Stream PC-02a Physical Scientist, Research and Stream PC-01a Junior Physical Scientist

Important messages

An internal process has been advertised simultaneously and is open to employees of Environment and Climate Change Canada occupying a position across Canada.

If employees of the core public service are selected, acting appointment, deployment or secondment mechanisms may be also used depending the situation.

The salary range for the PC-01 group and level is from $57409 to $66901 per year.
The salary range for the PC-02 group and level is from $65551 to $78522 per year.

Duties

Duties of the PC-01 Junior Physical Scientist :

Under the close supervision of a scientist of the Meteorological Research Division, of the Development of National Forecasts Division or of Product and Service Innovation Section, the employee will participate in research and/or development projects within the framework of the Meteorological and Environmental Assimilation and Prediction System of Environment and Climatic Change Canada (MEAPS-ECCC). Therefore he/she will carry out the following activities:

• Contribute to research and development (R&D) with the goal of implementing new or updated systems of the MEAPS-ECCC;
• Contribute to the analysis and interpretation of the performance of these forecast systems and the quality of the products;
• Gather and provide scientific data in an appropriate format in order to support scientists participating in R&D projects;
• Contribute to the preparation of scientific documentation for publication in the form of internal technical notes, parts of scientific articles, and electronic presentations;
• Contribute to the optimization of computer programs associated with implementations made in the MEAPS-ECCC;
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of software required for R&D as well as operations in the MEAPS-ECCC.

Duties of the PC-02 Physical Scientist, Research:

Under the supervision of a scientist of the Meteorological Research Division, of the Development of National Forecasts Division or of Product and Service Innovation Section, the employee will carry out research and/or development projects within the framework of the Meteorological and Environmental Assimilation and Prediction System of Environment and Climatic Change Canada (MEAPS-ECCC). Therefore he/she will carry out the following activities:

• Undertake research and development (R&D) with the goal of implementing new or updated systems in the MEAPS-ECCC;
• Analyze and interpret the performance of the forecast systems and the quality of the products;
• Provide support and consultation services in order to assist the work of scientists participating in R&D projects;
• Provide technical support and advice to external collaborators;
• Prepare scientific documents for publication in the form of internal technical notes, parts of scientific articles, and electronic presentations;
• Collaborate with programmers, research assistants and meteorologists in order to monitor and optimize the computer code of systems implemented by the MEAPS-ECCC;
• Develop and maintain software libraries required for R&D and operations of the MEAPS-ECCC.

Intent of the process

The pool of qualified candidates that will be established in this anticipatory process could be used to proceed with indeterminate appointment, specified period appointment, deployment, acting appointment (including extension) or secondment in similar PC-01a and PC-02a positions within Meteorological Service of Canada and Science and Technology in Dorval.

Positions to be filled: Number to be determined

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

A covering letter in 3,000 words (maximum)

You must meet all essential qualifications in order to be appointed to the position. Other qualifications may be a deciding factor in choosing the person to be appointed. Some essential and other qualifications will be assessed through your application. It is your responsibility to provide appropriate examples that illustrate how you meet each qualification. Failing to do so could result in your application being rejected.

In order to be considered, your application must clearly explain how you meet the following (essential qualifications)

Candidates must clearly demonstrate IN THEIR COVER LETTER how they meet the education and experience criteria listed in the essential qualifications. Candidates must use each of the education and experience criteria as a header. Under each corresponding header, candidates must then write one or two paragraphs clearly demonstrating how they meet each individual criterion. The resume may be used to validate the experience described in the cover letter. Failure to provide this information in the requested format for the essential qualifications may result in your application being rejected.

Education:
Graduation with a Master's or Doctorate degree from a recognized post-secondary institution in meteorology, atmospheric sciences, oceanic sciences, physics, applied mathematics or in another closely science related to the position.

Degree equivalency

Experience:
• Significant participation *1 in scientific projects linked to atmospheric, oceanic, surface or hydrologic numerical modeling;
• Significant participation *1 in computer programming;
• Significant participation *1 in scientific data analysis or data assimilation:

*1 The term “significant participation” refers to a cumulative relevant experience of about one (1) year for Stream PC-01 and two (2) years for Stream PC-02. Research work as part of master degree studies could be considered as one (1) year of cumulated relevant experience. Research work as part of doctorate degree studies could be considered as two (2) years of cumulated experience.

The following will be applied / assessed at a later date (essential for the job)

Various language requirements
French Essential
English or French Essential
Bilingual imperative BBB/BBB

If you are bilingual and are interested to be assess in your second official language please indicate it in your covering letter.

Information on language requirements

General Knowledge:
• Knowledge of Linux/Unix environment and of at least one (1) of the following programming languages: Fortran, C/C++, or Python *3;
• Knowledge of statistical methods and data analysis*3.

*3 Different levels of knowledge will be used to distinguish between the two streams: PC-01 and PC-02.

Specialized knowledge ( a candidate must succeed in at least one (1) of these following seven (7) specialty subjects):
• Knowledge in atmospheric sciences; or:
• Knowledge in oceanic sciences; or
• Knowledge in land surface physical processes; or
• Knowledge in hydrologic physical processes; or
• Knowledge of numerical modeling as practiced in the Meteorological and Environmental Assimilation and Prediction System of Environment and Climatic Change Canada (MEAPS-ECCC); or
• Knowledge in data assimilation as practiced in the Meteorological and Environmental Assimilation and Prediction System of Environment and Climatic Change Canada (MEAPS-ECCC); or
• Knowledge of advanced statistical methods.

Competencies:
• Communication;
• Adaptability;
• Working with others;
• Initiative *4;
• Science Ability *4

*4 Different competency levels will be used to distinguish between the two streams: PC-01 and PC-02.

The following may be applied / assessed at a later date (may be needed for the job)

ASSET QUALIFICATIONS
While all essential qualifications have to be met, not all the asset qualifications and organizational needs advertised will necessarily be used when making any appointment from the process.

Candidates must clearly demonstrate IN THEIR COVER LETTER how they meet the education and experience criteria listed in the assets qualifications if they do meet any. Candidates must use each of the education and experience criteria as a header. Under each corresponding header candidates must then write one or two paragraphs clearly demonstrating how they meet each individual criterion if applicable. Résumé may be used to validate the experience described in the cover letter. Failure to provide this information in the requested format for the asset qualifications may result in being considered not met.

Education:
Graduation with a Doctorate degree from a recognized post-secondary institution in meteorology, atmospheric sciences, oceanic sciences, physics, applied mathematics or in another closely science related to the position.

Degree equivalency

Experience:
• Experience in atmospheric modeling;
• Experience in oceanic modeling;
• Experience in atmospheric data assimilation;
• Experience in oceanic data assimilation;
• Experience in modeling of marine ice physical processes;
• Experience in modelling land surface physical processes;
• Experience in modeling hydrologic physical processes;
• Experience in the post-processing of numerical model output related to renewable energy, such as wind or solar energy;
• Experience in coupling numerical models;
• Experience in scientific publication and presentation at scientific conferences;
• Experience in statistical post-processing methods used with numerical atmospheric or environmental models;
• Experience in the development of diagnostic fields derived from the output of numerical models;
• Experience in quality control and/or modeling of meteorological radar observations;
• Experience in the use of software developed by ECCC (ex. RMNLIB, EDIFST, PGSM, RPN_COMM, XREC, EDITBRP, SPI, OCM, Maestro).

Knowledge:
• Knowledge in atmospheric sciences;
• Knowledge in oceanic sciences;
• Knowledge in land surface physical processes;
• Knowledge in hydrologic physical processes;
• Knowledge of numerical modeling as practiced in the MEAPS-ECCC;
• Knowledge of data assimilation as practiced in the MEAPS-ECCC;
• Knowledge in advanced statistical methods.

Selection may be limited to members of the following Employment Equity groups: persons with disabilities, visible minorities

Information on employment equity

Operational Requirements
.Be available to travel to participate in conferences, workshops or meetings (can apply to some positions of streams PC-01 and PC-02).

Conditions of employment

Reliability Status security clearance - The pool may also be used to staff positions that require secret security clearance.

Other information

Acknowledgment of receipt of applications will not be sent. We will contact candidates when the screening process is completed. Intent to apply will not be accepted. All applications must be submitted on line by 11:59 pm (Pacific Time) on the closing date. Candidates must clearly demonstrate how they meet the "area of selection" ("open to") for the process. If you are already an employee of the core public service, please clearly identify your substantive group and level, your employment status and tenure, your federal organization, your address of employment and your Personal Record Identifier (PRI) in your application. As applicable, please clearly indicate in your application if you are a person with a "priority entitlement".

Persons are entitled to participate in the appointment process in the official language of their choice. Applicants are asked to indicate their preferred official language in their application.

You must provide proof of your education credentials and you would have to show an original copy of these documents later in the process. Candidates with foreign credentials must provide proof of Canadian equivalency. Please consult the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials for further information at http://www.cicic.ca/.

Qualifications will be assessed by a variety of tools and methods. Therefore, a written exam, an interview, reference checks or other assessment methods may be used in this process. Candidates are expected to make a reasonable effort to make themselves available for assessments as scheduled. Pass marks will be established for each qualification. However, achieving the pass mark is not a guarantee of an appointment or that candidates will be put through the next stages of the assessment process. A cut-off score may be used and top-down approach may be used at any step if there is a sufficient number of candidates to meet immediate and anticipated staffing needs.

Indeterminate and determinate employees at the group and level or equivalent MAY be considered for deployment or secondment. A preference MAY be given to deployments or secondments.

Qualified persons must meet each essential qualification to be appointed to the position. However, a person may be appointed to the position even though he/she does not meet any or all of the asset qualifications or organizational needs. However, meeting these criteria is desirable and may be a deciding factor in choosing the person to be appointed.

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled, diverse workforce reflective of Canadian society. As a result, it promotes employment equity and encourages candidates to indicate voluntarily on their application if they are a woman, an Aboriginal person, a person with a disability or a member of a visible minority group.

The Public Service of Canada is also committed to developing inclusive, barrier-free selection processes and work environments. If contacted in relation to a job opportunity or testing, you should advise the Public Service Commission or the departmental official in a timely fashion of the accommodation measures which must be taken to enable you to be assessed in a fair and equitable manner. Information received relating to accommodation measures will be addressed confidentially.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans and to Canadian citizens, in that order.

Information on the preference to veterans

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.

Contact information