Climate Modelling Assistant at Intergovernmental Authority on Development

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Under the overall guidance of the CDPU Unit Head, and working closely with climate scientists, forecasters, data scientists and other technical teams within ICPAC, the Climate Modelling Assistant will undertake the following tasks:

Climate Model Operations and Prediction Support

• Provide technical and operational support to the Climate Diagnostic and Prediction Unit in the preparation, processing, analysis, and verification of climate prediction products.
• Support the operational production of sub-seasonal (weekly, monthly) and seasonal forecasts, including downloading and processing of Global Producing Centre (GPC) and multi-model ensemble outputs (e.g., C3S, ECMWF, NMME, WMO Lead Centre for Long-Range Forecasts).
• Apply statistical and dynamical downscaling, bias correction and calibration techniques to generate objective, probabilistic forecasts for the Greater Horn of Africa.
• Set up, configure, and run regional climate and weather prediction models (e.g., WRF and other regional models) on ICPAC’s High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Linux-based systems.
• Work closely with climate scientists, forecasters, data scientists and other technical teams within ICPAC to support the timely, coordinated and quality-assured production of operational climate information and prediction products.

Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics

• Support the monitoring of climate variability and large-scale climate drivers, including ENSO, the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) and other modes of variability relevant to the Greater Horn of Africa.
• Support the preparation of dekadal, monthly and seasonal climate monitoring and diagnostic analyses of rainfall, temperature and other relevant climate variables across the Greater Horn of Africa.
• Contribute to the analysis of observed high-impact events (e.g., droughts, floods, heatwaves) and their links to large-scale climate drivers.

Forecast Verification and Quality Assurance

• Carry out routine verification of sub-seasonal and seasonal forecasts using standard deterministic and probabilistic scores (e.g., ROC, RPSS, reliability diagrams, hit rates), in line with WMO guidance on verification of operational seasonal forecasts.
• Maintain verification archives and prepare periodic model and forecast skill assessment reports to inform model selection and product improvement.
• Undertake quality control of input datasets and model outputs, and ensure products meet ICPAC’s quality-assurance standards before release.

Capacity Building, Collaboration and Reporting

• Support training and capacity-building activities for NMHSs and other partners on climate modelling, forecasting tools, verification and data analysis.
• Document methodologies, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and code, and contribute to technical reports, project reports and scientific publications.
• Perform any other related duties as may be assigned by the CDPU Unit Head.

Key Educational Qualifications and Professional Experience

Academic Qualification

• Master’s degree in meteorology, atmospheric sciences, climate science, or a closely related field.
• Specialized training on the development of weather and climate models, knowledge of numerical weather prediction. Practical experience testing and running models on high-performance computers is an added advantage.

Professional work experience

• At least two (2) years of relevant experience in climate forecasting, climate modelling or operational climate services.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience in installing, configuring and running numerical weather prediction and/or regional climate models (e.g., WRF, RegCM) in Linux/HPC environments.
• Experience in processing and analysing large gridded climate datasets (e.g., model outputs, reanalyses, satellite products) in NetCDF and GRIB formats.
• Practical experience in the production of sub-seasonal and/or seasonal forecasts, including downscaling, calibration and forecast verification.
• Experience in preparing technical reports, climate bulletins or scientific publications.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with experience in stakeholder engagement and in delivering training to technical audiences.
• Experience working in the IGAD region (e.g., RCCs and NMHSs) is highly desirable.
• Sound knowledge of climate system dynamics, climate variability and the drivers of East African climate (e.g., ENSO, IOD, MJO).
• Good understanding of statistical and dynamical climate modelling approaches as well as ensemble prediction systems, probabilistic forecasting and forecast verification methods.
• Proficiency in Python, shell scripting, R or other scientific programming languages, and in climate data tools such as CDO, NCO and xarray.
• Ability to work with NetCDF, GRIB and related climate-data formats.
• Familiarity with climate-data tools and libraries such as xarray, pandas, NumPy, CDO, NCO and/or similar tools.
• Ability to write efficient, well-documented code and automate operational workflows; familiarity with version control (e.g., Git) is an advantage

Essential Skills and Competencies Required

• Strong analytical and quantitative skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary and multicultural team.
• Good organizational and time-management skills.
• Ability to work under deadlines.
• Good written and oral communication skills.

Language requirements

• Excellent command of English, both written and spoken, is required. Working knowledge of French is considered an added advantage.

Remuneration

• In accordance with IGAD salary scale and applicable policies, taking into account the candidate’s and qualifications and relevant experience.