Scientific Software Engineer (Weather Warning Verification)

The Center for Climate Systems Modeling (C2SM) at ETH Zurich and the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss) are collaborating to extend and strengthen MeteoSwiss’s operational warning verification activities. Weather warnings are among the most important services a national meteorological service provides, helping authorities, emergency services and the public prepare for hazardous weather. To keep improving these warnings and to transparently show how well they perform, systematic, objective and reliable verification is needed. The project builds on a Python-based verification system that evaluates issued weather warnings and automated warning proposals against observations, such as gridded products and station measurements. A first set of rain warning verification products is currently being made operational with further weather hazard products to follow.

• Improve and extend the operational rain warning verification products.
• Further develop and operationalize the wind warning verification pipeline, extending the existing station-based approach to a grid-based one.
• Integrate an existing nowcasting warning verification tool into the operational system, harmonizing approaches and consolidating code where reasonable.
• Develop snow and heat warning verification pipelines and, if their quality is sufficient, implement them operationally.

• MSc or PhD in computer science, data science, natural sciences (e.g. physics, atmospheric or environmental sciences), or a related field.
• Experience in scientific and operational software development (e.g. automated testing, version control, CI/CD) and a keen interest in writing maintainable, well-documented code.
• Strong Python skills, ideally with experience in handling station and gridded meteorological data, and familiarity with domain-specific formats and frameworks (e.g. Polars, Xarray, earthkit, GRIB, netCDF).
• Solid understanding of meteorology, preferably with a focus on high-impact weather and weather warnings.
• Familiarity with forecast verification methods and statistical evaluation.
• Willingness to contribute across the full workflow, from turning scientific methods into operational products to maintaining them.
• A collaborative mindset, with the ability to take ownership of tasks and communicate effectively within a team.
• Enjoyment of working closely with forecasters and other users and translating their needs into useful products.

• The opportunity to shape how MeteoSwiss evaluates and improves its weather warnings, a core public service that helps protect people and infrastructure.
• The chance to turn approaches for verifying weather warnings into robust operational products used across MeteoSwiss.
• Access to a modern scientific software stack, powerful on-prem and cloud computing platforms and AI-powered tools.
• Close collaboration with forecasters and other users, whose feedback directly shapes the products you build.
• A supportive and interdisciplinary team at Switzerland's national weather service.
• Flexible working arrangements with the possibility of partial home office, and the choice between two main workplace locations: Locarno-Monti or Zurich Airport.

The Center for Climate Systems Modeling (C2SM) at ETH Zurich and the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss) collaborate on advancing operational warning verification activities. ETH Zurich values diversity, equality of opportunity and sustainability, fostering an inclusive and fair working environment.

You will join the Warning & Impact solution team within the Development of Forecasting division of MeteoSwiss, working closely with scientists, developers, forecasters and other users in a supportive and interdisciplinary environment.