Hydrologist​/Coastal Modeler

First Street is seeking a Hydrologist (Coastal Modeler) in Blackstone, MA, to develop and operate a flood model for high-resolution coastal flood hazard estimates. Candidates should have an advanced degree in relevant fields and experience in coastal modeling, data processing, and big data analysis. The role involves managing model production and improving methodologies to assess flood risk, contributing to climate risk data for various stakeholders.
Position: Hydrologist (Coastal Modeler)

Who we are: First Street is the industry standard for physical climate risk data. We use transparent and peer-reviewed methodologies to calculate the past, present, and future climate risk for every property in the world. We started eight years ago by working with the world’s leading climate scientists to create groundbreaking, climate-adjusted, property specific models and haven’t stopped.

Our mission: We exist to connect climate change to financial risk

Our data: We create physics-based, deterministic models of flooding, wildfire and hurricanes, and advanced statistical models of extreme heat, air quality, drought, hail, severe convective storms, winter storms, and more. All of this data is used to create property-level financial risk metrics and macroeconomic variables to quantify the impacts of climate change.

Our customers: We empower governments at the highest levels to make smart regulations, businesses to avoid bad investments, and everyday Americans to understand their personal risk from climate change. We are relied on every day by:
• Agencies ranging from the U.S. Department of Treasury to Fannie Mae
• The world's biggest banks such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo
• Institutional investors like Nuveen and Blackstone
• Millions of users on Zillow, Redfin, , , and more

We believe: Our work needs to match the pace and scope of the climate problem. This is why we have invested tens of millions of dollars into our science, data, people, and products and have raised tens of millions more to move even faster. Read more about our culture here and see what Climate Risk Financial Modeling is all about here.

Come join us and use your talents to create solutions to address humanity's biggest problem.

Team & Role Overview:

We are looking for a Climate Scientist with a specialization in flood modeling to join our team. This person will need to have several years of postdoctoral professional experience and the ability to lead projects and potentially people.

What you’ll do:
• Develop and operate the First Street Flood Model to create high resolution coastal flood hazard estimates at national scales.
• Introduce innovative methods to assess and improve the flood model performance and quantify flood risk at a high spatial resolution.
• Manage model production, quality control, and ongoing evaluation/validation efforts.
• Identify and develop new data inputs and methodological improvements for inclusion into the First Street Flood Model.
• Manage model and data processing workflows both on commercial cloud and on local cluster compute resources.

What you’ll need:
• Advanced degree (e.g., M.S. or Ph.D.) in oceanography, coastal engineering, hydraulics, or hydrology with equivalent experience in coastal flood modeling
• Strong foundation in understanding and modeling the dynamics of storm surge, sea-level rise, and tides.
• Expertise in coastal modeling using numerical models (e.g., ADCIRC, SWAN, or Delft3D) or similar modeling frameworks.
• Expertise in developing coastal inundation maps.
• Expertise in big data analysis, large-capacity processing workflows, machine learning, and cloud computing.
• Expertise in probability and statistics, especially as related to frequency analysis and extreme values.
• Expertise using both compiled and scripted languages (e.g., Python, Matlab, UNIX shell, C++, Fortran, and/or SQL) and GIS software (e.g., QGIS or ArcGIS) to efficiently analyze outputs.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced team environment.

What will make you stand out:
• Skill/Experience modeling and analyzing compound flooding from storm surge, rainfall, and stream flow.
• Skill/Experience calibrating hydrodynamic models and quantitatively evaluating their performance.
• Skill/Experience developing a variety of satellite-based flood inundation maps for validation and calibration.
• Experience authoring peer-reviewed scientific publications in areas related to flood modeling or coastal dynamics.

How we work:
• Impact:
We only focus on things that move the needle
• Drive:
We are driven by the role we play in connecting climate change to financial risk
• Ownership:
This is our company and we act accordingly
• Urgency:
We move quickly because the world depends on it
• Resilience:
We…