Head of Atmospheric Research
About the job
- Set the scientific strategy for evaluating atmospheric conditions, selecting deployment windows, interpreting results, and improving operating criteria.
- Integrate forecasts, historical datasets, soundings, radar, satellite imagery, surface observations, and field-sensor data into clear scientific assessments.
- Review data before, during, and after deployments; compare predicted and observed conditions, identify important differences, and communicate conclusions and uncertainty.
- Work with science, software, and field teams to improve observation methods, data quality, operational prediction, and post-deployment analysis.
- Lead the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) modeling program for deployment planning, atmospheric prediction, scenario analysis, and post-deployment review.
- Architect WRF data assimilation using WRF Data Assimilation (WRFDA), the Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART), or similar frameworks.
- Integrate standard meteorological observations and data from monitoring and deployment hardware to improve model initial conditions and predictions.
- Build an operational modeling chain that ingests historical, forecast, and observational data for high-resolution WRF simulations.
- Evaluate artificial intelligence and machine learning weather models and emulators for prediction, model acceleration, and operational decision support.
- Develop cloud and high-performance computing workflows for model execution, data management, analysis, and visualization.
- Set technical priorities and communicate scientific findings, limitations, and uncertainty to company leadership and external research partners.
- Recruit, mentor, and lead atmospheric scientists, meteorologists, data scientists, and scientific software engineers as the company grows.
- Build productive relationships with universities, national laboratories, research institutions, and other scientific partners.
- Broad experience in atmospheric science, meteorology, weather prediction, numerical weather prediction, or atmospheric research.
- Extensive experience configuring, running, and analyzing WRF; experience contributing to WRF development is valuable.
- Experience implementing WRFDA, DART, or similar data assimilation systems for research or operational use.
- Strong knowledge of boundary layer meteorology, cloud microphysics, convective initiation, precipitation processes, and mesoscale atmospheric dynamics.
- Experience interpreting forecasts and observations from radar, satellite, soundings, surface stations, or other meteorological systems.
- Prior experience with artificial intelligence and machine learning weather modeling, weather emulators, or related atmospheric applications.
- Experience running numerical weather prediction models in Linux, cloud computing, or high-performance computing environments.
- Deep experience with meteorological datasets and formats such as NetCDF and GRIB.
- Strong Python skills and working knowledge of Fortran, C++, or similar scientific computing languages.
- Experience leading technical teams, setting scientific priorities, and communicating complex results to technical and nontechnical audiences.
- Ability to manage competing priorities, meet deadlines, and work effectively in a fast-changing startup environment.
- Hands-on experience deploying, operating, troubleshooting, or interpreting data from meteorological field equipment.
- Experience with Doppler light detection and ranging (lidar) systems, weather radar, radiometers, radiosondes, disdrometers, ceilometers, or surface weather stations.
- Experience with field campaigns, environmental monitoring, or deployment operations in the Southwest United States.
- Experience at a national laboratory, research university, government weather organization, or artificial intelligence weather company.
About the company
Roadrunner Venture Studios partners with leading scientists to co-found deep-tech startups in Energy, Space, Clean Tech, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, Quantum, and High Performance Computing. They engage at the earliest idea stages—whiteboard sketches or initial concepts—and rapidly move from concept to a venture-ready company by shaping the product, business, and team while securing initial funding. Unlike traditional incubators, they provide an end-to-end starter kit: a functioning company with a founding team, initial customers, and seed capital. Their goal is to turn kernel ideas into venture-backed growth engines that can scale into market-ready businesses.
Company Size
11-50
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
$4.4M
Headquarters
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Founded
2022
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- September 2026 tenants include Diraq, IonQ, Quantum Machines, QBoltz, Photon Queue, QuEra.
- QuEra's $4 million testbed and Photon Queue's $500,000 grant validate demand.
- Playground Global, QuEra, and Quantum Catalyzer deepen Roadrunner's network and deal flow.
What critics are saying
- Roadrunner depends on New Mexico grants and political support after 2026 budget cycles.
- Quantum startups like Diraq, IonQ, and QuEra can relocate if incentives weaken.
- If tenant conversions stall, the studio becomes an expensive real-estate subsidy.
What makes Roadrunner Venture Studios unique
- Roadrunner opened Albuquerque's 35,000-square-foot Quantum Lab on September 29, 2026.
- It combines Sandia, Los Alamos, and commercial tenants under one commercialization engine.
- New Mexico selected Roadrunner to run the state's quantum venture-studio platform.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Company Equity
Flexible Work Hours
Conference Attendance Budget
Professional Development Budget
Company News
Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger addressed the Roadrunner Technology Forum in New Mexico, urging companies to embrace artificial intelligence, quantum computing and robotics despite potential job displacement. Gelsinger, who led Intel from 2021 to 2024 and oversaw the expansion of its Rio Rancho factory, is now a partner at Playground Global, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm with $1.2 billion in assets under management. The forum followed the opening of Roadrunner's quantum lab in Downtown Albuquerque, backed by a $25 million state grant. New Mexico's State Investment Council has committed $85 million to Playground Global and up to $50 million to Roadrunner Venture Studios, an Albuquerque-based venture studio investing in deep-tech startups.
Roadrunner Quantum Lab has opened in Albuquerque's Innovation District, welcoming its first twelve tenants to a 35,000-square-foot facility. The lab is part of New Mexico's $450 million commitment to quantum technology. Supported by the State of New Mexico, the facility provides lab space, specialised equipment, and access to researchers. Tenants include quantum companies Diraq, IonQ, Quantum Machines, Conductor Quantum, Mesa Quantum, QBoltz, Photon Queue, QuEra, and Manzano Systems. Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory will help operate the Quantum Demonstration Facility on-site. Elevate Quantum, the federally designated quantum Tech Hub for New Mexico and Colorado, will establish testing and workforce development capabilities at the location. Roadrunner Venture Studios operates the facility, selected by the state to establish and run a quantum venture studio.
Roadrunner Quantum Lab opens in Albuquerque with IonQ, Diraq and QuEra among Initial tenants. September 29, 2026 Press play to listen to this content ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Sept. 29, 2026 - Roadrunner Venture Studios and New Mexico's Technology and Innovation Office (TIO) today debuted the Roadrunner Quantum Lab (RQL) Powered by the State of New Mexico. Built in Albuquerque's Innovation District, the new 35,000-square-foot facility will be an anchor for New Mexico's $450M commitment to quantum, granting essential access to resources such as lab space, specialized equipment, and collaborations with leading researchers. "The Roadrunner Quantum Lab cements New Mexico's place at the forefront of quantum research in America," said Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. "It's paying off in high-paying jobs and meaningful opportunities for New Mexicans to lead at the cutting edge of quantum technology." The RQL has already attracted leading quantum information science companies to the space to build alongside new startups and researchers. These companies include Diraq, IonQ, Quantum Machines, Conductor Quantum, Mesa Quantum, QBoltz, Photon Queue, QuEra, and Manzano Systems as well as Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Elevate Quantum, and the Quantum New Mexico Institute. "New Mexico has been a home for quantum information science for decades, and it's now emerging as a place where quantum companies can grow and thrive," said David Kistin, the Director of the Roadrunner Quantum Lab. "The RQL is helping bring together researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, and industry partners to build a stronger quantum ecosystem across the Southwest." The lab is a direct result of the State of New Mexico's selection of Roadrunner Venture Studios and its coalition partners to establish and operate a quantum venture studio. "New Mexico doesn't just talk about the future of quantum; we build the room where it happens," said Economic Development New Mexico Secretary Rob Black. "The Roadrunner Quantum Lab gives quantum startups access to the infrastructure, equipment and connections they need to turn breakthrough research into companies, products and high-skill jobs here in New Mexico." Initial tenants at the RQL include: * Diraq * IonQ * Sandia National Laboratories * Los Alamos National Laboratory * Quantum Machines * QBoltz * Mesa Quantum * Elevate Quantum * QuEra Computing * Conductor Quantum * Photon Queue * Manzano Systems * Noblespace "A year ago, we set out to prove that New Mexico could turn decades of research strength into real companies and real jobs," said TIO Director Nora Meyers Sackett. "Today that promise has walls, equipment, and startups walking through the door. This is what we mean when we say, 'Next starts here.'" To support the work of the studio and RQL, Roadrunner organized a New Mexico quantum coalition last year, which includes nearly a dozen partners spanning national laboratories (Sandia, Los Alamos), private industry (QuEra Computing, Maybell, Qunnect, Resonance), academic institutions (University of New Mexico) and venture capital firms (DCVC, Playground Global, Quantonation). To find out more about the facility, visit its website at roadrunnerquantumlab.com. About Roadrunner Venture Studios Roadrunner is the nation's first venture studio purpose-built for hard science company creation. The studio works with national labs, research institutions, and venture capital firms to turn research in advanced energy, robotics, precision manufacturing, and quantum into scalable, venture-backable companies. For more information, visit www.roadrunnerventurestudios.com. The U.S. Department of Energy is launching a competition with up to $215 million in planned... OpenAI says one of its AI systems has solved a math problem that has stumped... Quantum practitioners should stop wondering if quantum computer hardware is ready soon and start worrying... IBM has made its Nighthawk r2 quantum processor available through the IBM Quantum Platform, with... The recently launched Genesis Mission includes a wide range of projects aimed at using advanced... Scientists running large simulations can end up with terabytes of data that then has to...
Four quantum firms join ABQ-Net to validate defense and security Technologies. Four commercial quantum companies - Infleqtion, Aliro Technologies, Tensora, and Bandelier Technologies - have officially signed on to leverage ABQ-Net, the first open-access, entanglement-based quantum network testbed in the United States. Built by Brooklyn-based quantum networking developer Qunnect in partnership with Roadrunner Venture Studios and supported by the New Mexico Technology and Innovation Office, ABQ-Net gives founders live metropolitan fiber testing environments to develop and validate physics-based security, distributed sensing, and network protocols without investing in capital-intensive internal infrastructure. The network forms a core operational pillar of New Mexico's broader $450 million state initiative to accelerate quantum technology commercialization. The inaugural cohort will deploy distinct quantum hardware and software workloads across ABQ-Net's live metro fiber pathways. Infleqtion will integrate its atomic clocks with entangled photons to validate ultra-precise timing synchronization for defense applications, including missile defense and autonomous systems. Aliro Technologies is deploying its AlirOS KeyGen stack alongside Qunnect's entanglement distribution hardware to demonstrate real-time, physics-based secure key generation. Tensora is utilizing the network's unique datasets to advance quantum-inspired geosensing approaches for geological deformation and infrastructure monitoring, while Santa Fe-based Bandelier Technologies will evaluate the convergence of quantum entanglement and custom AI models to harden defense and critical infrastructure networks. Natively powered by Qunnect's room-temperature Carina entanglement generation and dynamic fiber-phase stabilization hardware, ABQ-Net's initial anchor nodes link Qunnect's downtown Albuquerque facility with the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) - a U.S. Department of Energy site jointly operated by Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Supported by state economic development efforts, the open-access network is structured for future physical expansion to connect adjacent regional hubs, including the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the University of New Mexico, and Central New Mexico Community College. July 28, 2026
Photon Queue, a quantum technology startup spun out of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has raised $4 million in seed funding. The company plans to use the capital to scale its quantum technology operations. Following the funding round, the startup has chosen to establish its presence in Chicago as it pursues its growth strategy. The decision positions the company within a major technology hub whilst maintaining ties to its university origins in Illinois. The funding will support the commercialisation of the company's quantum technology platform as it works to expand its operations and develop its product offerings in the emerging quantum computing sector.