Posting Detail Information
Working Title25-108 FWT Cloud Developer
Position LocationBoulder, CO
Work LocationPosition qualifies for hybrid/in-office work
Research Professional PositionYes
Posting Number202501281AP
Position TypeAdmin Professional/ Research Professional
Classification TitleResearch Associate II
Number of Vacancies1
Work Hours/Week40
Proposed Annual Salary RangeRA II: $100,000 - $110,000; RA III $110,000 - $120,000 Salary is commensurate with experience and qualifications.
Employee Benefits
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Desired Start Date11/03/2025
Position End Date (if temporary)
To ensure full consideration, applications must be received by 11:59pm (MT) on10/06/2025
Description of Work Unit
The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere ( CIRA ) at Colorado State University ( CSU ) seeks to fill a full-time Cloud Developer position designed to conduct collaborative research with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) located at the Global Systems Laboratory ( GSL ) in Boulder, CO. The individual in this position will work in the NOAA / OAR / GSL Weather Informatics and Decision Support ( WIDS ) Division's Fire Weather Testbed ( FWT ). This position will be responsible for setting up and maintaining cloud applications and solutions to support FWT experiments, including installing experimental software packages and data sources.
This full time position is located in a federal facility in Boulder, CO and requires the ability to pass a National Agency Check with Inquiries ( NACI ) tier 1 federal background check for building and system access. This position requires a NOAA Common Access Card ( CAC ) ID badge for computer access and therefore is open ONLY to citizens of the United States and lawful permanent residents in possession of a physical USCIS "Green Card." An onsite presence at the GSL in Boulder, CO, is required three (3) days a week with the option to telework two (2) days a week, scheduled in coordination with the FWT project team.
CIRA is a multi-million-dollar research organization located on CSU's Foothills Campus in Fort Collins, Colorado. CIRA is a cooperative institute that is also a research department within CSU's College of Engineering, in partnership with the Department of Atmospheric Science. Its vision is to conduct interdisciplinary research in the atmospheric sciences by entraining skills beyond the meteorological disciplines, exploiting advances in engineering and computer science, facilitating transitional activity between pure and applied research, leveraging both national and international resources and partnerships, and assisting NOAA , Colorado State University, the State of Colorado, and the Nation through the application of our research to areas of societal benefit.
The office is located in NOAA's Global Systems Laboratory ( GSL ), which is a federal science and research laboratory under NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. GSL provides the National Weather Service ( NWS ) and the nation with environmental observation, prediction, computer, visualization, and information systems. These systems deliver data, forecasts, and predictions of weather, including severe weather events, within the next few minutes to weeks away. GSL is a leader in the applied research, directed development, and technology transfer of environmental data, models, products, and services that enhance environmental understanding with the outcome of supporting commerce, protecting life and property, and promoting a scientifically literate public.
Housed at GSL , the FWT is a new NOAA testbed dedicated to serving the wildfire communities through pursuing improvements to fire weather forecasting and decision support services. These improvements will be achieved by connecting stakeholders and their information needs to the scientific research and development communities. The FWT is a physical and virtual environment designed to bring the wildfire community together, with an end goal of a safer society and healthier environment achieved through scientific and technological advances. Numerous experiments will be conducted in the FWT and will include a broad spectrum of science fields including atmospheric, geophysical, hydrologic, and environmental sciences as well as social and behavioral sciences.
Position Summary
The individual in this position will help design, develop, test, and refine applications in the Amazon Web Services ( AWS ) cloud architecture for the FWT . The FWT is a team that conducts experiments testing the readiness of proto@type fire weather tools and software for operational implementation. In addition to setting up and maintaining the cloud environments, this individual will work with outside organizations to install their tools and software for testing and, where necessary, assist in implementing and developing the FWT cloud platform. This includes working with various operating systems, meteorological and environmental data sources, and third-party software packages. The individual in this position will ensure the availability of installed software during FWT experiments. This position reports to the Deputy Associate Director.
This full time position is located in a federal facility in Boulder, CO and requires the ability to pass a National Agency Check with Inquiries ( NACI ) tier 1 federal background check for building and system access. This position requires a NOAA Common Access Card ( CAC ) ID badge for computer access and therefore is open ONLY to citizens of the United States and lawful permanent residents in possession of a physical USCIS "Green Card." An onsite presence at the GSL in Boulder, CO, is required three (3) days a week with the option to telework two (2) days a week, scheduled in coordination with the FWT project team.
This position will be classified as Research Associate II or III according to the credentials of the finalist selected for hire as follows:
For position title Research Associate II: Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field PLUS 3-4 years of relevant work experience -OR- Master's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field experience
For position title Research Associate III : Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field PLUS 5 or more years of relevant work experience -OR- Master's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field PLUS 2 or more years of relevant work experience -OR- Ph.D. in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field.
Required Job Qualifications
In your cover letter, please specifically address EACH required qualification as it relates to your experience. A cover letter that fails to address the required qualifications for this position may not be considered further after review by the search committee.
For position title Research Associate II
Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field PLUS 3-4 years of relevant work experience
-OR- Master's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field experience
For position title Research Associate III
Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field PLUS 5 or more years of relevant work experience
-OR- Master's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field PLUS 2 or more years of relevant work experience
-OR- Ph.D. in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field.
For all classifications
Experience with Cloud, specifically Amazon Web Services and cloud-native development.
Must be a citizen of the United States or Lawful Permanent Resident with a physical USCIS "Green Card."
Ability to pass a National Agency Check with Inquiries ( NACI ) federal background check and receive a NOAA Common Access Card ( CAC ) ID badge.
Preferred Job Qualifications
In your cover letter, please specifically address the applicable preferred qualifications for this position. A cover letter that fails to address the preferred qualifications for this position may not be considered further after review by the search committee.
Familiarity with object-oriented concepts and design principles.
Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) such as Terraform or AWS Cloud Formation.
Experience in AWS with the following services ( IAM , SQS , SNS , EC2, EKS , EBS , EFS , Lustre, S3, Lambda, RDS , AWS cli, and boto3/java AWS SDK ).
Experience with containerized systems such as Docker.
Experience with Kubernetes or Elastic Kubernetes Service ( EKS ).
Experience with issue tracking and revision control.
Experience with continuous integration.
Experience with Python.
Experience developing software in a Linux environment.
Experience setting up your development environment using an Integrated Development Environment ( IDE ) such as Eclipse or Visual Studio.
Experience with Linux operating systems such as Red Hat, CentOS, Centos/Redhat OS.
Familiarity with National Weather Service forecasting systems ( AWIPS -II, Graphical Forecaster Editor, WarnGen)
Essential Duties
Job Duty CategoryApplications Development and Administration
Duty/Responsibility
Install and adapt third-party software applications to be cloud native or to run in a cloud environment, including data feeds and access controls.
Develop and provide cloud architecture and implementation for the FWT .
Assist with the management and administration of FWT systems in the cloud.
Work with other systems engineers, cloud specialists and security experts to develop and deploy scalable solutions while meeting NOAA security boundary requirements.
Work closely with OAR , ESRL , and GSL management, security, cloud engineer, engineers and scientists to develop technical and business requirements that must be met in deployments.
Percentage Of Time80
Job Duty CategoryLeadership
Duty/Responsibility
Provide knowledge, guidance, expertise, consultation, and training on AWS Cloud Services.
Lead the team to help implement solutions in the cloud for the FWT experiments.
Suggest software and overall architectural design changes to improve FWT implementation in the cloud.
Percentage Of Time10
Job Duty CategoryDocumentation and Reporting
Duty/Responsibility
Complete annual reports documenting the status of the project.
Summarize research results for sponsors and the broader weather community.
Prepare software documentation in collaboration with other team members.
Percentage Of Time10
Application Details
Special Instructions to Applicants
This full time position is located in a federal facility in Boulder, CO and requires the ability to pass a National Agency Check with Inquiries ( NACI ) tier 1 federal background check for building and system access. This position requires a NOAA Common Access Card ( CAC ) ID badge for computer access and therefore is open ONLY to citizens of the United States and lawful permanent residents in possession of a physical USCIS "Green Card." An onsite presence at the GSL in Boulder, CO, is required three (3) days a week with the option to telework two (2) days a week, scheduled in coordination with the FWT project team.
Applications must be submitted via online portal. We will not accept materials sent via email or other mode. NOTE : In your cover letter, please specifically address the required and preferred qualifications of this position. A cover letter that fails to address the qualifications of this position may not be further considered after review by the search committee. Likewise, an online application with a generic cover letter or missing a cover letter, and/or an application that does not include current/correct reference contact information may not be further considered after review by the search committee.
CSU is committed to full inclusion of qualified individuals. If you are needing assistance or accommodations with the search process, please reach out to the listed search contact.
References will not be contacted without prior notification to candidates. Please note, applicants may redact information from their application materials that identifies their age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.
Conditions of EmploymentPre-employment Criminal Background Check (required for new hires)
Search ContactJennifer Raab, Jennifer.Raab@colostate.edu
EEO
Colorado State University ( CSU ) provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any @type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
Background Check Policy Statement
Colorado State University strives to provide a safe study, work, and living environment for its faculty, staff, volunteers and students. To support this environment and comply with applicable laws and regulations, CSU conducts background checks for the finalist before a final offer. The @type of background check conducted varies by position and can include, but is not limited to, criminal history, sex offender registry, motor vehicle history, financial history, and/or education verification. Background checks will also be conducted when required by law or contract and when, in the discretion of the University, it is reasonable and prudent to do so.
References Requested
References Requested
Minimum Requested3
Maximum Requested3
Supplemental Questions
Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).
