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(Scientist) to work on MyOcean2 project

Reference no.: AP12-02

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 34 States*.

ECMWF’s principal objectives are the development of numerical methods for medium‑range, monthly and seasonal weather forecasting; the preparation, on a regular basis, of these weather forecasts for distribution to the meteorological services of the Member States; scientific and technical research directed to the improvement of these forecasts; and the collection and storage of appropriate meteorological data. Satellite and in situ observations provide the information for up-to-date global analyses and reanalyses of the atmosphere, ocean and surface. For details see:

ECMWF’s main computing facility includes supercomputers, archiving and data handling systems. ECMWF is connected to the meteorological telecommunication system and to its Member States via efficient networks linking 44 countries. A detailed description is available at:

Main duties:

The vacancy is in the Marine Aspects Section of the Research Department. This Section is responsible for the development and maintenance of the ocean wave and ocean circulation models run at the Centre.

ECMWF contributes to the EU FP7 project MyOcean2 by producing a high-resolution (¼ degree) ocean reanalysis suitable for initialising high-resolution coupled models and climate applications. The ocean reanalysis will be used to initialise monthly and seasonal forecasts, and as a dataset for climate diagnostics studies.

The consultant will be expected to:

  • design and implement an efficient analysis cycle for the NEMOVAR data assimilation method in the ¼ degree NEMO ocean model;
  • update the observational and forcing datasets to use the most recent versions;
  • explore upgrades in the multivariate formulation of NEMOVAR;
  • evaluate the final product using objective metrics.

Qualifications:

An advanced university degree (PhD level or equivalent) and relevant experience with data assimilation and/or ocean modelling. Proficiency with UNIX scripting and FORTRAN 90 programming on parallel computer architectures is essential.

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

Remuneration:

Typically within the range of £4,202.00 to £5,820.00 per month net of tax, depending upon qualifications, experience, personal situation and eligibility for expatriation allowance. A deduction of either £28.75 per beneficiary or 3.72% of the monthly remuneration will be made for the supplementary health insurance scheme.

Starting date: April 2012 or as soon as possible thereafter.

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

Applications: an application form 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 5 March 2012.

[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, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Morocco, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.