Senior Director, Weather Forecasts

University of Chicago • Chicago, IL

137d • $136,253 - $176,327 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director will be administratively based at the Development Innovation Lab (DIL) at the University of Chicago. This role will lead the UChicago Human-Centered Forecasts initiative. The Senior Director will work closely with the faculty leads to build and grow this new initiative that has the potential to transform access to a vital climate adaptation tool in low- and middle-income countries. The Human-Centered Weather Forecasts initiative is a new interdisciplinary UChicago initiative that aims to transform access to high-quality weather forecasts in low- and middle-income countries, e.g., by leveraging advances in AI. It is co-led by Amir Jina (Harris School of Public Policy), Michael Kremer (Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and Harris School of Public Policy), and Pedram Hassanzadeh (Department of Geophysical Sciences and Committee on Computational and Applied Mathematics), and works closely with the UChicago Climate and Energy Institute and its faculty director Michael Greenstone. High-quality weather forecasts help vulnerable populations adapt to increased weather uncertainty and extremes. Innovations, especially in AI, are driving a second revolution in weather forecasting. However, the benefits are yet to be realized in low- and middle-income countries. This initiative aims to bridge this gap, and will cover the following workstreams: 1. Produce AI-based forecasts tailored to the specific adaptation needs of farmers and individuals exposed to extreme heat. 2. Work with implementers to disseminate forecasts to 100 million people in low- and middle-income countries. 3. Conduct rigorous testing (such as A/B tests) to optimize dissemination and generate lessons to further scale these advances. 4. Strengthen global forecasting systems, including through benchmarking and validation. The Human-Centered Weather Forecasts initiative will build on the progress made by the Innovation Commission for Climate Change, Food Security, and Agriculture (whose Secretariat is based at UChicago). For example, in 2024, the Commission collaborated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare in India to disseminate high-quality weather forecasts to 9 million farmers under an existing Memorandum of Understanding; plans are now underway to expand to scale nationally in 2025. The Commission also planned AIM for Scale, a recently announced $26 million joint initiative led by the UAE and the Gates Foundation, which will focus on mobilizing efforts to disseminate high-quality weather forecasts in low- and middle-income countries in 2024 and 2025. The Human-Centered Weather Forecasts initiative will also build on the progress made by the AI for Climate (AICE) Initiative at UChicago. For example, AICE has developed a partnership with the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence to design a training curriculum for government officials to learn about state-of-the-art AI forecasting methods, and conduct research to advance these methods for forecasts in low- and middle-income countries. This role manages a team of managers and professional staff responsible for scientific research projects and research facilities. Ensures compliance of research activities with institutional, state, and federal regulatory policies, procedures, directives, and mandates. Manages the production of articles, reports, and manuscripts, and presents research findings at meetings and/or conferences.

Requirements

• Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
• Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 7+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in sustainable development, climate science, agrometeorology, economics, public policy, or related field.
• PhD in sustainable development, climate science, agrometeorology, economics, public policy, or related field.
• Knowledge and skills developed through 10+ years of work experience in a related field.
• Proven track record of working with multiple stakeholders, particularly senior counterparts at governments in low- and middle-income countries, multilaterals, and large international organizations, to build successful policies and processes.
• Familiarity with weather forecasting techniques and/or agrometeorology.
• Demonstrated leadership and management skills, including working across teams and efficiently managing the time of senior principals.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Prior experience supervising teams working in higher education, international organizations or similar.
• Track record engaging with senior counterparts in foundations and the private sector.
• Leading grant proposals or otherwise raising resources.
• Significant fundraising experience, with a history of securing substantial funding for large-scale programs.
• Familiarity with development economics, particularly causal research.
• Familiarity with the latest developments using AI techniques in climate science or meteorology.

Responsibilities

• Spearheads efforts to secure $20-$50 million in funding to establish a long-term program that will influence global weather forecasting practice and scale access to high-quality weather forecasts to millions of people in low- and middle-income countries.
• Builds and oversees a growing organization, developing and executing a strategic plan, overseeing overall management across workstreams led by faculty leads; technical project management; reporting; and managing related teams.
• Leads conversations and negotiations with stakeholders to plan, design, and execute collaborations.
• Establishes strong working relationships with, and represents the initiative in meetings with high-level policymakers, funders, nonprofit leaders, and business executives on the global stage.
• Develops long-range plans for research projects and oversees the development of research projects.
• Ensures research projects progress according to plan.
• Manages, investigates, modifies and applies new procedures, techniques or applications of technology.
• Oversees the establishment of goals and operating procedures, practices, and guidelines.
• Develops research in area of expertise.
• Writes articles, reports and manuscripts.
• Presents research findings at meetings and/or conferences.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Benefits

• The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Industry: Educational Services
• Education Level: Master's degree