Physical Scientist

Axiom Consultants•College Park, MD

13d•Hybrid

About The Position

Axiom is hiring a Physical Scientist for a hybrid role in College Park, Maryland. The position focuses on integrating the MPAS dynamical core into the UFS Weather Model and developing and maintaining the infrastructure needed for robust coupled model configurations. The scientist will support component coupling, standalone component testing, portability, performance, and automated testing across scientific high-performance computing (HPC) platforms, including heterogeneous computing capabilities such as GPUs. The role also involves maintaining CI workflows and Git-based development practices, applying generative AI tools to model code and technical documentation, tracking developments in HPC technologies, and serving as a technical expert for external model components and UFS stakeholders. The successful candidate will troubleshoot build and runtime issues, maintain documentation, and mentor colleagues. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or Green Card holders and should indicate their status in their cover letter.

Requirements

Must be a U.S. citizen or Green Card holder; applicants should indicate this in their cover letter.
Background in meteorology/NWP, physical sciences, mathematics, computer science, software engineering, scientific computing, or a closely related field, with demonstrated numerical modeling or related scientific computing experience.
Experience with or a strong foundational understanding of Earth system or other dynamical modeling.
Proficiency in Fortran, including F95+ and object-oriented concepts, and Python, including object-oriented programming and automation.
Proficiency in Bash and scientific software development in Linux or similar environments.
Working knowledge of modern software engineering practices, including modular design, unit testing, and standalone component testing frameworks.
Experience developing, configuring, and running parallel Earth system or similar models on HPC systems.
Working knowledge of HPC job schedulers such as SLURM or PBS.
Proficiency with Git-based version control and code management, including branching or forking, pull or merge requests, and issue or project tracking.
Experience using AI tools for code and documentation development, or willingness to learn.
Good verbal and written communication skills in English.
Ability to work professionally and effectively in a diverse, customer-focused team with physical scientists, software engineers, and inter-agency partners.
Ability to independently identify, prioritize, and implement bug fixes and new features.
Ability to provide technical mentorship and maintain user-facing developer documentation.

Nice To Haves

Experience with MPAS or other dynamical cores.
Practical experience with coupled Earth system model frameworks such as ESMF, NUOPC, mediators, and component interactions.
Experience developing and running individual atmosphere, ocean, wave, or ice components.
GPU or other heterogeneous computing experience or familiarity.
C++ experience.
Experience with CMake-based build systems and CTest; development experience is strongly preferred.
Experience working in Agile/Scrum development environments.
Experience developing, debugging, and maintaining continuous integration and other automated workflows.
Familiarity with package managers such as Spack and container technologies such as Apptainer/Singularity, Docker, or Podman.

Responsibilities

Develop infrastructure and integrate MPAS as a new dynamical core within the UFS Weather Model, including necessary component updates.
Develop, expand, and support NUOPC caps, coupling infrastructure, coupled field exchanges, component interactions, and mediator configurations.
Develop modular frameworks and capabilities for standalone testing of individual coupled-model components.
Ensure portability of compiled code, build configurations, and unit and regression testing workflows across scientific HPC platforms, including heterogeneous computing.
Profile parallel code at scale, identify performance bottlenecks, and investigate scalability algorithms for refactoring, compression, or replacement with third-party implementations.
Build, maintain, debug, and refactor automated continuous integration workflows.
Use modern Git-based code management and agile development practices, including issues, pull requests, and project boards.
Identify, evaluate, and apply GenAI tools, including LLMs, to improve the efficient production of high-quality code and technical documentation.
Track emerging scientific HPC hardware, compiler, and software architecture trends and apply relevant developments to the UFS model.
Serve as subject matter expert and technical point of contact for external model components CICE and CDEPS, tracking relevant external repository developments.
Engage with UFS Weather Model stakeholders and application teams, review and integrate contributions from multiple teams, and manage those relationships.
Maintain code documentation, troubleshoot build failures and runtime errors, demonstrate advanced debugging tools, and provide technical mentoring.