Head of Earth System Science and 1.5°C Overshoot Team (m/f/d)

Job description

About the Team

The Earth System Science and 1.5°C Overshoot Team is Climate Analytics’ scientific home for climate science on 1.5°C overshoot, specifically in relation to physical climate science to support quantitative climate risk assessment, climate assessment of emissions pathways and scenarios, and climate impacts emulation.

The team connects global emissions pathways and policy choices in the mitigation space to climate system change and regional and sectoral risks, to produce decision-relevant scientific information to support policy, climate risk assessments, adaptation, and loss and damage strategies.

It provides the scientific foundation for Climate Analytics’ work on the climate system and impact implications of 1.5°C overshoot and options to limit this and get back below 1.5°C before 2100, and the interpretation of emerging science for policy and implementation.

The Earth System Science and 1.5°C Overshoot Team and the Impacts, Adaptation and Loss and Damage Team are expected to work in very close collaboration as one integrated science function.

The Heads of these teams are jointly responsible for developing a coherent science agenda, research pipeline and a set of methods that connect earth-system modeling, climate scenarios and climate indices with sectoral and systemic risk, adaptation potential and limits, and loss and damage science and strategies.

The team is expected to work in partnership with the Climate Policy Team, Diplomacy team, Implementation Strategies team and regional offices, to ensure that Climate Analytics’ work is grounded in the best available physical climate science.

As the world enters a period of likely overshoot, the team’s mandate is to deliver agile but rigorous science that informs ambitious global climate action, supports vulnerable countries and counters scientific misinformation.

About the Position

The Head of the Earth System Science and 1.5°C Overshoot Team provides scientific leadership for Climate Analytics at the moment when the likely overshoot of 1.5°C is reshaping the global climate science and policy agenda.

They will lead the organisation’s work on physical climate science risks, quantitative assessment of the overshoot and climate system implications of emissions pathways and mitigation options, and scientific synthesis of overshoot risks.

The role is responsible for building a scientifically strong, agile and externally visible team that can provide cutting-edge science, rapid interpretation of emerging developments for overshoot and risks, robust quality assurance, and practical scientific support to Climate Analytics’ policy, diplomacy, implementation and regional work - particularly in support of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and other vulnerable countries.

Climate Analytics sits at the science–policy interface: our science is rigorous and publishable, and equally policy-relevant, decision-useful and grounded in the realities faced by vulnerable countries.

The Head is expected to set a high scientific bar, drive innovation, support publication and external visibility, build partnerships and funding, and play a leading role in positioning Climate Analytics as an influential voice on the scientific implications of 1.5°C overshoot and the evolving climate system.

This role requires a senior scientist with deep understanding of climate system, a strong publication record, experience leading scientific teams, and the ability to bridge physical science, policy relevance, communications and organisational strategy.

Responsibilities

• Scientific Leadership and Strategy
• Provide scientific leadership across the team’s areas of expertise, ensuring the team’s work reflects state-of-the-art science on climate system response, emissions pathway assessment, climate projections, emulators, observations, regional climate information and science synthesis.
• Build and maintain the team’s contribution to Climate Analytics’ work on minimizing the magnitude and duration of 1.5°C overshoot, including the quantitative climate assessment of the implications of different scenarios, policies and mitigation choices for peak warming, duration of overshoot, return below 1.5°C, impacts and residual risks.
• Set and drive the team’s direction identifying priorities for scientific growth and ensuring the team’s structure remains agile as new scientific opportunities and policy demands arise.
• Champion a culture of scientific excellence, intellectual honesty and ambitious thinking, and uphold scientific integrity across the team’s work.
• Oversee scientific quality assurance for major outputs, ensuring methodological robustness, transparency, consistency and appropriate treatment of uncertainty, and ensure rapid-response analysis meets the same scientific standards as longer-form research.
• Promote innovation in methods, tools, datasets, modelling workflows, climate services and communication products - pushing the team to apply sharp analytical thinking and emerging approaches (including digital and AI-enabled platforms where appropriate) to make science more responsive and accessible.
• Maintain an active personal research agenda and strengthen the team’s publication record, including peer-reviewed papers, flagship reports, high-quality tools and policy-relevant analysis.
• Support work of the team on the quantitative assessment of the climate implications of short-lived climate forcers, methane, land-use emissions, carbon dioxide removal, net zero, net negative emissions, false solutions (e. g. solar radiation modification) and other drivers of overshoot outcomes.
• Ensure strong scientific integration between quantitative assessment of the implications of emissions pathways, climate system response, climate emulators (including FAIR, MAGICC, MESMER), observations, impact analysis and policy interpretation.
• Establish regular joint planning with the Impacts, Adaptation and Loss & Damage Team on cross-cutting scientific priorities, and promote a “one science function” culture across the two teams, supporting shared standards, transparent communication, and practical collaboration.
• Climate Risk Assessment and Science Synthesis
• Provide strategic leadership for climate risk assessments services and regional climate services work, primarily in support of LDCs and SIDS, and other vulnerable countries.
• Support the development and application of tools, datasets and services that translate climate science into usable information, linking global climate science and regional, sectoral and decision-relevant information.
• Lead the team’s contribution to scientific synthesis across Climate Analytics, including internal briefings, external reports, policy-relevant assessments, rapid interpretation of emerging literature and effective contributions to IPCC AR7 and other major scientific assessments.
• Strengthen Climate Analytics’ internal capacity to interpret and communicate new developments in climate science, including physical climate science, overshoot, impacts, uncertainty, tipping risks and regional projections, and counter scientific misinformation in public, media and scientific spaces.
• Work closely with the Climate Policy Team, the Impacts, Adaptation and Loss and Damage Team, the Implementation Strategies Team, the Climate Diplomacy Team, regional offices and communications colleagues so that Climate Analytics’ policy, diplomacy, implementation and regional work is grounded in robust, up-to-date climate science.
• Project Delivery, Portfolio Development and Fundraising
• Lead the team’s development of projects, programmes and proposals in the team’s areas of expertise, building toward scalable, programmatic impact.
• Identify and cultivate strategic funding opportunities and partnerships with research, philanthropic, institutional, bilateral, European and multilateral funders, scientific institutions, modelling groups, universities, and international organisations.
• Support group leads and senior staff in concept development, proposal writing, impact framing, partnership-building and fundraising, while strengthening their capacity to develop and lead high-quality opportunities.
• Ensure cross-team projects, proposals and publications are designed jointly from an early stage, with clear roles, workflows, resourcing, quality assurance and decision points.
• Oversee the team’s portfolio and project delivery, ensuring quality, timeliness, strategic relevance, and financial sustainability.
• External Representation and Stakeholder Engagement
• Represent Climate Analytics externally in the team’s areas of expertise, including scientific conferences, workshops, media engagements, funder meetings and international processes.
• Strengthen Climate Analytics’ visibility and influence on physical climate science, climate pathways, climate services, science synthesis and overshoot.
• Build and maintain relationships with leading scientists, research institutions, modelling groups, international organisations, funders and policy stakeholders.
• Strengthen Climate Analytics’ partnerships with regional scientific institutions and stakeholders in vulnerable countries, ensuring science is co-developed and useful in their contexts.
• Support Climate Analytics’ leadership role in international debates on the Paris Agreement long-term temperature goal, overshoot, climate risk and science-policy relevance and engage substantively in the scientific and public discourse, including under media scrutiny, in collaboration with the Communications Team.
• People Leadership and Team Management
• Lead and manage the team, including line management, mentorship and professional development of group leads and senior staff.
• Foster a high-performing, inclusive and scientifically ambitious team culture that values scientific excellence, clarity, collaboration and accountability.
• Set clear expectations for quality, delivery, publication, fundraising, teamwork and external engagement.
• Recruit, develop and retain outstanding scientists; lead strategic recruitment to identify technical profiles needed to strengthen the team’s scientific capacity.
• Support group leads in workload management, recruitment, onboarding, performance management and staff development.
• Foster a respectful, inclusive culture with zero tolerance for harassment, discrimination or abuse of authority; ensure accountability for team performance against organisational standards, gender parity and diversity objectives.

Your profile

• Required
• Ph D or equivalent research experience in Earth system science, physical climate science, climate modelling, physical climate impacts, or a closely related field.
• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience beyond Ph D or equivalent senior research experience, including substantial scientific leadership.
• Strong publication record and recognised scientific credibility as a lead or senior author.
• Strong scientific networks across research institutions, modelling groups and international climate science communities.
• Demonstrated experience leading scientific teams, research groups or major interdisciplinary programmes.
• Strong understanding of earth/climate system response to GHG forcing, the climate assessment of emissions pathways, of global and regional climate modelling and/or emulators, for assessing the implications of different mitigation pathways for climate outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain scientific integrity and quality assurance across complex outputs and interdisciplinary teams.
• Experience working at the science-policy interface and translating technical science into clear, decision-useful analysis.
• High level ability for communicating on climate science development to and for media, stakeholders and policy makers
• Strong track record of developing proposals, building partnerships and securing external funding - ideally including multi-year grants from competitive source.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Strong management, mentoring and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work across teams, disciplines, cultures and geographies.
• Willingness to travel internationally.
• Desired
• Experience with climate systems emulators such as MAGICC, Fa IR, and/or development and application of impact emulators such as MESMER-X, sea-level rise assessment frameworks, regional climate modelling and tool development.
• Experience with IPCC assessment processes, especially AR6, SR1.5 or AR7-related work.
• Experience with UNFCCC processes, climate negotiations or international policy-facing science.
• Experience supporting SIDS, LDCs or other vulnerable countries with climate science, climate services or decision-support analysis.
• Experience supervising Ph D students or maintaining academic affiliations.
• Experience with open science workflows, reproducible analysis, digital tools, data visualisation or web-based climate information products.
• Additional languages, especially German, French, Spanish, Portuguese.
• Our offer

A job with purpose.

With us you will work in a team of highly engaged people and with your skills you can make a positive contribution to our work in the field of climate change.

We are a diverse and inclusive team and welcome your application regardless of your gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, disability status, citizenship, or any other aspect that makes you unique.

We are working in a positive and inspiring working atmosphere with an international team.

Our Berlin office is located near Moritz Platz in the heart of the lively Kreuzberg, surrounded by a dynamic startup scene.

Moreover, we are offering the following benefits

• Fully funded Germany-wide public transport ticket
• 40 € monthly company contribution to Urban Sports Club membership
• Online mental health and wellbeing platform
• Free German language classes
• Bike rental discount
• Optional company pension plan
• Hybrid office policy and flexible start time
• Conditions

Starting date

As soon as possible

Location

Berlin, Germany

Terms

We are looking for a long-term collaboration. We can offer a fixed-term contract for 2 years, with the perspective of extension based on performance and funding.

Remuneration : Between EUR 103,781 and EUR 114,418 gross annually. You will be placed on the scale according to your years of experience.

Vacation : 29 days paid annual leave + one day gifted around Christmas

Please apply with your CV, cover letter and a list of three references in PDF format exclusively using the application form at the earliest.

Please indicate in your cover letter your earliest start date and your salary expectations.

Applications by email or by post can unfortunately not be processed. We encourage you to apply using the application form.

About us

Climate Analytics is a global climate science and policy institute established in 2008 that delivers cutting-edge science, analysis and support to accelerate climate action and keep global warming below 1.5°C.

Our international team is composed of roughly 170 staff.

Half are based at our headquarters in Berlin, Germany, and the remainder work out of our five regional offices in Africa, Australia & Pacific, the Caribbean, South Asia and North America.

Click here to find out more.