CIRES / NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory, Associate Scientist for Field and Lab Support (Data Management)
Requisition Number: 67747
Location: Boulder Colorado
Employment Type: Research Faculty
Schedule: Full Time
Posting Close Date: 08-Oct-2025
Date Posted:
Job Summary
The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) is seeking an Associate Scientist to perform scientific field work, which includes a blend of field and laboratory work, focusing on the acquisition and management of scientific data. The candidate will perform routine maintenance and repairs on scientific instruments in field settings and contribute to data processing and management in a laboratory environment. The project's outputs will serve a diverse community of users including fellow researchers in hydrometeorological forecasting communities, operational streamflow forecasting entities, and water resource decision-makers.
CU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. We are committed to creating a workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and we encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.
Who We Are
CIRES (https://cires.colorado.edu/) is an internationally recognized leader in innovative environmental science and research and is located at the University of Colorado Boulder. At CIRES, more than 900 environmental science professionals work to understand the dynamic Earth system, including people's relationship with the planet. CIRES has partnered with NOAA since 1967, and our areas of expertise include weather and climate, changes at Earth's poles, air quality and atmospheric chemistry, water resources, solid Earth sciences, and more. Our vision is to be instrumental in ensuring a sustainable future environment by advancing scientific and societal understanding of the Earth system.
The NOAA-Physical Sciences Laboratory (http://psl.noaa.gov/) (PSL) mission is to conduct scientific research to observe, understand, model, predict and forecast weather, water and climate extremes and their impacts. Our vision is an informed society that uses science-based environmental intelligence to effectively anticipate and respond to threats and opportunities related to weather, water, and climate extremes. Our research goals are as follows:
Rigorously characterize and predict weather, water, and climate extremes and their uncertainties to support NOAA's mission.
Develop new process-understanding, observing, and modeling capabilities to predict conditions associated with too much or too little water for early warning, preparedness, resource management, and adaptation.
Improve monitoring and prediction of weather, climate, and water conditions impacting marine resources.
The PSL's Data, Instrumentation, and Field Campaigns Division (DIF) (https://psl.noaa.gov/research/divisions/dif/) contributes decades of expertise in developing and deploying state-of-the-art instruments, and providing online data access and web tools, to facilitate weather, water, and climate research. PSL DIF participates in local, national, and international field campaigns that bring together scientists from around the world using instruments deployed on the ground, aboard ships, atop ice, and in the air or water. We collaborate with modelers who are interested in verifying and/or improving how physical processes are simulated by models.
What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be
Operate and maintain scientific instruments in the field to acquire high-quality data. (5%)
Serve as a back up to monitor data flows from various observing sites and troubleshoot and resolve run-time issues with data acquisition software at remote sites. (10%)
Provide support for web-based interfacing to real-time observations and display products, and design, develop, enhance, troubleshoot, and manage various software and systems in support of research-to-operations activities. (20%)
Assist in developing data formatting best practices and standards and consistent organizational principles and schemas for modeling and observation data, organize and maintain metadata for all modeling and observational data holdings, and physically organize data holdings to increase accessibility and minimize network traffic and storage redundancy. (50%)
Coordinate the creation of Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) with external organizations and assist in the publication of research datasets to the appropriate scientific communities. (5%)
Act as a liaison between all research teams within the organization to understand their dataset holdings and organizational needs. (10%)
What You Should Know
This is a 1-year term position with the possibility of extension based on the availability of funds.
This position will be rostered in CIRES at the University of Colorado Boulder, but will be physically situated in the NOAA laboratory facility at the David Skaggs Research Center, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305.
This position will be required to perform field work at various locations domestic and internationally with travel required approximately 1 week per month (or 20% of the time).
Must be able to obtain and maintain a valid state driver's license to operate government vehicles and commercial rental vehicles (including cars, pickup trucks, and larger rental trucks, such as U-Haul and Ryder).
Physical requirements include the ability to lift 50lbs and may include climbing a 10-meter tower.
Core hours are from 9 am to 3 pm with the options for a flexible work schedule Monday through Friday. Weekend work and extra hours may be required for field work.
If you are selected for this position you will be required to pass a federal laboratory background clearance for site access.
Given project deliverables, candidates must be able to start work by December 1, 2025.
Visa sponsorship is not offered for this position. Candidates working in the United States through a visa or a work permit or needing sponsorship now or in the future are not eligible for hire in this role.
What We Can Offer
CIRES offers a generous compensation package.
The annual hiring salary range for this position is $79,651 to $101,555.
Salary is commensurate with education and experience and determined based on our CIRES internal career-track classification.
This position can accommodate a hybrid work modality.
CIRES and the University of Colorado Boulder offer a robust training curriculum, opportunities for professional development, and a Mentorship Program.
Boulder (https://bouldercolorado.gov/) is a vibrant community with access to mountain parks, dog parks, miles of trails, rivers, lakes, cafes, restaurants, boutiques, theaters, museums, and sports venues.
As an employee at CU Boulder, you will have free access to the regional public transit system, (https://www.rtd-denver.com/) an outstanding network of buses, and light rail systems that service Boulder and connect to Denver, the Denver airport, and surrounding communities.
Benefits
The University of Colorado offers excellent benefits (https://www.colorado.edu/jobs/benefits) , including medical, dental, retirement, paid time off, tuition benefit and ECO Pass. The University of Colorado Boulder is one of the largest employers in Boulder County and offers an inspiring higher education environment. Learn more about the University of Colorado Boulder (https://www.colorado.edu/about) .
Be Statements
Be collaborative. Be ingenious. Be Boulder.
What We Require
A Bachelor's degree or higher in atmospheric, hydrologic, or other physical sciences, engineering, computer science, or a related field.
Experience using and developing structured code in Python, C++, and/or shell scripting.
Experience with the data acquisition lifecycle.
Experience working with scientific instrumentation.
What You Will Need
Expertise in hydrometeorology, engineering, computer science, data management, or data science.
Hands-on knowledge or familiarity with meteorological datasets.
Interest in instrumentation and data processing.
Ability to work and communicate effectively within a team environment and to facilitate communications across multiple teams and multiple organizational units.
Special Instructions
To apply please submit the following materials with your application:
Resume or CV.
Cover letter addressed to the Search Committee briefly describing your qualifications, professional goals, and specific interest in this position.
Although not required at the time of application, please be ready to submit contact information for professional references (name, title, professional relationship, email) who can be contacted on your behalf. If you are selected as a finalist for this role, the search committee will request a letter of recommendation at a later time.
If you are selected as the finalist, your degree will be verified by the CU Boulder Campus Human Resources department using an approved online vendor. If your degree was obtained outside of the United States, please submit a translated version (if applicable) as an optional attachment.
This position will close on October 8.
Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, applications must be submitted through CU Boulder Jobs (https://jobs.colorado.edu/) .
In compliance with the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, in any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.
To apply, visit https://jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDetail/CIRES-NOAA-Physical-Sciences-Laboratory-Associate-Scientist-for-Field-and-Lab-Support-Data-Management/67747 (https://apptrkr.com/6626013)
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The University of Colorado does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, pregnancy, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, political affiliation, or political philosophy. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.
