Director, AI for Weather
University of Chicago
Department
PSD Data Science: Research Administration
About the Department
The AI for Climate (AICE) Research Initiative, a joint initiative with the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, aims to accelerate and transform climate research with a focus on both scientific advances and societal impacts.
Job Summary
Work on these topics involves collaborations with leading experts in atmospheric science and AI from UChicago and other institutions. The close partnership with economists and public policy experts at DIL accelerates the translation of the outcome of this work to significant societal impact. In addition to being part of the dynamic AICE and DIL communities, this role will benefit from major AI and climate-related activities at UChicago, including the DSI, the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, and Argonne National Lab.
Responsibilities
- Delineates new directions of research, and executes research and operational milestones in collaboration with principal researchers, research professionals, and other partners. This includes developing long-range plans for research projects and coordinating with principal researchers.
- Manages a team of research professionals and support staff involved with planning, monitoring, and compliance aspects of weather and climate applications. Advises other researchers on long-range plans for research projects.
- Working with Prof. Hassanzadeh, the Director will advance AI weather forecasting across scales, from short- and medium-range to sub seasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) predictions.
- Leads forecast projects of interest to the HCF Initiative at the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, closely collaborating with a growing multidisciplinary team, including Prof. Michael Kremer (Economics) and Amir Jina (Public Policy), and in conjunction with international efforts at the Development Innovation Lab (DIL).
- Actively participates in ongoing research projects, including as co-author on scholarly publications and speaker in public lectures and presentations.
- Designs and conducts experimental work in collaboration with researchers.
- Assists in data analysis and interpretation.
- Supervises operational deployments of forecasting weather events across scales.
- Manages hiring in support of the operational forecasting pipelines.
- Leads conversations and negotiations with stakeholders to plan, design, and execute collaborations. Establishes strong working relationships with and represents the human-centered weather forecasts initiative in meetings with high-level policymakers, funders, nonprofit leaders, and business executives on the global stage.
- Identifies fundraising opportunities and leads grant-writing efforts to support core Initiative activities.
- Manages media relations, engages with the public and media to promote and disseminate research, and serves as a spokesperson for the research initiative.
- Ensures smooth administration of the Initiative, including financial and administrative oversight, project management, grant reporting, budget oversight, and implements corrective action when appropriate.
- Represents the HCF Initiative and affiliated programs to both internal and external constituencies, including working groups and committees to advance the planning and successful execution of key projects and representing the Faculty Director in a variety of external settings.
- Provides high-level project management and strategic support for the Faculty Director; tracks high-priority projects and activities in which the Faculty Director is the lead.
- Proactively disseminates project information to internal and external stakeholders.
- Maintains evaluation metrics of the program.
- Manages program operations and administrative functions which may include planning and scheduling, program evaluation, policy implementation, personnel administration, budget, marketing, fundraising and proposal development.
- Manages the dissemination, interpretation and application of program policies and recommends or makes exceptions.
- Contributes to design of program content, policies and strategic planning efforts.
- Performs other related work as needed.
Minimum Qualifications
Education:
Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
Work Experience:
Certifications:
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Preferred Qualifications
Education:
- PhD in a related field.
Experience:
- Background working with international teams, particularly in weather-related work. Regions of special interest include India and Africa.
Preferred Competencies
- Demonstrated ability to maintain high-level relationships with academic researchers, governments, and external partnerships.
- Demonstrated success in research, scientific and/or academic program management.
- Excellent verbal, written and presentation skills.
- Effective project management skills, including managing and successfully working across teams, budgeting, attention to operational and research details, and manage multiple projects efficiently.
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Expert problem-solving and analytical skills.
Application Documents
- Resume/CV (required)
- Cover Letter (required)
When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.
Job Family
Role Impact
Scheduled Weekly Hours
Drug Test Required
Health Screen Required
Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
Pay Rate Type
FLSA Status
Pay Range
The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.
Benefits Eligible
The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.
Posting Statement
The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.
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