About the Role Riverkin is a VC-backed Swiss startup looking for a star hydrologist to join the team. Flash floods threaten thousands of people and cause millions in damage each year but trustworthy alerts are not possible to come by. This is a real, under-served problem where today's forecasts break down, leaving first responders and municipalities exposed. What You'll Do Build the first flash flood ML model - Define and build the first version of the flash flood ML model, using sensor data we deploy ourselves and public data sources. - You implement models, manage big data sets and monitor performance. - You work with software engineer(s) to embed models into a scalable piece of software. - You are the architect and choose the models, the sensors, and the architecture as we go. Translate Business and Customer Needs into a Technical Roadmap - You'll partner directly with the founders to pull detailed needs out of clients and find the sweet spot between those needs and technical feasibility. - You keep track of new developments in nowcasting and flood forecasting tools and techniques and own an ambitious technical vision - You find the balance between scalable and pragmatic solutions, serving customers from day 1 while working towards a long term strategy. Represent the team on all fronts - You're comfortable doing a sensor install on a Tuesday and a customer pitch on a Wednesday. - You are supportive within the team, while standing up for what you believe is best for the customer or company strategy. - You are an opinionated contributor to key strategic decisions in the company. Create Clarity and Momentum - Bring structure to ambiguous problems and drive them to execution. - Make decisions and move forward without waiting for perfect information. Who You Are - You're excited to solve flash flooding at the local scale - You want to build a company and you're hungry to act like a founder from day one - You want to have skin in the game - You enjoy being a hands-on - Can take messy inputs and turn them into clear technical direction - Can move fast, but with enough structure to avoid future pain - Care deeply about building something that actually works in the real world - An excellent communicator, with strong written and verbal skills Technical Requirements - Strong experience applying ML tools (e.g. LSTM) to hydrological problems (e.g. flooding) - Experience in bias correction of weather radar - MSc or PhD in hydrology, water resources management, atmospheric sciences, or equivalent - Experience working with real-world data systems (gauges, GIS, satellite imagery, etc.) Nice to Have - Previous founder or early startup experience Role Details - Commitment: 100% FTE. - Compensation: Commensurate with experience + equity - Growth: this is a key early hire with the opportunity to build and lead Riverkin’s flash-flood modelling function. - Location: 4 days per week in Zurich office About Riverkin We are a well-capitalized startup building real-time sensing and data infrastructure for rivers. Our own field-deployed sensors collect live water-level and sediment data, while our platform turns that data into decision-ready insights for customers. We work across two core use cases: hydropower, where better sediment data can support flushing, asset protection and compliance; and flash-flood risk, where local river data can help first responders and municipalities understand what is happening before conditions become critical. We are a small, hands-on Swiss startup working across hydrology, hardware, field engineering, software and market development. To apply email a brief motivation and CV to [email protected]