About the job

Job summary

The Met Office is delighted to open our advertising for a number of progressive Industrial Placements, which will commence from July 2024 until July 2025.

What we are offering

We’re looking for 2 exceptional Cyber Security - Industrial Placement 2024 to help us make a difference to our planet.

As our Cyber Security - Industrial Placement 2024 you will work a hybrid pattern and will be on site at Exeter HQ. The ratio between remote and in-person working is flexible, however the role does require being on site at our Exeter HQ for working collaboratively in person (usually at least once a month).

Our opportunity is full time, 37 hours per week. Our people are at the heart of what we do and we'll do our best to agree a working pattern that works for everyone

Who we are:

We provide critical weather services and world-leading climate science to deliver extraordinary impact and benefit across the globe. Our work helps people make better decisions to stay safe and thrive.

Our Industrial Placement scheme offers ambitious and capable undergraduates the opportunity to gain valuable experience working alongside diverse and highly skilled experts in their field. You’ll be working on projects that really matter and will make a difference.

Together:

• We’re a force for good - focusing on our environmental and social impact
• We’re experts by nature - always learning and developing to do things better
• We live and breathe it - putting our purpose at the heart of decision-making
• We’re better together - understanding partnerships and inclusivity make us greater
• We keep evolving - pushing boundaries to make tomorrow better for our customers

Find out more about our values - https://bit.ly/3fokaRD

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Met Office on a 12-month Year In Industry placement, developing your skills and knowledge and ensuring you gain the most value possible from your experience with us. You will have the opportunity to network with our cohort of Industrial Placements all over the Met Office and understand what career opportunities we can offer you after you graduate.

You will be working in our Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) helping to keep the Met Office safe. You will gain valuable experience of operational monitoring, incident investigation and giving users advice and guidance. You will also help us progress our backlog of improvement activities. This is an excellent opportunity to develop and apply your knowledge and skills in cyber security.

You will be supported by a task manager in the appropriate area, alongside a mentor who will stay with you for the entire placement. Your mentor will also be helping you with your project.

As our Cyber Security - Industrial Placement 2024, responsibilities include:

• Cyber Security Knowledge: Build knowledge of new and existing security tooling and the wide range of technology and services that the Met Office operates.
• Security Monitoring: Assist with triaging alerts raised by the security monitoring systems that CSOC maintain, developing a level of autonomy to investigate alerts and hunt for threats.
• Monitoring Improvements: Improve our monitoring systems by developing new alerts and fine-tuning existing alerts, ensuring they are clearly documented.
• Incident Response: Shadow the response and investigation of security incidents, working with experienced analysts to assess impact and take appropriate measures to contain and mitigate them. Help identify root causes to avoid similar incidents happening in the future.
• Incident Response Preparation: Help CSOC analysts to ensure that the Met Office has the capability to respond effectively to cyber security incidents through incident response planning and cyber exercising.
• Threat Intelligence: Learn about cyber threats and attack techniques. Assist with incorporating threat intelligence into security practices and cascading to relevant stakeholders.
• Cyber Security Improvements: Assist with Identifying and implementing improvements across Met Office IT Infrastructure to enhance protection from ever-evolving threats. This includes vulnerability management, secure configuration, and protective control improvements.
• Placement Project: Deliver a project of your design with the aim of helping improve the Met Office’s security posture.

Person specification

Essential Qualifications, Skills & Abilities:

1. Studying an undergraduate degree in Cyber Security/Computing or equivalent which MUST incorporate a placement year (i.e. sandwich course).
2. Demonstrate a keen interest in Cyber Security and Technology (we do not expect you to be an expert, but we do want someone that is curious, motivated and willing to learn).
3. Cyber security is truly a team effort, and we are looking for someone who is keen to collaborate with and support others. Provide evidence of good communication and interpersonal skills. (Better together)
4. Evidence of applying problem solving skills to complex situations. We are interested in how you approach problems, and how you balance individual autonomy with seeking help from others. (Keep evolving)
5. Good time management skills, including the ability to effectively organise and prioritise your own work in order to meet objectives.
6. Awareness of legal, ethical and professional conduct considerations in cyber security, especially in the context of carrying out monitoring and investigations.

Desirable Qualifications, Skills & Abilities:

We encourage you to apply if you believe you meet our essential criteria, but we’re also keen to discover if you have:

1. Awareness of network technology, operating systems and other areas of IT.
2. Awareness of protective / defensive (blue team) tools, such as antivirus, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, endpoint detection and response, logging and SIEM solutions.

Benefits

Why join us?

We invest in our people to unlock their full potential. As our Cyber Security - Industrial Placement 2024, we will support you to develop and thrive to be the best you can be.  We champion positive physical and mental health in the workplace and are committed to being an inclusive organisation, providing a working culture that actively values an equal and diverse workforce. 

As our Cyber Security - Industrial Placement 2024, your starting salary will be £25606.00.

Whilst this is a temporary position until July 2025, there is potential for it to develop into an opportunity to join our Graduate Development scheme once you complete your University studies.

Your package includes: 
- Flexible hours and homeworking 
- 27.5 days annual leave (plus Bank Holidays)
- Access to discounted shopping, inclusive of retail, leisure and lifestyle brands

Things you need to know

Selection process details

How to apply:

If you share our values, we’d love to hear from you. Apply by clicking the link below and complete the application form making sure to provide evidence in your examples how you meet each of the essential criteria - we recommend candidates use the CARL (Context, Action, Result and Learning) method for presenting evidence of skills and taking a read through the application tips document attached to the bottom of this advert.

Closing date 21/01/2024 at 23:59 with interviews commencing from 20/02/2024. Please note we often receive a high volume of applications but we will contact everyone who applies once the closing date has passed.

If successful, please note we are unable to offer expenses for travel to your normal place of work. This post is contractually aligned to Exeter HQ, please ask at interview if you would like extra clarity on how often this requirement is likely to be.

How we can help:

If you are considering applying and need support to do so, please contact us via askHR@metoffice.gov.uk. You can request adjustments either within your application or by contacting us. Should you be offered an interview, please be aware there may be a selection exercise which could include a presentation, written test or a scenario-based activity. You can select in your application to be considered under the Disability Confident Scheme. To be invited to interview/assessment under this scheme, your application must meet the essential criteria for the role.

We understand that great minds don’t always think alike and as an equal opportunities employer we welcome applications from those with all protected characteristics. We recruit on merit, fairness, and open competition in line with the Civil Service Code.

We can only accept applications from those eligible to live and work in the UK - please refer to GOV.UK for information. We require Security clearance, for which you need to have resided in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years to be eligible. You will need to achieve full security clearance within your first 6 months with us

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.