Job Description
Description of the Work Unit:
The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University (CSU) 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 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the National Weather Service (NWS), CSU, the State of Colorado, and the Nation through the application of our research to areas of societal benefit. Based within NOAA/NESDIS/STAR in College Park, Maryland, the NESDIS Environmental Applications Team (NEAT) conducts integrated research and development to transform satellite observations into actionable environmental intelligence across oceanic, atmospheric, terrestrial, and polar domains. Core activities include ocean color science and applications, atmospheric radiative transfer modeling and retrieval development, and microwave remote sensing through systems such as the Microwave Integrated Retrieval System (MiRS), supporting environmental monitoring and forecasting. The team advances coastal and polar applications, with a particular emphasis on Arctic environments, including sea ice analysis, maritime risk assessment, long-term environmental trend analysis, and modern data visualization, while developing user-driven decision-support tools. NEAT is also expanding into next-generation analytical frameworks that integrate satellite remote sensing with cloud-based systems, artificial intelligence, and emerging Earth-system digital twin concepts to interpret large-scale environmental data efficiently. These efforts enhance situational awareness and operational readiness and are closely aligned with mission needs through collaboration with the NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research.
Position Summary:
CIRA seeks to hire a Research Associate to work on the CSU Foothills Campus, located 5 miles Northwest of the CSU main campus. The individual in this position will support multiple projects at CIRA and focus upon projects funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Specifically, the individual in this position will report to the Project Manager & Software Infrastructure Engineer and join a team of multiple developers and scientists at CIRA working as part of a multi-institutional team to develop, maintain, operate, and grow the user base of the Geolocated Information Processing System (GeoIPS). They will also interact with other scientific teams at CIRA to assist scientists with integration of their scientific algorithms into GeoIPS.
GeoIPS is a recently open-sourced, plugin-based Python framework for production meteorological applications. It is currently used in production environments by the US Navy to support Navy Meteorology and Oceanography officers. Since becoming open-source, teams at CIRA and the Naval Research Lab have worked together to adapt GeoIPS for broader community use and improve user experience. GeoIPS' architecture is general to any dataset that has associated latitude and longitude coordinates. The two main goals of GeoIPS are to reduce the barrier to entry for geospatial scientific algorithm development and toto help scientists transition their work to those who want to use it. GeoIPS separates data reading, interpolation, processing algorithms, output formatting, and other functions into plugins that can be pieced together into novel and reproducible workflows. The system supports generation of imagery and structured data products, enabling consistent transformation from input geolocated data products to analysis- and publication-ready outputs.
Full consideration date: Sunday, June 7, 2026, 11:59pm (MT).
Conditions of Employment:
Must be a citizen of the United States or Lawful Permanent Resident with a physical USCIS "Green Card" because this position is funded by a US Department of Defense contract.
Onsite presence is required for this position because it requests significant collaboration with on-site teams.
Supervision:
The individual in this position will not directly supervise employees.
Essential Job Duties:
Become fully acquainted with the architecture and inner workings of GeoIPS for geolocated data processing.
In collaboration with the larger GeoIPS team:
Make improvements to the current GeoIPS infrastructure in support of funded project goals.
Continually update GeoIPS documentation as improvements and enhancements are made to the system.
Continually develop and maintain unit and integration tests to ensure that implemented functionality remains in working condition.
Improve GeoIPS CI/CD pipelines including testing, packaging, and deployment.
Using thorough knowledge of GeoIPS, review code updates from other GeoIPS contributors to assess their need, functionality, completeness, and conformance to standards. Approve these code updates when they are ready for release, suggesting any changes as necessary.
Assist scientists with updating their algorithms to act as GeoIPS plugins.
Make updates to GeoIPS as required to allow integration of scientific algorithms including fixing bugs, improving efficiency, improving existing features, and adding new features.
Assist with development and presentation of GeoIPS training materials and workshops.
Collaboratively develop and present training materials to help new users become acquainted with GeoIPS.
Required Qualifications:
NOTE: In the body of your resume, please specifically address all required qualifications when describing your work experience. A resume that fails to address the qualifications of this position will not be considered by the search committee.
Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, earth science, or a related technical field PLUS 3-4 years of professional software development experience -OR- Master's Degree in computer science, software engineering, earth science, or a related technical field.
2+ years of experience developing Object-oriented Python applications.
Demonstrated experience working with a team using a version control system like git.
Demonstrated experience with writing unit or integration tests for software package(s).
Experience manipulating large geolocated datasets (e.g. satellite imagery) or complex data formats (e.g. NetCDF, HDF).
Preferred Qualifications:
NOTE: In the body of your resume, please specifically address all applicable preferred qualifications when describing your work experience. A resume that fails to address the qualifications of this position will not be considered by the search committee.
Experience developing applications or algorithms for Earth Science data processing.
5+ years of experience developing Object-oriented Python applications.
Demonstrated experience using statistics to evaluate and make use of scientific data.
Demonstrated knowledge of remote sensing techniques or spectroscopic measurements and related algorithm development.
Experience writing comprehensive documentation for Python packages, preferably using RST and Sphinx.
Demonstrated experience working with a team using GitHub.
Experience writing tests for Python packages using Pytest.
Experience with packaging and distributing pure-Python applications and Python packages (e.g. using Poetry) that include C/C++ or Fortran extensions (e.g. using Meson).
Experience developing in complied language (e.g. C/C++, Fortran 95 or newer).
CI/CD development, preferably via GitHub Actions or GitLab-CI.
Knowledge of containers (e.g. Docker, Singularity, etc.) and container orchestration (e.g. Docker Swarm, Docker Compose, Kubernetes).
Application Instructions:
Applications must be submitted via online portal. We will not accept materials sent via email or other mode. NOTE: In the body of your resume, please specifically address all required qualifications and applicable preferred qualifications when describing your work experience. A resume 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 may not be further considered after review by the search committee. References will be requested for finalists and will not be contacted without prior notification of candidates. Full consideration date: Sunday, June 7, 2026, 11:59pm (MT).
Salary Range
$75,000 - $85,000 Commensurate with experience and qualifications
Required Application Documents
To apply, please upload the following applicant documents. Ensure your materials fully address the required and preferred job qualifications of the position. 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.
Cover Letter, Resume/CV
Employee Benefits
Colorado State University is not just a workplace; it's a thriving community that's transforming lives and improving the human condition through world-class teaching, research, and service. With a robust benefits package, collaborative atmosphere, and focus on work-life balance, CSU is where you can thrive, grow, and make a lasting impact.
Review our detailed benefits information here. (http://hr.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2021/01/benefits-summary-afap.pdf)
Explore the additional perks of working at CSU here.
For the total value of CSU benefits in addition to wages, use our compensation calculator. (http://hr.colostate.edu/total-compensation-calculator/)
Lastly, click here for more information about why Fort Collins is consistently ranked in the top cities to live in!
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.
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.
Inspired by its land-grant heritage, Colorado State University is committed to excellence and engagement, setting the standard for public research universities in teaching, research, service and extension for the benefit of the citizens of Colorado, the United States, and the world.
Prospective Employees, click here to learn more about CSU's perks and purpose. (https://hr.colostate.edu/prospective-employees/)
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