About the job

Job summary

The Met Office is delighted to open our advertising for a number of apprenticeships, which will commence in September 2024:

What we are offering

Would you like to work for the Met Office? Are you interested in the Digital profession? The Level 4 Network Engineer Apprenticeship can offer you the support, training, and industry recognised qualifications to get you on the path to a career in the Digital profession.

The Met Office is recruiting for 1, Level 4 Network Engineering apprentice in Exeter.

As our Level 4 Network Engineer Apprenticeship, the job may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in the office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and the location advertised will be your contractual place of work.

Our opportunity is full time, 37 hours per week,.

Why join us?

The Met Office is accredited as a 'Great Place to Work UK 2023' and in addition has achieved a place on both the UK's 'Best Workplaces in Tech' and 'Best Workplaces for Women' lists.

We invest in our people to unlock their full potential. As our Level 4 Network Engineer Apprenticeship, 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. 

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.

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

Job Purpose:

We would look for you to join us in September with your apprenticeship training beginning the same month. Working hours are typically 9am - 5pm and you would have 1 day per week dedicated to your 20% off-the-job training.

Working towards the level 4 Network Engineer standard apprenticeship, the training will be delivered as effectively as possible for your learning style possibly including online as well as self-study, so candidates need to have a passion for their own development as well as be committed to the training and opportunities available.

You will be managed by one line manager and have one mentor to offer further support. In addition to the formal training with a registered training provider, you will also have in house training and on the job experience.

You will have the opportunity to spend 18 months working with the Network Services team who provide data and voice communication services to the Met Office. The team is responsible for a range of services including LAN, WAN, private circuits, Internet, and voice services. In addition, the team provides a range of other services such as load balancing, security, and web filtering. This role will allow you to develop your knowledge, skills and understanding whilst contributing to the Met Office aims. You will also gain a nationally recognised qualification on successful completion of the programme. This apprenticeship is an exciting chance to see first-hand how the Network Services team supports the Met Office, as well as make a real impact in something the Met Office truly values.

As our Level 4 Network Engineer Apprenticeship , the key duties are:

• Install, document, maintain and troubleshoot networking equipment.
• Assist in the supervision of network engineering works at Exeter HQ and remotely.
• Responding to and resolving incidents, investigating, and diagnosing network problems and working with users, other technical staff, and suppliers as appropriate.
• Implement changes as required by the business to meet the demands of systems delivery, including switch, load balancer and firewall configuration.
• The maintenance of local and wide area networks for the delivery of weather data and enterprise communications.
• Work closely with the lead network specialists and other IT experts within the Met Office.

Person specification

Essential Qualifications, Skills & Abilities:

We are looking for people who:

1. Self-motivating with a real passion for Network and IT technologies. (keep evolving)
2. Demonstrates evidence of good oral and written communication skills. (better together)
3. Has effective analytical and problem-solving skills
4. Can plan and organise work using your own initiative.
5. Has a keen interest in IT and keeps up to date with current and future IT developments. (expert by nature)
6. Level 3 Qualification in a related subject (apprenticeship/A levels/BTEC etc) OR equivalent work experience

Desirable Qualifications, Skills & Abilities:

We encourage you to apply if you believe you meet our essential criteria, but your application will be even stronger if you have:

1. A general understanding of programming languages and interacting with Application Programming Interfaces (API)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £22,911, Met Office contributes £6,185 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

Am I eligible to apply?:

In addition to the criteria listed above, you must also be eligible to qualify for apprenticeship funding by meeting the following:

1. Not be enrolled on another funded apprenticeship or another funded further education or higher education programme at the time you start this apprenticeship
2. Are applying for an apprenticeship that is unrelated to any qualifications you already hold at the same or higher level than this apprenticeship

How do I apply?

If you share our values, we’d love to hear from you. Please click the link below and complete the application form, making sure to include evidence demonstrating 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. You may also like to take a look at our application tips sheet attached to the bottom of this advert.

Closing date 27/03/2024 at 23:59 with interviews commencing from 07/05/2024. You will hear from us once the closing date has passed. Our interviews are taking place remotely via Microsoft Teams.

If successful, please note we are unable to offer expenses for travel to your normal place of work.

How we can help:

If you are considering applying and need support to do so, please contact us via careers@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.

Additional information:

We operate an on-call roster in Technology to provide 24/7/365 support to respond to operational service requirements. This post may be part of an on-call roster and the postholder would be required to participate in an on-call roster where in operation.

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.