2026 - Week 8
The theme of this week is thinking outside the box regarding your career. Think of all the ways weather can influence life on Earth. While the main industries as an operational meteorologist might be energy, aviation, marine, road transportation, sports, events, outdoor recreation, and severe weather, there are so many other ways in which the weather and climate influence day-to-day activities and business operations.
My very first salaried job out of college wasn’t fun for me. The job listing said you needed a meteorology degree, but that was only so you could read the wind sock to know which way to run when deadly gases, especially chlorine gas, were leaking at a chemical plant or refinery. For $29,000 per year, I drove a mobile laboratory to a chemical plant, hoisted heavy equipment 10 to 15 stories above the ground, and measured the emissions in a stack. The equipment used dozens of bags of ice as the gas coming out of the stack was extremely hot. So, normally, I simultaneously burned my hands while holding ice. The smell was terrible. I worked for 15-hours per day, often in hot and humid conditions. This was my introduction to meteorology.
These jobs are out there. I will not recommend this exact role, but I will share it with you. You may have an interest in this type of work. More than I had, and so every opportunity is worth at least knowing about.
US-Based
Electric Utility - Wildfire
Job Title: Meteorologist
Company: Hawaiian Electric
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Work Location: Onsite
Pay: $97,900 - $125,000 / year
Benefits: See job link.
Qualifications
Degree: Bachelor’s degree in Meteorology or Atmospheric Science, or a graduate degree.
Years of Experience: 5+ with a Bachelor’s and 3+ with Masters
Skills:
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A broad understanding of how extreme weather events may affect an electric utility.
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Broad knowledge and experience with regulatory policies, methods, and practices necessary to perform complex assignments.
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Working knowledge of general electrical utility procedures and operations.
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Working knowledge of GIS and a programming language (ex, Python, MATLAB, etc).
Preferred Skills
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Broad understanding of power markets and the related regulatory requirements that govern the company’s participation in them by assisting strategy development to increase the value of the company's resources and lower customer costs.
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Demonstrated fire weather forecasting experience.
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Demonstrated experience analyzing renewable power production (wind, solar, hydro) and how weather impacts those resources.
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Ability and experience with configuring and running various weather models.
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Demonstrated experience using SAS, R, or other tools for statistical analysis and forecasting.
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Demonstrated weather forecasting experience for Hawaii.
Who Should Apply?
This is a great opportunity in a faraway place that most people dream about living in, but in reality is a bit of a stretch. In response to the devastating fires in Maui, this role is likely to help prevent that from happening again, and so the job needs you to have knowledge of electric utilities and how they operate. If you know about wildfires or even the microclimates, mesoscale, and synoptic level weather patterns around Hawaii, even better. I would tell anyone to apply who is mid-career and has the flexibility to move there.
If you don’t have wildfire forecasting skills but really want to get in on what seems like endless opportunities to work in wildfire meteorology, My Met Job will offer a course in this exact topic, by late Spring or early Summer.
Electric Utility - Wildfire
Job Title: Director, Wildfire Risk & Analytics
Company: AEP
Location: Ohio, Texas, Virginia + more
Work Location: Onsite
Pay: $160,434 - $208,565
Benefits: See listing.
Qualifications
Degree: Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, Engineering, Data Science, or related work experience in the wildfire risk mitigation field.Years of Experience: 5+ with a Bachelor’s and 3+ with Masters
Years of Experience: 10+ in wildfire, including 5+ in charge of people.
Skills:
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Proficiency in geospatial analysis tools (e.g., GIS software), data analytics platforms, and modeling software.
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Experience with Technosylva software. (This software is used by almost every utility in North America, or at least the 5 I have interviewed with.)
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Strong understanding of wildfire behavior, risk assessment methodologies, and regulatory requirements related to wildfire management.
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Proven track record of leading cross-functional teams and managing complex projects.
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Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to collaborate effectively with diverse stakeholders, including regulatory agencies and community organizations.
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Demonstrated ability to develop and implement innovative solutions for complex wildfire risk challenges.
Preferred Skills
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Professional certifications related to risk management, fire protection, or data analytics (e.g., Certified Risk Manager, Certified Fire Protection Specialist).
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Experience in the utility sector, particularly in wildfire risk management or vegetation management programs.
Who Should Apply?
If you are at a senior level and you have worked in wildfire or with an electricity utility, this job is for you. This is not for entry-level. While the listing doesn’t say that meteorology is a possible qualifier, if your experience as a meteorologist includes work in utilities or wildfire, then you should consider this opportunity.
International
Insurance Risk
Job Title: Model Development Intern - Winter Hazard
Company: Moody’s
Location: London, England
Work-Location: Onsite
Pay: None Given
Time Period: Available for a 4-month internship starting in September 2026
Qualifications
Degree: Currently studying towards an MSc or PhD in Meteorology, Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Science, Wind Engineering, Physics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, or related fields (including students transitioning between MSc and PhD programs)
Years of Experience: Student
Skills:
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Proven ability to clean, process, and analyse large and complex datasets
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Strong mathematical and statistical foundations, and programming skills in scientific languages (e.g., Python, R, Julia)
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Good working knowledge of Linux/Unix environments and experience using version control tools such as GitHub
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Deep understanding of synoptic, mesoscale, or boundary layer meteorology (or wind engineering) preferred
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Experience working with large-scale meteorological datasets (e.g., ISD, ASOS/METAR, SPC severe weather reports) and large-scale modelled/reanalysis datasets (e.g., ERA5, NARR) preferred
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Some knowledge of tail events and extreme value statistics preferred
Who Should Apply?
All college students with an interest in working in risk, with a strong data science background. This is similar to the job I posted at Moody’s a few weeks ago. This one sounds like a pretty interesting role as well, and you get to explore London.
Operational Meteorology — Work Study
Job Title: Graduate Meteorology Program
Company: Bureau of Meteorology
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Work-Location: Onsite
Pay: $66,351 AU + 15.4% superannuation
Starts: January 2027
Qualifications:
Degree: Undergraduate degree in Meteorology or Atmospheric Science
Years of Experience: None; this is a graduate degree program
Skills: You should have all the skills you gained from an undergraduate degree.
Who Should Apply?
This is basically like the National Weather Service or Met Office, plus Antarctica. You get to work in aviation, emergency management, and issue severe weather warnings, as well as aviation and marine forecasting. This is a 10-month intensive graduate degree program that, once you finish, you essentially get a job with BOM. This sounds amazing. If you are not Australian, you should check what the rules are for international.
Final Thoughts
Slim pickings, as you might hear in America, is the summary of the available jobs. This is the case at times throughout the year in meteorology.
If you want to expand your options, one adjacent career field is climate. While you, as a meteorologist, might consider climate to be part of meteorology, in the working world, climate is completely different. The reason is that the companies that hire climate-related roles are mostly engineering, academia, startups, and non-profits, and the roles are not really connected to forecasting, but more to the impact of climate on other industries.
If you search “climate change jobs” online, you will get what seems like a thousand more opportunities than meteorology jobs. Many of these jobs, if you can tailor your resume correctly, and you have programming, GIS, or data science in your wheelhouse, then you can apply and have a chance.
I once interviewed for RMI, or the Rocky Mountain Institute, in Boulder, CO, and landed an interview for a climate position. RMI is a think tank-type company that does interesting work in transportation and other fields. Another interesting company is 3Degrees, a company I’ve also interviewed with that is involved in renewable energy, but not from a meteorological standpoint.
This website, Terra, has links to jobs around climate. Even if the job is old, use the list to find out which companies hire for roles similar to your skill set.
The meteorology field is tiny compared to other sectors, but you can make it bigger by thinking way outside the box.
Good Luck!
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