Satellite Applications Specialist

Positioned at the intersection of atmospheric science and advanced technology, the role of invites candidates to pioneer a modern cloud-seeding system. This position is responsible for increasing precipitation, improving water availability, and addressing severe-weather challenges by designing, operating, and evaluating precipitation-enhancement programs. You will join a team where research is directly attached to operations, utilizing proprietary observations, deliberate atmospheric interventions, and continuous evaluation to refine methods.

This position offers the opportunity to expand the use of satellite observations across research and operations. You will add scientific capacity and computational execution alongside experienced satellite scientists. Candidates are expected to develop and validate retrievals, construct automated data products, support operational cloud analysis, fuse satellite observations with radar and aircraft data, and pursue applied research under guidance. Priority is given to microwave sounders and polar-orbiting instruments, with geostationary imagery providing necessary coverage and continuity. The ideal candidate brings a strong foundation in fundamentals, high agency, and proven computational ability. You should be prepared to learn from experienced researchers while independently owning bounded projects and transforming scientific methods into durable workflows.

You will develop, reproduce, improve, and validate satellite retrieval algorithms relevant to clouds, precipitation, atmospheric state, and cloud-seeding opportunities. You will work extensively with microwave sounders and polar-orbiting observations while incorporating geostationary imagery for operational monitoring. You will build automated, documented workflows that transform raw or low-level observations into scientific and operational products. You will evaluate existing SLW, cloud-phase, cloud-top, moisture, temperature, and precipitation products against independent observations. You will collocate satellite data with radar, NWP, soundings, surface observations, and Rainmaker aircraft, UAS, or in-situ measurements. You will quantify retrieval bias, uncertainty, spatial representativeness, latency, coverage, and failure modes by meteorological regime. You will support real-time and retrospective cloud analysis for cloud-seeding operations. You will improve the reliability, speed, scalability, and usability of satellite-data processing across the science team. You will contribute to research directions selected with Rainmaker's existing satellite scientists. You will work with ML engineers when data-driven retrievals or multimodal models are justified. You will work with software engineers to transition successful research workflows into reliable operational systems. You will communicate scientific results, limitations, and uncertainty clearly to researchers, operators, and engineers.

Candidates must hold a degree in atmospheric science, meteorology, remote sensing, physics, applied mathematics, electrical engineering, computer science, or a related field, or possess equivalent evidence of exceptional remote-sensing ability. Candidates must demonstrate a strong scientific understanding of satellite observations, radiative transfer, retrievals, calibration, validation, or measurement uncertainty. Candidates must exhibit strong Python and quantitative-analysis skills. Candidates must have experience working computationally with satellite data, preferably including microwave or polar-orbiting observations. Candidates must be able to implement, evaluate, and document scientific methods personally rather than immediately handing them off to a software team. Candidates must handle multidimensional scientific data and tools such as NumPy, SciPy, pandas, xarray, Dask, or equivalent systems. Candidates must be able to build reproducible data-processing and validation workflows. Candidates must be comfortable receiving research guidance while independently owning a clearly defined project. Candidates must show high agency, learning velocity, and a willingness to engage with operational users of the resulting products.

Preferred qualifications include graduate research or industry experience in satellite meteorology, microwave remote sensing, cloud or precipitation retrievals, atmospheric sounding, or Earth observation. Experience working with both polar-orbiting and geostationary observations is favored. Familiarity with radiative-transfer models, retrieval inversion, Bayesian estimation, uncertainty quantification, or statistical and ML retrieval methods is preferred. Experience collocating satellite data with radar, aircraft, in-situ sensors, soundings, or NWP is valued. Familiarity with cloud microphysics, mixed-phase clouds, supercooled liquid water, precipitation processes, or weather modification is preferred. Experience with cloud-scale or large-volume geospatial processing in local, HPC, or cloud environments is favored. Experience creating data products used in operational forecasting or decision-making is preferred.

Within your first three months, you will take ownership of one bounded retrieval or satellite-data workflow selected with the existing team. You will reproduce and validate the current baseline and deliver a meaningful improvement in retrieval quality, automation, coverage, latency, scalability, or operational usability. The outcome will be a documented and repeatable workflow that Rainmaker's broader science or operations team can use. Success does not require inventing a novel retrieval in one quarter; it requires producing trustworthy computational leverage and demonstrating clear scientific judgment. Within your first year, you will expand the team's capacity across microwave, polar-orbiting, and geostationary observations while making multiple satellite workflows more validated, automated, and operationally useful.

Rainmaker provides significant stock options with high potential upside as an early-stage company. You will receive a 401(k) with employer matching. Full health coverage is provided, including medical, dental, and vision insurance. Relocation assistance is provided if applicable. Unlimited PTO is available, along with paid parental leave for both parents. Lunch is provided when working in-office, accompanied by a fully stocked kitchenette. Free EV charging is available at the HQ.