Research Engineer II (Atmospheric Perils Vulnerability)

Verisk Analytics • Boston, MA

12d • Hybrid

About The Position

Catastrophe and Risk Solutions at Verisk (previously AIR Worldwide) is the scientific leader and most respected provider of risk modeling software and consulting services. Catastrophe and Risk Solutions at Verisk founded the catastrophe modeling industry in 1987 and today models the risk from natural catastrophes, terrorism, and pandemic outbreaks in 90 countries. Verisk offers the opportunity to work with advanced technologies, global clients, and hundreds of the most innovative, talented minds in the industry. Become a member of our Atmospheric Perils Vulnerability team and join our growing Research and Modeling department in our Boston, MA office. Use your knowledge of civil engineering and statistics to develop models of extreme catastrophic events (i.e., hurricanes, tornadoes, storm surge, flood etc.) and assess building performance in the context of such events. This Research Engineer position is responsible for developing, enhancing and supporting the engineering/vulnerability components of Verisk’s atmospheric perils based portfolio risk analysis models that cover worldwide regions, including perils such as straight-line wind from tropical cyclones, severe convective storms and winter storms, hail, snow, and freezing temperatures. General responsibilities include identifying the impact that these perils can have on the built environment, including physical damage which can result in monetary loss to buildings/infrastructure, contents, and loss of use (downtime). The candidate will work closely with a team of structural engineers, meteorologists, hydrologists, hydraulic engineers, statisticians, and specialists in financial application of probabilistic risk assessment. The candidate is expected to be highly motivated, detail oriented, well organized, and an independent worker and collective team player who can present and explain results to internal stakeholders and external clients. The evolving nature of research work at Verisk creates unique and challenging problems that spark innovation and growth and creates opportunities for its employees. A successful candidate should have a desire to use problem-solving skills in applying sound engineering principles to solve unique and challenging problems in the fields of civil/structural engineering and risk assessment. It is expected that candidates will be highly motivated, detail-oriented, well-organized, able to perform high-quality self-directed research, have outstanding written and verbal communication skills, and be team-oriented.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a special emphasis in Structural Engineering
• Experience in performance-based design, probabilistic and stochastic risk assessment and modeling, and reliability theory with applications to the field of structural engineering
• Proficiency in C/C++, Python along with other productivity software including R, MATLAB, Microsoft Office
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong organizational and excellent documentation skills

Nice To Haves

• Knowledge of GIS applications (e.g. ArcView) and SQL server is a plus

Responsibilities

• Data acquisition, synthesis, and analysis for the purpose of understanding building inventory, and its vulnerability in lieu of industry insured losses and insurance claims data subjected to atmospheric-based hazards in multiple regions worldwide
• Willingness to learn and work with a variety of proprietary Verisk datasets and find ways to integrate the same into Verisk’s extreme event models
• Analytical analyses and research aimed towards the development of vulnerability functions and monetary loss curves for structural and non-structural building and infrastructure components subjected to hazards such as wind, tornadoes, hail, and snow for several regions of interest worldwide
• Implementation of research into Verisk’s portfolio risk analysis models, including programming loss simulation codes and analysis tools, and probabilistic risk assessment validation
• Use of GIS and similar tools for data visualization and analysis
• Real-time and virtual building damage assessments due to natural catastrophes during and after significant events
• Preparation and presentation of work at staff internal and client external meetings as well as technical writing for internal and external publications and client-facing documentation

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree