About the job

Job summary

Our reward package:

We’re looking for exceptional Scientific Software Engineers to help us make a difference to our planet.

This job may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in the office at our Exeter HQ 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, but we would also consider applicants wishing to work a minimum of 3 days per week / 22.2 hours per week and we will also try our best to consider those intending to work a job share.  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.

Why join us?

We invest in our people to unlock their full potential. As our Scientific Software Engineer, 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 a Scientific Software Engineer, your starting salary will be £33,559 and you will have opportunities to progress progress towards £36000.00 over time. New joiners to the Met Office will start on the salary band minimum.

In addition, you will be paid a market supplement of £2,200 per annum to reflect the demand for your skills. You will be paid this market driven allowance from April 2024 until September 2025 in your monthly pay whilst performing this role.

Your total reward package is potentially worth up to £46,658 annually, which includes basic salary, potential corporate bonus and employer pension contributions.

Your package includes:

• Outstanding Civil Service Pension
• Flexible hours and homeworking
• Annual Leave starting at 27.5 days (plus Bank Holidays) rising to 32.5 days (plus Bank Holidays) after 5 years and option to buy or sell up to 5 days per year of annual leave
• Cycle to work scheme for the purchase of a bicycle and equipment for healthy, low carbon travel
• Access to discounted shopping on a range of retail, leisure and lifestyle categories

Job description

Who we are:

We provide critical weather services and world-leading climate science, to help 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

Who we are:

We provide critical weather services and world-leading climate science, to help 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 Purpose:

As a Scientific Software Engineer you will be part of a large community of over 100 Scientific Software Engineers, supporting and enabling cutting-edge science at the Met Office.

The SSE role is a varied one, with many opportunities for development, progression and finding new challenges both within the SSE career family and beyond. Our SSEs develop innovative software solutions, provide technical support and oversee quality assurance processes with the common aim of developing and supporting scientific applications. Some SSEs have developed expertise in their chosen area: from HPC optimisation to coupled model simulations. Other SSEs maintain a broader set of skills which alongside their understanding of scientists’ needs enables them to contribute their data and software skills to a wide range of scientific applications. It is a broad family with members from a very wide range of backgrounds – not surprising given the role exists at the edge of many disciplines: Software Engineering, Computer Science, Data Engineering, Physical Sciences, Earth System Modelling, and Mathematics to name a few.

Being a Scientific Software Engineer is about far more than just technical skills – you will need to be able to work alongside colleagues in a range of areas, both technical and scientific. We frequently require our SSEs to collaborate internally and internationally.

We encourage all our SSEs to develop their skills – we provide training and development opportunities across technical, project and soft skills.

We are currently in a major push to develop our Next Generation Modelling Systems, to help exploit our new world-leading supercomputer capability and to support our adoption of data science (specifically artificial intelligence and machine learning) across our national capability, and all our SSEs will be working towards this in some form.

Next Generation Modelling Systems

Met Office Supercomputer

Met Office Data Science Framework

Person specification

Essential Qualifications, Skills & Abilities:

1. Show technical insight through delivery of significant advances in software capability by the effective application of technical knowledge, understanding and skills (We're experts by nature)
2. Engage with others to understand the requirements for your work and its wider context, and contribute to the development of plans to meet these requirements
3. Apply good Quality Assurance processes, best practice, standards and/or regulations in your work
4. Communicate knowledge accurately and concisely in written documents and group discussions, tailoring communication for diverse audiences and building trust / credibility† (We're better together)
5. Proactively develop your skills and support others in developing their skills, leading to beneficial impacts

† At SSE level, the role often requires interacting with a written issue tracking system, documenting your work, and having technical discussions in a range of contexts (from one-to-one to medium-sized groups). This may be achieved using assistive technology.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £33,559, Met Office contributes £9,094 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

How to apply:

If you share our values, we’d love to hear from you. Apply below using your CV and Cover Letter/Supporting Statement (which must bullet point how you meet each of the essential criteria). 

If you are unsure which level (Foundation, SSE, Senior) you would be best suited for, do apply for multiple roles! We also welcome applications from returners post career break and people changing career path.

Closing date 17/03/2024 at 23:59 with interviews commencing from 08/04/2024 . 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. 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 assistance 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 (Guaranteed Interview) Scheme. To be invited to interview/assessment under this scheme, your application must meet the essential criteria for the role. 

We are an equal opportunities employer, welcoming 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 undergo a criminal record check. 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. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.