The Friday Job Report - Week 6

1. Be able to make accurate forecasts.

2. Communicate those accurate forecasts to a user, customer, client, or colleague.

Forecasting

Learning how to forecast beyond college is very important, and through my new My Met Job platform, which will launch on Friday, February 13th, I will be offering courses on learning how to forecast in specific scenarios. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of situations that arise when you are sitting at a forecast desk and working for a client. I will cover many of those situations through self-guided, asynchronous courses. Stay tuned.

Communication

If you can’t explain to another person how your weather forecast will affect their operations, then you are going to struggle in this field. Even if you go into research, meteorology software development, or even a tangential career in climate or renewables, you will still be expected to share your knowledge through white papers, conferences, and with your coworkers, and so you will need to learn how to be an effective communicator.

I am always learning and practicing to be a better communicator. You can always be more effective and get better.

 

It is not impossible to be a good communicator. It doesn’t matter if you are the shiest, introverted person on the planet. If you have confidence in what you are sharing, then you can learn how to convey weather data in a way that is easy to understand on paper, digitally, and verbally. It’s not easy, and it definitely takes practice, but through a focused, motivated effort and over time, you can become very effective at communicating actionable weather insights to customers, users, and colleagues.

To help you get started in learning how to communicate, I’ve created a foundational course on becoming a professional meteorologist, and the very first section focuses on communication, because it is that important. This course will be self-guided and available on the new updated platform launching next Friday, the 13th.

The Jobs

United States

Category: Wildfire

Job Title: Wildfire Meteorologist I-II

Company: Oncor Electric Delivery

Location: Fort Worth, Texas

Work Location: Onsite

Pay: $90,233 - $134,665 USD

Benefits: Medical, wellness incentives up to $2,300, 401k match, and more

Schedule: None given

Relocation: No, which is interesting as most jobs do offer relocation.

Qualifications:

Degree: A bachelor’s degree in meteorology, atmospheric sciences, or a closely related field is required.

Years of Experience: 3 - 4 years of operational meteorology for level I, and 5+ years for level II wildfire meteorologists.

Skills:

Experience with meteorological modeling tools, Geographic Information System (GIS) software, remote sensing tools, and data analysis techniques.

• Ability to identify and communicate critical fire weather patterns with sufficient lead time.

• Successful integration of meteorological input into PSPS decision-making and wildfire mitigation activities.

• Clear, concise, and actionable communication of weather risks to non-meteorologists.

• Development of decision-support tools, dashboards, or GIS datasets that enhance situational awareness.

Who Should Apply?

If you are in wildfire meteorology, then you should definitely apply if you want to live in a major city in Fort Worth, which is right next to Dallas. If you have never been to this area, it is very flat, hot in the summer, and sometimes cold and icy in the winter. There are many lakes for outdoor recreation. You can also drive about 3 hours southwest and be in the Hill Country, which is where you can go tubing down the river, explore Austin, see waterfalls, do some outdoor rock climbing, or mountain biking. As a major city, there are also several pro sports teams and many other entertainment options if you don’t like the outdoors.

If you are wondering about the wildfire aspect, Texas and Oklahoma can get very dry all year, but especially in the summer. Large grass and low vegetation fires occur in Texas, and many may have started because of downed power lines. This may be a reason why this company is hiring. These kinds of roles are really interested in you being able to predict when they should shut off power pre-emptively (PSPS), which high unpopular but necessary to mitigate any large wildfires.

Don’t apply because you don’t specifically have wildfire experience. If you have other experience that you translate into being able to learn wildfire forecasting, then you probably have enough to at least try to get an interview. This is coming from me, the guy with no direct wildfire forecasting experience, but who has had two offers for a wildfire meteorologist position in the past 2 years.

With so little rain over the winter, there are likely going to be many examples of weather-induced wildfire conditions in the western US and Canada later in the summer.

Link to Job

International

Category: Marine, Roads

Job Title: Operational Meteorologist

Company: WSP

Location: 3 locations (St. John’s, NL, Ottawa, ON, or Montreal, QC)

Work Location: Onsite

Pay: $54,200 - $75,400 CAD

Benefits: Work for a top Canadian employer that prioritizes work-life balance.

Schedule: 24/7

Qualifications:

Degree: Bachelor of Science in Meteorology or Atmospheric Science from a WMO-compliant program (required).

Years of Experience: Entry-level to early career

Skills:

• Must be able to work rotating shifts at night, during the day, on weekends, and on holidays.

• Good to be bilingual in French and English.

• Knowledge or use of GIS software, Python, SQL, VBA, Power BI, Tableau, or AI applications.

• Previous forecasting experience

• Willingness to work on offshore platforms and ships.

Who Should Apply?

A long time ago, I worked in St. John’s, NL, for a company that also had an office in Ottawa, ON. My job was to forecast for roads across eastern Canada for snow plows and school districts. I also worked randomly for the Northwest Territories. Another part of my job was marine weather and involved offshore oil platforms and ships anchored with drilling equipment on board. I’m pretty sure it was the same thing as this job, which means you should enjoy or be willing to learn about marine weather, and be comfortable speaking in French for customers in Quebec or New Brunswick.

I would say early career and entry-level, I would apply with or without the bilingual portion, and get the experience. I thought Newfoundland was crazy weather, but a good adventure. If you need more of a city, then Ottawa or especially Montreal would be better. I would say don’t keep yourself locked out of opportunities just because you might have to move away from home for a bit.

Link to Job Post

Category: Insurance

Job Title: Climate Risk Expert

Company: Allianz Reinsurance

Location: Munich, Germany

Work Location: Onsite

Pay: None given

Benefits: None given

Schedule: Normal business hours likely, but not stated

Qualifications:

Degree: University degree in atmospheric/climate science or other natural science discipline with a climate focus

Years of Experience: 5 years, specifically in developing Cat models

Skills:

• Very strong mathematical and statistical knowledge

• Advanced programming skills in high-level and scripting languages

• Excellent skills in GIS analytics and tools

• Profound in handling and analysis of large data sets, including database technologies and languages

• Multi-year experience in validating and adjusting probabilistic cat models used for risk management in insurance and reinsurance

• Ability to represent Allianz's atmospheric and climate risk views in talks and media

Who Should Apply?

This is you if you love creating analytical models using large climate datasets. You should have specific knowledge of Cat models or catastrophe models. If you have a strong programming background, love math and statistics, and have always wanted to live in Germany, then you should apply. This is definitely not entry-level. Also, being able to speak German is a plus.

Link to Job

Category: Research

Job Title: Senior Meteorologist, Meteorologist (2 positions)

Company: Amentum

Location: Antarctica

Work Location: Antarctica

Pay: None given.

Benefits: None given.

Schedule: None given.

Qualifications:

Degree: Bachelor of Science degree required.  Military Meteorology or equivalent experience accepted instead of a degree.

For the senior position, you should have 1 year of supervisor experience.

Years of Experience:

Skills:

• Experience taking METAR observations and familiarity with synoptic WMO coding

• One year of verified training/experience as a meteorologist, meteorologist technician, or weather observer in the operation of upper air sounding equipment and making meteorological observations is preferred.

• Experience with upper air sounding equipment

• Previous experience with remote operations/locations preferred.

Additional Requirements:

• Willingness and ability to deploy to Antarctica for extended periods

• Successful completion of Medical and Dental examinations required by the NSF for deployment to Antarctica

• US Citizen

Who Should Apply?

You should have a sense of adventure, love looking at snow, and being cold. This position would be good for someone with an aviation background, but also for NWS and military meteorologists. Also, weather observers might interview well for this job.

This type of job could be really exciting and a good way to advance your career if you are more interested in research or NWS-like jobs.

Link to Job

Category: General Operational Meteorologist

Job Title: Meteorologist

Company: DTN

Location: The Netherlands, Scotland

Work Location: On-site

Pay: (Scotland: £26,500 - £32,000, Netherlands: €30,000 - €40,000)

Benefits: 30 days of vacation (way better than the US), Work Abroad (30 days remote, then hybrid in either location, which is great), and commuting allowance.

Schedule: 24/7

Qualifications:

Degree: Degree in Meteorology

Years of Experience: Experienced, but no years given.

Skills:

• Having experience in forecasting, especially in marine forecasting, would be great because the job involves offshore platforms.

• Be able to work under pressure in a deadline-driven environment with constant activity, which requires you to be organized.

Who Should Apply?

DTN is a great company with pretty good benefits, especially in Europe. This is a very similar job, on paper, to the WSP job. Both locations have pros and cons, and while the pay is low, if you are early in your career and want to live abroad, DTN is a global company, and there is nothing about having a work visa, so you should be able to apply from any country. You should enjoy days spent inside, reading a book by the fire, as it rains a lot in both locations.

Link to Job

Category: Aviation

Job Title: Meteorologist Manager

Company: Unknown

Location: Gurgaon

Work Location: On-site

Pay: None given.

Benefits: None given

Schedule: None given

Qualifications:

Degree: Graduate/Postgraduate in Meteorology, Atmospheric Sciences, or related field

Years of Experience: 10+ years, with experience managing people.

Skills:

• Strong knowledge of aviation meteorology, TAF/METAR, satellite & radar interpretation

• Proficiency in meteorological software tools (e.g., Digital Atmosphere, satellite imagery tools, in‑house weather applications)

• Ability to analyse large datasets and generate actionable insights

• Strong communication and coordination skills for cross‑functional interaction

Who Should Apply?

You should have a strong background in meteorology over the past 10 years, especially in aviation. It would be helpful to have experience forecasting in Asia, but they may also have operations globally, so it is more about understanding how to forecast in similar geographical regions. It’s a well-written, long description of what you would be using and what you might be doing. If you are going apply, definitely check out the company, IndieGo, as this might be who is hiring.

Link to Job

Category: Energy Trading

Job Title: Meteorologist

Company: Unknown

Location: London, England

Work Location: Onsite

Pay: None given, but likely very good.

Benefits: None given

Schedule: None given, but likely 6 am to 2 pm.

Qualifications:

Degree: Degree in Meteorology / Atmospheric Science

Years of Experience: Experienced, but no years given

Skills:

• Strong understanding of weather impacts on commodity markets

• Solid analytical skills; Python and re-analysis data (ERA Interim) experience is a plus

• Proactive, independent, and comfortable in a dynamic trading setup.

Who Should Apply?

You want to live in London, and have experience in energy trading or around energy trading, such as a utility. If you know Python or a coding language, this will definitely help your case. You should either understand the US markets really well or have a basic knowledge of the European or Asian energy markets.

Link to Job

Final Thoughts

The job market is not completely dead in the US right now, but there are far more jobs for operational meteorologists right now outside the US. If you are just starting your life after college and don’t have a family yet, I would consider taking off to another country for a while to get experience. Jobs in Europe see way fewer applicants.

If you are on the other end and can’t move because you have a family, I understand where you are at, and it does require a lot of patience to try and find a remote job in a sea of onsite-hybrid roles. If this is you, stay strong and be creative.

My job, I have now, was not posted as remote, but I applied anyway and negotiated that I would work remotely 95% of the time. So I fly 1 or 2 times per month to Chicago to work in the office for 1 day each time. Then I work the rest of the time at home.

I never would have been offered this role had I not applied, even with the biggest hurdle, of having to move, standing in the way. If you are early in your career, take advantage of all the opportunities. And if you are further into your career and you can’t move, then you have to pull out all the stops to figure out how to get an interview. Once you get the interview, it’s your time to shine and get an offer.

The offer gives you massive leverage, especially if they really want you. That’s your goal, young or old: make the company want you way more than any of the other candidates. So when you get the offer, you can negotiate.

Good Luck!