Chief Meteorologist

About the role

This position is embedded within a global authority where the selected individual operates as the central meteorological leader, directly employed by the governing body and tasked with interfacing closely with civil aviation authorities and airline stakeholders as operational capacity expands. The role involves setting the strategic meteorological course for a critical function, ensuring that all decisions are grounded in robust science and operational reality. The hire will be responsible for establishing the foundational standards and processes that define how meteorological risk is understood and communicated within the aviation sector. Success in this position will be defined by the ability to translate complex weather dynamics into clear, actionable guidance for high-stakes environments. The individual will own the integrity and accuracy of the meteorological products that support flight planning and safety oversight. This is a hands-on leadership position that requires equal parts scientific rigor and operational management. The role is pivotal in building trust and reliability with external regulatory bodies and internal airline partners.

Key facts

What you'll do

Recruitment spearheads the construction of the forecasting roster and the deployment of shift managers to establish 24/7 watch operations from the ground up.

Representation serves as the primary meteorological voice, conducting daily operational briefings and interfacing with civil aviation authorities, ICAO, and airline partners.

Standardization involves defining and enforcing operational meteorological standards to ensure consistency and reliability across all forecast outputs.

Oversight encompasses the quality assurance of aviation products, ensuring adherence to ICAO Annex 3 and WMO competencies for every issued product.

Guidance develops and maintains expert-level forecasts for convective weather, turbulence, and icing over extensive maritime domains.

Coordination aligns the meteorological workflow with airline operations, flight information regions (FIR), and air traffic management procedures.

Documentation produces critical aviation weather products, including SIGMETs, AIRMETs, SIGWx, FPG, TAF, and METAR with precision.

Analysis interprets numerical weather prediction models and observational data to derive actionable insights for high-risk flight conditions.

Communication delivers clear, concise, and technically sound briefings to regulators, authorities, and airline stakeholders under tight timelines.

Continuity ensures the resilience of the 24/7 operation, maintaining composure and strict adherence to deadlines during high-pressure scenarios.

Requirements

The posting states a bachelor's degree requirement. Education requires a degree in meteorology, atmospheric science, or a closely related field, or equivalent operational qualification.

Experience demands 8+ years of operational meteorology with a strong aviation forecasting background.

Management shows demonstrated ability to lead teams, including recruiting, performance management, and setting operational standards.

Expertise requires deep proficiency in forecasting convective weather and tropical or Caribbean storm systems in a maritime environment.

Products require strong command of ICAO Annex 3 aviation MET products (SIGMET, AIRMET, SIGWx, FPG, TAF, METAR) and WMO forecaster competency standards.

Forecasting requires experience producing TAFs and convective, turbulence, and icing forecasts for aviation over large geographic areas.

Operations require familiarity with airline operations, FIR/airspace structure, and air traffic management.

Resilience proves ability to lead within a 24/7 shift operation, maintaining composure and meeting hard deadlines under pressure.

Communication requires outstanding verbal and written skills for briefing regulators, authorities, and airline stakeholders.

Relocation requires willingness to move to a Caribbean location as discussed during the selection process.

Nice to have

Regional experience brings direct forecasting background in the Caribbean or a comparable tropical maritime environment.

Transformation experience supports standing up, transforming, or accrediting a meteorological watch office or aviation weather centre.

Technical skills are well-versed in modern forecasting techniques and numerical weather prediction models.

Practical notes

Relocation support is available for the successful candidate.

Typical interview steps

Leadership hiring usually includes a strategy case, a people scenario, and a values conversation. Candidates may be asked to turn around a struggling team or plan for growth. Past results are examined closely, especially how decisions were made. Interviewers dig into specific decisions you made and their consequences. Preparing two or three decision stories with numbers and lessons is the best use of time.

Good to know

Meteorology, aviation forecasting, and regulatory communication define the daily work in this position.

Questions to ask

Good questions to ask the employer in the interview: what does success look like in the first six months, how is the team structured, what is the current biggest challenge, and how are decisions made. Asking about growth paths and the review process is also well received. Employers expect questions, and good ones show preparation.

Career growth

Leadership careers move from manager to senior manager, director, and executive roles. Each step adds more scope and more responsibility for outcomes. The best leaders keep learning how to delegate, communicate, and decide. Leadership careers reward a record of building and developing people. The higher you go, the more your communication shapes the whole organization.