Senior Scientist I or II: Air Quality Modeling

Job Description

We are seeking a Senior Scientist I or II with deep expertise in chemical and atmospheric air quality modeling who also excels at people leadership. This is a distinctive dual-role position: you will serve as a Principal Investigator leading complex research projects and take on a term Branch Lead assignment (approximately 20% effort) within the Environmental Modeling and Engineering (EM&E) Branch.

The Senior Scientist will lead complex research at the intersection of air quality, environmental public health, and science-to-policy engagement, overseeing the development of data pipelines, scientific tools, and products that support data-to-action translation. The role carries principal investigator accountability on grant-funded projects, supervisory responsibility for staff across career levels, and active contribution to fundraising and external engagement, working collaboratively across PSE's multidisciplinary staff.

Success in this role means leading impactful projects, building strong partnerships, and supporting a collaborative, mission-driven team. The ideal candidate can manage research, develop actionable products and tools, present findings to communities and regulatory agencies, and help shape new growth opportunities, while bringing the same intentionality and care to developing people as they do to advancing science.

A significant dimension of this position is the term Branch Lead assignment within the growing EM&E Branch. The Branch applies computational modeling, atmospheric science, environmental engineering, and data-driven analysis to understand how energy systems, emissions, and policy interventions impact air quality, climate, and human health. While the Senior Scientist role is permanent, the Branch Lead role is a renewable annual term assignment that includes a small additional stipend.

Key Responsibilities

Research

• Contribute to developing and advancing a strategic research portfolio in air quality, identifying emerging opportunities and supporting high-impact workstreams.
• Lead proposal development as technical lead and coordinate competitive grant and contract proposals.
• Serve as PI on funded projects, holding accountability for scientific scope, budgets, deliverables, and funder reporting.
• Oversee the design, development, and maintenance of scalable scientific tools, products, and cloud-based data pipelines on AWS to support research production and reproducibility.
• Lead and contribute to peer-reviewed publications, technical reports, and rapid-response analyses; communicate findings to policymakers, community organizations, agencies, and the media.

People Management & Leadership

• Directly supervise staff through regular check-ins, performance reviews, and active mentorship; support hiring and onboarding as the team grows.
• Practice servant leadership by removing obstacles, advocating for staff needs, and creating conditions where people feel valued, challenged, and supported.
• Hold staff to high standards with care and respect, recognizing that accountability and empathy are complementary rather than competing values.

Fundraising & External Engagement

• Lead or co-lead proposals for major grants and contracts and participate in funder stewardship.
• Represent PSE externally as a recognized air quality expert through publications, media engagement, conference presentations, expert testimony, and regulatory advisory processes.
• Build and maintain relationships with state and federal air agencies, academic partners, and environmental justice organizations.

Project & Administrative Management

• Manage day-to-day project operations, including budget and timeline tracking, deliverable coordination, timesheet approval, expense tracking, and funder reporting. Elevate risks and capacity constraints to leadership as needed.

Branch Lead

• Serve as primary supervisor for EM&E Branch staff, including lower-level supervisors. Lead performance management, goal-setting, feedback, evaluation, and professional development with consistency and equity.
• Support staff well-being and retention, ensuring supervisory practices reflect PSE's organizational values.
• Maintain a holistic view of staff capacity across projects, assess workload distribution, and advise PIs on feasibility and staffing needs.
• Proactively identify staffing risks (single points of failure, skill gaps, over-reliance on individuals) and recommend mitigation strategies.
• Facilitate cross-domain collaboration and remove structural barriers to joint work while supporting staff development.
• Apply supervisory judgment independently of project interests and model clear role clarity between Branch Lead and PI responsibilities.

Required Qualifications and Skills

Education & Scientific Experience

• Ph.D. in atmospheric science, chemistry, engineering, or a related field (or Master's degree with substantial equivalent experience) and a recognized record in air quality science.
  • Senior Scientist I: Minimum 3+ years post-doctoral (or equivalent) experience.
  • Senior Scientist II: Minimum 5+ years post-doctoral (or equivalent) experience with demonstrated strategic leadership and independence.
• Record of leading funded research as PI or co-PI, including peer-reviewed publications and/or expert testimony.
• Proven experience at the science-policy interface with regulators, policymakers, and/or community stakeholders.

Technical Expertise

• Deep expertise in air quality modeling (e.g., CMAQ, CAMx, WRF-Chem, GEOS-Chem, InMAP, AERMOD).
• Experience with emissions inventory tools (e.g., SMOKE) and processing large environmental datasets.
• Experience building and managing high-performance computing workloads on AWS (EC2, S3, ParallelCluster, AMIs).
• Proficiency in Python and/or R for data analysis and workflow automation; comfort with Git/GitHub and AI-assisted coding tools.

Leadership, Management & Communication

• Experience supervising staff with a demonstrated ability to support performance, development, and well-being.
  • Senior Scientist II candidates must have a track record of supervising staff across multiple career levels.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to thrive in a collaborative, distributed, remote-first environment.

Desired Qualifications and Skills

• Experience securing competitive research funding from foundations or federal agencies (EPA, NIH, DOE).
• Experience with environmental justice frameworks and community-engaged research.
• Familiarity with health impact assessment methods (e.g., BenMAP) or meteorological modeling (WRF).
• A sense of humor and enthusiasm for impactful, collaborative work.

Don't meet every requirement? Apply anyway.

We do not expect any single candidate to possess all of the qualifications listed. Research shows that women and candidates from underrepresented groups are less likely to apply when they don't meet every listed requirement. If you're excited about this work and believe you could thrive in this role, please apply even if you can't check every box.

Location and Work Conditions

Remote within the United States. Extended or irregular work hours will be required during project sprints or rollouts. Position requires computer usage and sitting for extended periods of time, good hand-eye coordination, arm, hand, and finger dexterity, including ability to grasp, and visual acuity to use a keyboard, operate equipment and read technical information. Overall mobility is essential.

Compensation and Benefits

• Senior Scientist I: $116,000 - $130,000
• Senior Scientist II: $124,000 - $138,000
• Health Benefits: Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Retirement Plan: 401(k) with employer match
• Flexible spending accounts
• Flexible time off and 15 Paid holidays
• Professional Development: Opportunities for continued education and training
• Work-Life Balance: Flexible working hours and remote work options

Because our team works remotely across the country, PSE uses national market rates to ensure compensation is fair and consistent regardless of where you live. Salaries are set within established bands that we apply equitably across all staff.

Equal Opportunity Employer

PSE Healthy Energy is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity and expression, marital status, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.

E-Verify Notice

PSE Healthy Energy participates in E-Verify. We will provide the Social Security Administration, and if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security, with information from each new employee's Form I-9 to confirm work authorization.