Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Weather Program Officer

🎯 Role Definition

The Weather Program Officer is a multidisciplinary professional responsible for designing, implementing, and overseeing operational and research-to-operations weather programs. This role bridges meteorological science, systems engineering, stakeholder engagement, and program management to deliver reliable weather forecasts, warnings, satellite/radar operations, and climate services. The incumbent leads cross-functional teams, manages budgets and contracts, ensures compliance with national and international standards (e.g., WMO best practices), and translates scientific advances into operational capabilities that reduce weather-related risk and support decision-making across public and private sectors.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Meteorologist / Operational Forecaster transitioning into program delivery
Research Scientist with experience in NWP, remote sensing, or climate modeling
Project Manager or Technical Program Analyst with environmental program experience

Advancement To:

Senior Weather Program Officer / Program Manager
Director of Weather Services or Director of Meteorological Programs
Head of Observing Systems or Chief of Forecast Operations

Lateral Moves:

Data Science Lead for Weather and Climate
Emergency Management Program Manager
International Capacity Building Specialist (meteorological services)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead end-to-end program management for weather initiatives, including scope definition, work breakdown structure, milestone planning, resource allocation, risk register maintenance, and delivery tracking to ensure on-time, on-budget execution of forecast and observing-system projects.
Develop, implement, and maintain operational requirements and technical specifications for numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems, data assimilation workflows, and model verification systems to improve short- to medium-range forecasting skill.
Coordinate the design, procurement, deployment, and lifecycle management of observing systems (surface stations, automated weather stations, radars, profilers) and ensure telemetry, calibration, and quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) processes are in place.
Manage contracts, grants, and vendor relationships for system integrators, satellite data providers, and software suppliers; define statement-of-work, evaluate proposals, negotiate terms, and oversee contractor deliverables and performance.
Serve as the technical lead for satellite and radar data ingestion and exploitation, including requirements for Level-1/Level-2 processing, calibration, product generation, and integration into operational forecasting systems.
Oversee model development transition activities (research-to-operations, R2O), including software engineering practices, version control, regression testing, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), and operational validation.
Establish and maintain quality management frameworks, standard operating procedures (SOPs), service-level agreements (SLAs), and performance metrics for forecast production, warnings, and value-added services.
Lead multi-stakeholder coordination with national meteorological services, emergency management agencies, aviation authorities, maritime services, agricultural partners, and international organizations to align program outputs with user needs and regulatory requirements.
Design and implement verification and validation programs to measure predictive performance, skill scores, bias, and uncertainty; prepare technical analysis and periodic reports to inform model improvement and operational decision-making.
Direct the development and publication of weather products, decision-support tools, and impact-based warnings tailored to end-users, including hazard mapping, probabilistic forecasts, and actionable guidance for emergency responders.
Manage budgets, financial forecasting, and cost-benefit analysis for weather programs; prepare budget justifications, monitor burn rates, and implement cost-control strategies while ensuring technical objectives are met.
Lead capacity-building, training, and knowledge-transfer initiatives for internal staff and partner agencies, including workshops on forecasting techniques, model interpretation, remote-sensing data use, and emergency communications.
Oversee data governance and data management policies for observational, model, and derived products — including metadata standards, open-data protocols, data licensing, archiving, and API delivery for internal and external users.
Conduct hazard and vulnerability assessments to inform program priorities, model development focuses, and early-warning thresholds; integrate socio-economic impact analysis into product design and dissemination strategies.
Provide operational on-call support and technical leadership during high-impact weather events, coordinating forecast production, message consistency, and stakeholder briefings across agencies and media outlets.
Drive innovation and adoption of emerging technologies (cloud computing, machine learning, ensemble forecasting, probabilistic methods) to enhance forecast accuracy, lead time, and user relevance.
Prepare and present concise, evidence-based briefings and technical reports for executive leadership, funding bodies, and external stakeholders to secure program support and communicate technical results and societal benefits.
Ensure compliance with national and international policies and standards (e.g., WMO, ICAO, IMO) for observations, forecast dissemination, and safety-critical messaging; support audits and accreditations as needed.
Supervise, mentor, and evaluate multidisciplinary teams, allocating talent to priority projects, managing performance, and fostering a collaborative culture that integrates science, operations, and stakeholder engagement.
Design and implement monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) frameworks to measure program impact, capture lessons learned, and refine project design and resource allocation over program cycles.
Coordinate public outreach, stakeholder consultations, and communications strategies to increase awareness of weather risks, promote early-warning uptake, and gather user feedback for continuous improvement.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Draft policy briefs and technical recommendations to inform national weather strategy and infrastructure investments.
Support proposal development and grant applications to secure external funding for program enhancements and research collaborations.
Represent the organization at conferences, workshops, and interagency working groups to share lessons learned and coordinate regional capacity-building.
Facilitate interdisciplinary research partnerships with universities, research institutes, and private-sector innovators to pilot new products and services.
Maintain documentation repositories, runbooks, and emergency contact trees to ensure continuity of operations and rapid recovery from system outages.
Assist in procurement planning by defining technical evaluation criteria and participating in vendor selection panels.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Operational meteorology and atmospheric dynamics: strong understanding of synoptic to mesoscale processes, severe convection, and boundary-layer phenomena relevant to forecasting.
Numerical weather prediction (NWP): experience with global and regional NWP systems, model physics, ensemble forecasting, and model evaluation metrics.
Data assimilation and observation usage: practical experience with assimilation techniques, impact studies, and integrating satellite, radar, and in situ data into models.
Remote sensing and radar meteorology: proficiency in interpreting satellite products (IR, VIS, microwave) and Doppler radar data, including retrieval algorithms and QA.
Programming and scripting: strong skills in Python and/or R for data processing, automation, and prototype development; familiarity with MATLAB or Fortran for legacy model environments is a plus.
Data engineering and database management: working knowledge of SQL, OPeNDAP, NetCDF, GRIB formats, and data-serving technologies (APIs, THREDDS).
Cloud and high-performance computing (HPC): experience deploying models and workflows on HPC clusters or cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), containerization (Docker), and workflow orchestration.
GIS and visualization: solid ability to produce geospatial analyses and create maps/visualizations using tools like ArcGIS, QGIS, Cartopy, or Matplotlib.
Machine learning and statistics: applied knowledge of statistical verification, probabilistic methods, and ML techniques for post-processing and forecast calibration.
Program, budget, and contract management: demonstrated experience in managing project budgets, vendor contracts, procurement processes, and grant administration.
Quality assurance, verification, and validation: experience establishing QA/QC processes, verification frameworks, and operational acceptance criteria for products.
Cybersecurity and IT governance awareness: familiarity with securing operational systems, data integrity practices, and compliance requirements.

Soft Skills

Strategic thinking and program leadership: ability to translate scientific opportunities into deliverable program objectives and long-term roadmaps.
Stakeholder engagement and partnership building: proven aptitude for convening diverse partners, negotiating priorities, and maintaining productive relationships.
Clear written and oral communication: ability to produce policy briefs, technical reports, and public-facing messages that are precise, audience-appropriate, and actionable.
Crisis management and decision-making under pressure: calm, authoritative leadership during high-impact weather events and operational contingencies.
Team development and people management: mentoring skills, performance evaluation experience, and capacity to build cross-disciplinary teams.
Problem-solving and systems thinking: capability to diagnose complex technical and organizational issues and design integrated solutions.
Training and facilitation: experience delivering workshops, training programs, and hands-on sessions for technical and non-technical audiences.
Adaptability and continuous learning: openness to evolving technologies, shifting priorities, and iterative program improvement based on evidence.
Attention to detail and documentation discipline: meticulous record-keeping for operational procedures, configuration management, and audit readiness.
Cultural sensitivity and international collaboration: ability to work effectively with partners across cultures and within international frameworks.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Meteorology, Atmospheric Science, Climate Science, Environmental Science, Applied Physics, or a closely related discipline.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree or PhD in Meteorology, Atmospheric Science, Climate Science, Data Science with meteorological focus, or Systems Engineering relevant to environmental observing and modeling systems.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Meteorology / Atmospheric Science
Climate Science / Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction
Environmental Science / Hydrometeorology
Computer Science / Data Science (with geoscience applications)
Electrical / Systems Engineering (observing systems, telemetry)
Geospatial Science / GIS

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5 to 12 years of combined operational meteorology, program management, and technical systems experience in government, research, or private-sector weather services.

Preferred:

7+ years leading weather or climate programs, operational forecasting centers, observing-system projects, or NWP transitions, including demonstrable experience managing multi-year budgets, vendor contracts, and multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Prior experience with national meteorological services, emergency management agencies, or international organizations (e.g., WMO), and documented success in delivering operational systems or services with measurable societal impact.
Track record of publishing technical reports or peer-reviewed research, and experience in training or capacity-building activities across diverse user communities.