
• Investigate the interaction of the boundary layer scheme with other parametrization schemes (clouds, convection, radiation, land surface) and dynamics

Qualifications:

A university degree to PhD level or equivalent, with experience and personal contributions in the area of boundary layer parametrization. A good general knowledge of meteorology and modelling of the atmosphere is required. Experience with parametrization in a large-scale modelling environment would be an advantage.

Staff are normally recruited from among the nationals of the following Member and Co-operating States: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom.

Fluency in English is required and a good knowledge of one of the other working languages (French and German) would be an advantage.

Remuneration:

For Grade A2: within the range £3,795.24 to £5,069.79 basic salary per month net of tax.

For Grade A3: within the range £4,683.01 to £6,333.06 basic salary per month net of tax.

In principle, a staff member will be engaged at the lowest step of the lowest grade of the post for which he or she is selected. Recruitment maybe at a higher level when this is justified by qualifications and experience.

A deduction is made from the basic salary for the Pension Scheme and for Partial Invalidity (currently 8.8% for the Pension Scheme and 0.2% for Partial Invalidity). A further 1.46% of basic salary and related allowances is currently deducted for the ECMWF Supplementary Health Insurance Scheme.

Starting date: As soon as possible.

Length of contract: Maximum of four years for initial contract, with the possibility of renewal.

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 10 March 2010.

[Version française] [Deutsche Fassung]

* The ECMWF Member States are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, 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, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Morocco, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.