My career in meteorology-focused software development has been shaped by two deeply formative experiences — first at MeteoSwiss, and later at Meteomatics AG in St. Gallen. What began with high-performance scientific computing gradually evolved into leading teams and products that empower users around the world with weather insights.
Meteomatics AG: From Developer to Product Lead #
When I joined Meteomatics AG at the beginning of 2020, I stepped into a C++ developer role — but my responsibilities quickly expanded, and I eventually became team lead and product manager for all web-based meteorological customer applications.
Here are a few key highlights from that time:
Web Infrastructure Overhaul #
I led a comprehensive rewrite of our in-house C++ webservers, focused on both performance and standards compliance. This work improved our server response times and improved maintainability.
To modernize our development workflow, I introduced Docker across our backend services. Containerization helped us standardize build environments, streamline deployments, and improve the reliability of our CI/CD pipelines.
In parallel, I was responsible for selecting the technology stack for our non-C++ backend services. I chose FastAPI as our primary backend framework due to its modern interfaces, developer ergonomics, and built-in OpenAPI specification support. This made it easier to document and share API interfaces within the team, reducing friction and accelerating integration efforts across projects.
Interactive Maps on Public Websites #
We brought real-time interactive weather maps to one of the top weather websites in Germany. While Meteomatics already had a WMS-based implementation, most modern JavaScript mapping libraries like MapLibre or Leaflet support only WMTS-style web tiling. I created the technical foundation for a web-tiling-based solution, effectively bridging this compatibility gap.
This system enabled dynamic loading of meteorological layers at multiple zoom levels, allowing users to explore high-resolution weather data interactively. To support secure and performant delivery, we used Cloudflare Workers to implement both authentication against the Meteomatics API and intelligent caching. This edge-deployed approach ensured fast, secure, and scalable access for thousands of concurrent users.
An earlier demonstrator used a Python proxy to grant access to the Meteomatics API (a version is still available here).
MetX: Modern Weather Visualization #
Following the success of our work on interactive maps on public websites, I took on the role of product manager and lead developer for MetX, Meteomatics’ flagship weather visualization tool. My earlier experience at MeteoSwiss, where I worked on the C++ dynamical core, was invaluable in informing the application’s design — particularly in understanding how to represent meteorological models and data meaningfully for end users.
During my time at MeteoSwiss, I also had the opportunity to observe firsthand how professional forecasters interact with weather data — insights that deeply shaped the user experience and feature set of MetX.
MetX allows users to layer multiple types of weather data — including base maps, GeoJSON overlays, and live data points — within a single, highly interactive interface. A core part of our work was the development of a flexible URL creator with a structured description of meteorological variables, enabling precise, sharable, and customizable data configurations.
The result was a tool that balances scientific depth with accessibility, empowering both experts and casual users to explore complex weather data with clarity and precision.
Here are a couple of screenshots from 2021 where we showcased a couple of features:
More information about MetX can be found here.
OAuth 2.1 Authentication Infrastructure #
Security was a top priority. I led the implementation and integration of an OAuth 2.1 authentication system across our web-based applications. A key motivation was to enable the generation of time-based access tokens, which were essential for secure, client-side interaction between MetX and the Meteomatics API.
This infrastructure not only ensured fine-grained, temporary access control for embedded applications like MetX but also laid the groundwork for a scalable and secure identity layer across the entire Meteomatics ecosystem.
Lessons in Tech and Leadership #
Transitioning from deep technical roles into product and team leadership taught me how to connect the dots between code, users, and vision. Whether building simulation engines or customer-facing applications, I’ve learned that true impact happens when technical excellence meets thoughtful product design and clear communication.
I’m grateful for both chapters — at MeteoSwiss, where I learned to build robust scientific systems, and at Meteomatics AG, where I brought those skills to life in customer-facing products.