Physical Scientist

Job Description

Job Description

Axiom is looking to find a Physical Scientist to fill this hybrid role in College Park, MD. 

Responsibilities

• Conduct infrastructure development and innovation for the seamless integration of MPAS (Model for Prediction Across Scales) as a new dynamical core (dycore) within the UFS Weather Model, along with necessary component updates and integration.
• Develop, expand, and support NUOPC caps, coupling infrastructure, coupled field exchanges, component interactions, and mediator configurations to enable robust coupled model configurations using the MPAS dycore.
• Develop new capabilities and modular frameworks to allow standalone testing of individual components within the coupled model.
• Ensure portability of compiled code, build system configurations, and unit/regression testing workflows across scientific HPC platforms, including supporting the testing and integration of heterogeneous compute capabilities (e.g., GPUs).
• Apply specialized tools for profiling parallel code at scale; identify performance bottlenecks (I/O, memory, load balancing); and investigate scalability algorithms suitable for refactoring, compression, or replacement with third-party implementations.
• Build, maintain, debug, and refactor automated Continuous Integration (CI) workflows, and utilize modern Git-based code management and agile development practices (issues, pull requests, project boards).
• Identify, evaluate, and apply generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools, namely large language models (LLMs), to advance model development, focusing on the efficient generation of high-quality code and technical documentation.
• Follow emerging trends in scientific HPC hardware, compilers, and software architectures to ensure the UFS model anticipates technological changes and utilizes state-of-the-art developments.
• Serve as subject matter expert and technical point of contact for external model components (CICE, CDEPS), tracking external repository developments affecting the UFS Weather Model.
• Engage and manage relationships with key UFS Weather Model stakeholders and application teams, serving as a point of contact and reviewing and integrating multi-team contributions.
• Maintain a high standard of code documentation, rapidly troubleshoot build failures and runtime errors, demonstrate advanced debugging tools, and provide technical mentoring to colleagues.

Qualifications

• Candidates must be a U.S. Citizen or Green Card Holder to qualify (please indicate in your cover letter).
• Background in meteorology/NWP, physical sciences, mathematics, computer science, software engineering, scientific computing, or a closely related field with demonstrated numerical modeling or closely related scientific computing experience.
• Experience with or strong foundational understanding of Earth system or other dynamical modeling, with preference for the Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS) or other dynamical cores (dycores).
• Demonstrated proficiency in Fortran (including F95+ and Object-Oriented concepts) and Python (including OOP and automation).
• Proficiency in shell scripting (Bash) and developing scientific software within Linux or similar environments.
• Demonstrated working knowledge of modern software engineering practices, including modular design, unit testing, and standalone component testing frameworks.
• Experience developing, configuring, and executing parallel Earth system or similar models on HPC systems.
• Working knowledge of parallel job schedulers (SLURM, PBS) on HPC systems.
• Experience with CMake-based build systems and CTest; development experience strongly preferred.
• Proficiency in Git-based (GitHub/GitLab) version control and code management, including branching/forking strategies, pull/merge requests, and issue/project tracking.
• Experience leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to advance code and documentation development, or willingness to learn.
• Good verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Ability to work effectively and professionally as part of a diverse, customer-focused team, collaborating with physical scientists, software engineers, and inter-agency partner teams.
• Demonstrated ability to independently identify, prioritize, and implement bug fixes and new features.
• Ability to provide technical mentorship to colleagues and maintain user-facing developer documentation.

Preferred:

• Practical experience with coupled Earth system model frameworks (e.g., ESMF), NUOPC, mediators, and component interactions is strongly preferred, as well as experience developing and running individual components (atmosphere, ocean, wave, ice).
• GPU and other heterogeneous computing experience or familiarity is a plus.
• Experience in C++ is beneficial.
• Experience working in Agile/Scrum development environments is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience developing, debugging, and maintaining continuous integration (CI) and other automated workflows is a plus.
• Familiarity with package managers (e.g., Spack) and containerization technologies (Apptainer/Singularity, Docker/Podman) is beneficial.

Axiom offers competitive compensation packages including comprehensive medical/dental/life insurance and matching 401(k) contribution.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)