Rainmaker Fellow, Atmospheric Science

This is a paid, full-time research fellowship in atmospheric science at Rainmaker, a company pioneering cloud-seeding systems. Fellows join the atmospheric-science team to work on a scoped quantitative project, translating atmospheric or operational questions into rigorous analyses. The role involves building datasets, applying statistical and geospatial methods, and delivering decision-oriented outputs that the team can use. The fellowship is on-site in El Segundo and lasts three to six months.

Responsibilities

• Work with your research lead to translate an atmospheric, operational, or program-design question into measurable quantitative criteria.
• Build and document the quality-controlled dataset required for the assigned project.
• Apply appropriate statistical, climatological, geospatial, verification, or decision-analysis methods.
• Compare results across relevant reanalysis, NWP, satellite, radar, terrain, operational, or in-situ data sources.
• Incorporate practical operational constraints when they are relevant to the question.
• Quantify uncertainty, missingness, bias, and sensitivity to assumptions.
• Create maps, summaries, and decision-oriented outputs for scientists, operators, and program designers.
• Build a documented and reusable workflow that the team can extend to future questions.
• Deliver a final artifact such as a dataset, analysis, evaluation framework, operational tool, technical report, or presentation.

Requirements

• Current undergraduate, master's, or PhD students; postdoctoral researchers; recent graduates; and other early-career researchers are all eligible.
• Background in meteorology, atmospheric science, applied mathematics, statistics, physics, hydrology, geospatial science, or a related field.
• Strong Python and quantitative-analysis ability.
• Experience with meteorological, climate, geospatial, radar, satellite, or model data.
• Ability to make ambiguous definitions explicit and test the sensitivity of results to assumptions.
• Strong scientific judgment about uncertainty, representativeness, and the difference between an analytical proxy and operational ground truth.
• Clear written and verbal communication.
• Availability for full-time, on-site work in El Segundo for the agreed appointment.

Nice to have

• GRIB, netCDF, xarray, reanalysis, NWP, radar, satellite, terrain, or operational datasets.
• Climatology, forecast verification, spatial statistics, time-series analysis, uncertainty quantification, or decision analysis.
• Cloud microphysics, precipitation, orographic meteorology, convection, weather modification, or field operations.
• Reproducible scientific workflows and decision-oriented visualization.

Benefits

• Full health coverage (medical, dental, and vision insurance)
• Lunch provided when working in-office and a fully stocked kitchenette
• Free EV charging at the HQ