Solution Software Engineer - Forecast-in-a-Box (ArcX Climate Change Resilience)

We are seeking a Solutions Software Engineer (A2) to contribute to the development, deployment, and user support of ECMWF's Forecast-in-a-Box initiative under the European Union's Global Gateway programme for African Regional Centres of Excellence (ArcX) , building on the Strengthening Early Warning in Africa (SEWA) project.

Forecast-in-a-Box aims to provide portable, scalable and self-contained forecasting solutions that enable regional partners to access and process sub-seasonal to seasonal climate information. In this role, you will integrate sub-seasonal to seasonal products and data-driven (AI) models into operationally viable configurations tailored to the local contexts across sub-Saharan Africa.

Leveraging ECMWF experience and building on European Commission initiatives such as Destination Earth (DestinE) and Copernicus , you will contribute to shaping how advanced forecasting data, including AI-enhanced products, are translated into usable, locally relevant climate services.

Working closely with scientific and technical teams at ECMWF, especially the User Services Section and the Partnership & Engagement Section, as well as partners in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, you will contribute to the technical integration of sub-seasonal and seasonal products in Forecast-in-a-Box and support the development of associated AI workflows. You will gather and incorporate feedback from African partners to inform system design, usability and operational relevance. In addition, you will develop user-facing documentation, reproducible workflows and knowledge-transfer materials, and participate in training activities and technical workshops to support sustainability and capacity development.

The position is based in the Data Processing Services Team in the Development Section of the Forecasts and Services Department. The team contributes to ECMWF flagship open-source initiatives such as Forecast-in-a-Box, Anemoi and Earthkit, and plays a key role in connecting cutting-edge research developments with operational forecasting workflows. This is a dynamic group of professionals working on AI/ML workflows, distributed data processing and open-source software. Your responsibilities

• Contribute to the design, development and continuous evolution of the Forecast-in-a-Box framework, and ensure developments are aligned with the needs of ArcX.
• Engage with African partners to gather user requirements and feedback and translate these into improvements in system architecture, usability and documentation.
• Integrate ECMWF sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) forecasts and products within Forecast-in-a-Box, ensuring support for use cases relevant to African Regional Centres of Excellence.
• Adapt forecasting workflows to diverse computing environments, including resource-constrained operational settings.
• Develop technical documentation, reproducible case studies and training materials to promote knowledge transfer and sustainability.
• Support technical workshops and deliver training activities linked to ArcX and related initiatives.
• Respond to user queries, providing support and investigating solutions to resolve technical issues
• Contribute to ECMWF's open-source ecosystem, in particular Anemoi and Earthkit, which are core components of the Forecast-in-a-Box.

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with a proactive, continuous improvement approach.
• Initiative and ability to work collaboratively, with other ECMWF teams and external collaborators, while also able to work independently.
• Ability to maintain a supportive and user-focused approach.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate with diverse and multi-cultural audiences.
• Willingness to occasionally travel within Europe and to sub-Saharan Africa.
• Dedication, passion, and enthusiasm to succeed both individually and across teams of developers.
• Highly organised with the capacity to work on a diverse range of tasks to tight deadlines.
• Genuine interest in challenges related to meteorology, hydrology and climate change in developing countries is an advantage.
• Education/experience/knowledge and skills (including language).

Your profile

• Advanced university degree (EQ7 level or above) or equivalent professional experience in computer science or engineering, computational science, physics or natural sciences, mathematics, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience in developing and maintaining object-oriented software in Python within structured or modular frameworks.
• Experience collaborating with developers and end users to gather requirements, incorporate feedback and plan technical developments.
• Experience contributing to large-scale software projects, preferably open-source or involving multiple interoperable components.
• Experience producing documentation and/or training materials.
• Experience designing or implementing machine learning workflows would be an advantage.
• Experience in weather or climate forecasting post-processing and the handling of complex derived products would be an advantage.
• Experience developing software for high-availability operational environments would be an advantage.
• Competence in Python software engineering.
• Demonstrated ability of programming in UNIX/Linux systems.
• Ability to write software in a distributed computing or scientific computing environment.
• Knowledge of Machine Learning workflows and processing on GPUs is an advantage.
• In the context of working with partners from sub-Saharan Africa working knowledge of French and Portuguese is an advantage.

Candidates must be able to work effectively in English; knowledge of one of the Centre's other working languages (French or German) is an advantage.

About ECMWF The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is a world leader in Numerical Weather Predictions providing high-quality data for weather forecasts and environmental monitoring. As an intergovernmental organisation, we collaborate internationally to serve our members and the wider community with global weather predictions, data and training activities that are critical to contribute to safe and thriving societies. The success of our activities depends on the funding and partnerships of the 35 Member and Co-operating States who provide the support and direction of our work. Our talented staff together with the international scientific community, and our powerful supercomputing capabilities, are the core of a 24/7 research and operational centre with a focus on medium and long-range predictions. We also hold one of the largest meteorological data archives in the world. ECMWF has also developed a strong partnership with the European Union and has been entrusted with the implementation and operation of the Destination Earth Initiative and the Climate Change and Atmosphere Monitoring Services of the Copernicus Programme and the Strengthening Early Earning in Africa (SEWA) Programme. Other areas of work include High Performance Computing and the development of digital tools that enable ECMWF to extend provision of data and products covering weather, climate, air quality, fire and flood prediction and monitoring. Our vision: The strength of a common goal Our mission: Deliver global numerical weather predictions focusing on the medium-range and monitoring of the Earth system to and with our Member States ECMWF is a multi-site organisation, with its headquarters in Reading, UK, a data centre in Bologna, Italy, and a large presence in Bonn, Germany, as a central location for our EU-related activities. ECMWF is internationally recognised as the voice of expertise in numerical weather predictions for forecasts and climate science. www.ecmwf.int African Regional Centres of Excellence (ArcX) on Climate Change Resilience ECMWF has initiate a new activity in January 2026 focused on African Regional Centres of eXcellence (ArcX) on Climate Change Resilience, implemented on behalf of the European Commission DG INTPA. It runs for 4 years in partnership with the JRC and complementing other Regional Centres of Excellence in Africa, focused on Agro-ecology, Water, Ocean, Biodiversity & forest. Activities in ArcX focus on science, technology and innovation and aim to establish a bridge with EU's Digital Agenda, including DestinE and the use of AI/ML techniques, and advancements on climate change services, including Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and ClimSA. A selection of self-contained, portable "forecast-in-a-box" pilots shall be co-developed as a partnership between European and African partners, including the meteorological communities and the private sector. The applicability will be tested on its use at sub-seasonal to seasonal timescales through regional pilots and sector- and science-oriented demo cases. The activities will come with a strong pillar on training and knowledge transfer, as well as dedicated innovation challenges, linked to ECMWF's Code for Earth and AI Weather Quest. ArcX Climate Change Resilience builds on top of investments in digital tools and AI/ML by ECMWF and its Member States and the European Commission through DestinE. The plans support UN EW4All and WMO's plans on the Climate Digital Innovation Hub and the Action Plan on Artificial Intelligence., Grade remuneration: The successful candidates will be recruited according to the scales of the Co-ordinated Organisations. Details of salary scales and allowances are available on the ECMWF website at www.ecmwf.int/en/about/jobs. Starting date: as soon as possible. Candidates are expected to relocate to the duty station, either to Bonn, Germany, or to Reading, UK. As a multi-site organisation, ECMWF has adopted a hybrid organisation model which allows flexibility to staff to mix office working and teleworking, including away from the duty station (within the area of our member states and co-operating states). Interviews by videoconference (MS Team) are expected to take place shortly after the vacancy closing date. Successful applicants and members of their family forming part of their households will be exempt from immigration restrictions. Who can apply Applicants are invited to complete the online application form by clicking on the apply button below. At ECMWF, we consider an inclusive environment as key for our success. We are dedicated to ensuring a workplace that embraces diversity and provides equal opportunities for all, without distinction as to race, gender, age, marital status, social status, disability, sexual orientation, religion, personality, ethnicity and culture. We value the benefits derived from a diverse workforce and are committed to having staff that reflect the diversity of the countries that are part of our community, in an environment that nurtures equality and inclusion. Applications are invited from nationals from ECMWF Member States and Co-operating States as well as nationals of European Union member states. In these exceptional times, we also welcome applications from Ukrainian nationals for this vacancy. Applications from nationals from other countries may be considered in exceptional cases. ECMWF Member States and Co-operating States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.