Wildfire Scientist - Impact Forecasting

Aon Corporation • Boston, MA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

This role will be part of Aon’s Impact Forecasting Wildfire team, working at the intersection of wildfire science, meteorology, and catastrophe modeling for the (re)insurance industry. You will contribute to the development of wildfire hazard and loss models, with a strong focus on meteorological drivers of fire risk.

Requirements

• M.S. or Ph.D. in meteorology, climatology, atmospheric science, wildfire science, environmental science, applied geoscience, a closely related field or equivalent industry experience is required
• Strong programming / scripting skills are required, preferably in R and / or Python, are required
• Experience with numerical models, ideally including weather, climate, or environmental models relevant to wildfire risk is required
• Solid analytical and statistical skills, including statistical analysis of large datasets, time series, and extremes is required

Nice To Haves

• Experience working with geospatial data and tools, such as ArcGIS and QGIS) is preferred
• Experience with SQL or other database tools is preferred
• Experience with catastrophe (CAT) modeling is preferred

Responsibilities

• Develop and enhance wildfire catastrophe models for the (re)insurance market, with emphasis on: Evaluating and processing weather reanalysis, observations, and climate change scenarios (ex, ERA, RAWS, IPCC); Integration of fire danger and weather indices into modelling of wildfire occurrence and severity
• Develop, test, and maintain data processing and modeling pipelines in R and / or Python, including automation for handling large datasets.
• Perform model validation and verification: Compare model output against historical wildfire experience; Document and communicate research findings back into the modeling workflow; Diagnose and improve model performance, especially for extreme events
• Collaborate closely with an international and interdisciplinary team of: Catastrophe model developers, meteorologists, wildfire scientists and engineers; Software developers and client‑facing colleagues
• Prepare technical documentation, presentations, and summaries of modeling work.
• Contribute to integrating wildfire hazard modules into Aon’s ELEMENTS or other modeling platforms, and support testing and quality assurance of model releases.

Benefits

• a 401(k) savings plan with employer contributions
• an employee stock purchase plan
• consideration for long-term incentive awards at Aon’s discretion
• medical, dental and vision insurance
• various types of leaves of absence
• paid time off, including 12 paid holidays throughout the calendar year
• 15 days of paid vacation per year
• paid sick leave as provided under state and local paid sick leave laws
• short-term disability and optional long-term disability
• health savings account
• health care and dependent care reimbursement accounts
• employee and dependent life insurance and supplemental life and AD&D insurance
• optional personal insurance policies
• adoption assistance
• tuition assistance
• commuter benefits
• an employee assistance program that includes free counseling sessions

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees