Software Project Manager (Technical)

Mission :

Woodwell Climate Research Center (Woodwell Climate) conducts science for solutions at the nexus of climate, people, and nature. We partner with leaders and communities for just meaningful impact to address the climate crisis.

Woodwell Climate is a rapidly growing, top-ranked, independent non-profit climate research institute whose mission is to advance science-based climate policies through scientific research and outreach. Our world-leading research and impact helps individuals, organizations, corporations, communities, and nations understand the realities of climate change, recognize the impact on our planet, and embrace the urgent action needed to safeguard the future of life on Earth.

Summary

Consider joining Woodwell Climate’s Risk & Resilience Program as a Software Product Manager (SPM). As a member of the team, you will have an unparalleled opportunity to transform a respected $35M climate science and policy organization into an enterprise-grade "Science-as-a-Service" (ScaaS) platform. The SPM will serve as the technical Product Owner, mandated to develop and launch our proprietary Climate Impacts Mapping Tool (ScaaS / API) for financial markets, ensuring it meets the high reliability, low-latency demands of large clients.

This pivotal role requires a specialized software engineer to drive the technical transformation of rigorous scientific research into a scalable, profitable product. This product will establish the standard for how the financial industry assesses climate risk. Key responsibilities include Product Ownership & Enterprise-Grade Development, Geospatial Data Pipeline Optimization, Business-Technical Translation, AI-Enabled Scientific Workflows, and ensuring System Scalability and Security. The ideal candidate will possess strong qualifications in Advanced Computational Engineering, Cloud & Geospatial Data Proficiency, AI / Machine Learning for Data, and Data Visualization.

Responsibilities include but not limited to :

Lead the organizational effort to become AI-native while developing an enterprise-grade Climate Impacts Mapping Tool (ScaaS / API)

Lead the AI enablement of our scientific workflows, integrating machine learning into our core data pipelines to increase the speed and scalability of our climate risk insights

Research and develop the roadmap for new software  products or feature enhancements and plans and oversees the software development lifecycle (SDLC)

Serve as the technical lead for the Climate Impacts Mapping Tool (ScaaS / API), driving development from MVP to an enterprise-grade platform. This includes optimizing performance, ensuring high reliability and developing robust documentation for external API clients

Ensures that implementations are completed on time, within budget, and meet client expectations. Tests and troubleshoots final system setups

Guides the conceptualization, requirements gathering, specification creation, release, and implementation processes

Design and implement highly efficient data pipelines for managing massive, multi-peril climate model outputs, optimizing data storage (e.g., cloud-native formats) and query speed to meet the low-latency requirements of corporate clients

Lead the initiative to integrate AI / Machine Learning (ML) into core scientific workflows. Identify opportunities to apply ML for tasks such as automated quality control, climate model downscaling, or pattern detection to increase the efficiency and speed of internal data processing.

Work directly with the Solutions Consultant to translate market needs, client feature requests, and technical partner requirements (e.g., integration into underwriting platforms) into specific, prioritized engineering tasks and a formal product roadmap

Guides the conceptualization, requirements gathering, specification creation, release, and implementation processes

Establish best practices for application security, data governance, and scalability to ensure the platform can reliably serve thousands of assets globally under concurrent user load

Schedule own work, lead the technical implementation of the product roadmap, and manage external technical vendors or contractors as needed

Communicate complex technical concepts and data infrastructure strategy to internal scientific teams and external non-technical leadership

Ensures that product delivery schedules and tasks related to all aspects of product development are coordinated with stakeholders to successfully release new products on time and within budget

Author and co-author technical white papers and documentation detailing the product architecture, data sources, and AI methodologies utilized

Must have the Following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Proven expertise in modern full-stack web development and API design (e.g., Python / Django / FastAPI, TypeScript, or similar), specifically in creating scalable, data-intensive web services

Deep experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure), large-scale geospatial databases (e.g., PostGIS, cloud storage optimization), and handling formats like netCDF, GeoTIFF, and Zarr

Practical experience implementing or integrating ML models for data processing, prediction, or optimization; demonstrable understanding of how AI can enhance scientific integrity and efficiency

Enterprise Standards : Strong background in software testing, continuous integration / continuous deployment (CI / CD), security protocols, and developing SLA-ready platforms

Ability to design efficient and intuitive data visualization components for the Mapping Tool MVP, ensuring clear and immediate user comprehension of complex climate metrics

Ability to work independently and in a highly collaborative, dual-leadership environment with the Business Systems Analysts and the internal scientific team.

Ability to travel up to 10% annually for essential technical conferences or client integration meetings

Qualifications

5+ years of combined experience in software engineering and data science, with at least 2 years focused on geospatial data or climate / environmental modeling

Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Geospatial Science, or a related highly quantitative discipline

Work Environment :

The functions of this role are conducted in indoors

Hours of Work :

This role is paid on a salary basis.

Typically, full-time employees work 40 hours during a Monday through Friday workweek. However, this is a salaried position.  Therefore, the individual is expected to work as required to complete the duties of the position.  This may mean weekend hours and / or hours beyond 40 per week.

Application review will begin ongoing

Desired Start Date :  December 2025

Fixed-term : 2 years with potential for extension

Classification and Compensation :  This is a full-time, salaried, exempt position, the annual salary range is $130,000 - 135,000 dependent on qualifications / experience. Woodwell offers a generous benefits package and work life balance.

Location :  Falmouth, Massachusetts onsite, hybrid or remote.

Application Instructions :  To apply, please send your cover letter addressing your experience and qualifications in relation to the responsibilities of this position and curriculum vitae as  a single PDF  to our career’s portal.

Please visit Woodwell's website  to learn more about Woodwell’s work.

Located on a 10-acre campus near the village of Woods Hole, the Woodwell Climate Research Center (Woodwell) is a private, non-profit research center. Woodwell is a leading source of climate science that drives the urgent action needed to solve climate change. Woodwell has 100+ staff members and is excited to welcome new employees to this work.

Woodwell Climate is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, mental, or physical disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, familial status, veteran status, or genetic information. Woodwell is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for all individuals in employment practices, services, programs, and activities.

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