CIRES/ ESIIL and Earth Lab Software Developer

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)

At CIRES, the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, more than 900 people work to understand the dynamic Earth system, including people’s relationship with the planet. An institute at the University of Colorado Boulder, we have partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since 1967. Our areas of expertise include weather and climate, wildfire and water, changes at Earth’s poles, air quality and atmospheric chemistry, water resources, solid Earth sciences, and more. Our researchers work in 10 CU Boulder departments and eight NOAA laboratories and centers.

Esiil

The Environmental Data Science Innovation & Impact Lab (ESIIL) is an NSF-funded data synthesis center led by the University of Colorado Boulder in collaboration with NSF’s CyVerse at the University of Arizona and the University of Oslo. ESIIL’s mission is to empower a broad community to accelerate open Environmental Data Science. ESIIL enables a global community of environmental data scientists to use the wealth of environmental data and emerging analytics to develop science-based solutions to solve pressing challenges in environmental sciences. ESIIL’s research community generates discoveries and novel approaches through 1) innovative team science, 2) innovative tools and collaborative cyberinfrastructures, 3) data-science education and training, and 4) building broad collaborations and networks.

Earth Lab

Earth Lab is part of CIRES and CU-Boulder’s Grand Challenge: Our Space, Our Future. Earth Lab’s mission is to harness the data revolution by using Earth observations from multiple platforms (drones, aircraft, and satellites) and other sources (e.g., surveys, reports, social media) to better understand the pace and patterns of environmental change and to develop solutions. Earth Lab aims to use the big data and AI revolutions through education, research, analytics, cyberinfrastructure, and broad collaboration. As a branch of the Earth Lab, the Analytics Hub aims to advance data-driven discoveries and solutions in Earth & Environment science through AI- and cyberinfrastructure-enabled analyses and systems.

• (30%) Work on the development and maintenance of ESIIL and Earth Lab’s Analytics Hub and cyberinfrastructure, both back- and front-end applications, and instruct users through consulting and training efforts on how to use the Hub’s analytical and cyberinfrastructure tools and platforms.
• (30%) Work with ESIIL and Earth Lab scientists, affiliates, networks, and cyberinfrastructure collaborators to co-produce and optimize the interoperability and long-term sustainability of the codebases, containers, and datasets of ESIIL and Earth Lab networks as open, generalized resources for science researchers and decision-makers.
• (40%) Contribute to software development for advancing discoveries and solutions that are based on the integration and analysis of diverse remote sensing and in-situ datasets (surveys, reports, etc.), including the expansion and maintenance of code workflow, model development and data publication on innovative fire behavior metrics of an existing fire spread algorithm (e.g., FIREDpy, developed by the Earth Lab team). Specifically, the ESIIL and Earth Lab software developer may incorporate climate, fuels, and topography datasets as attributes, derive additional fire behavior metrics from current or upcoming remote sensing platforms (MODIS, VIIRS, and/or FireSat), and/or integrate ancillary fire datasets, using cloud or other high-performance computing resources to harmonize and analyze big, complex environmental data, develop open AI-based pipelines, and/or develop code workflows to advance the FIREDpy algorithm.

• This position is a full-time appointment and is intended to be at the early to mid-career stage.
• The position will likely be a hybrid arrangement with some virtual work time and some in-person work time as conditions allow, following current Earth Lab, ESIIL, CIRES, and university guidance and policies. The in-person time will be in the ESIIL offices in the SEEC Building on the CU Boulder East Campus. This is not a remote position.

• CIRES can offer a generous compensation package.
• Annual salary for this position is $75,268 - $113,246. Salary is commensurate with education and experience and determined based on the CIRES internal career track classification.
• Some relocation funds are available to help off-set moving expenses, following CIRES and the University of Colorado’s relocation processes and procedures.
• 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 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, an outstanding network of buses, and light rail systems that service Boulder and connect to Denver, the Denver airport, and surrounding communities.

• Bachelor’s degree in statistics, applied mathematics, computer science, Earth or environmental sciences (or related field)
• At least 3 years of software development experience.
• Experience in developing scalable pipelines using high-performance computing (HPC) or cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, CyVerse).
• Experience applying statistical and artificial intelligence/ machine learning methods to analyze large scientific datasets, particularly remote sensing and geospatial data, using Python and/or R.
• Experience with multimodal data curation and management, including streaming, cleaning, formatting, documentation, and publishing in alignment with FAIR and CARE principles.
• Experience with open-source code, container and image development, documentation, and maintenance, including repository management (e.g., GitHub, Docker Hub), to support open and reproducible science.
• Experience developing and/or maintaining front-end applications.

• Strong communication skills for effective collaboration with data scientists and researchers in both in-person and remote settings.
• Demonstrated commitment to open data and software standard processes and to educating and supporting researchers and decision-makers in the use of data and cyberinfrastructure, which includes a strong service background.
• Strong quantitative skills spanning statistics, informatics, remote sensing, geospatial analysis, and applied machine learning (e.g., computer vision, big-data analytics) using Earth, atmospheric, geoscience, or biological data across scales.

Please note that while the position details the required and desired skills and experience, applicants do not need to possess all of the desired skills and experience to be considered for this position. If you meet the minimum qualifications, have a passion for the work, and have experience in a related field, you are encouraged to apply. We encourage on-the-job training for any additional skills or knowledge that become relevant to the position.

• Ability to contribute to a collaborative workforce, advance scientific discovery, and support the development of Earth and environmental technology solutions.
• Strong experience collecting, organizing, and analyzing multimodal Earth and environmental data, including wildfire and fire-related datasets.
• Familiarity with emerging foundational machine-learning models for Earth and environmental sciences, as well as next-generation large language model tools for AI-assisted data curation, labeling, coding, and user-interface development, including Model Context Protocol (MCP) server.
• Experience in teaching, training, or mentoring in academic or research settings.
• Experience with web content management and front-end development, including CMS platforms (e.g., Drupal), UI styling libraries (e.g., Bootstrap), and programming with PHP/Twig.