About the job

Job summary

We’re looking for an exceptional Scientist - Climate Extremes to help us make a difference to our planet.

As our Scientist - Climate Extremes you will work a hybrid pattern of home working and on site at our Exeter HQ. You can choose to work more frequently in our state-of-the-art office if you'd prefer. 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?

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 Scientist - Climate Extremes , 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 Scientist - Climate Extremes , your starting salary will be £32100.00. New joiners to the Met Office will start on the salary band minimum.

New joiners to the Met Office will start on the salary band minimum. Our 2022-25 pay award means the salary will increase to £33,794.00 from 1st April 2024, and you will be able to progress towards £36,235.00 over time.

Your total reward package is potentially worth up to £44,696.00 annually, which includes basic salary, potential corporate bonus and employer pension contributions.

Your package includes:
- Outstanding Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
- 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 to support healthy, low carbon travel
- Access to discounted shopping, inclusive of retail, leisure and lifestyle brands

Job description

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 Purpose:

As our Scientist - Climate Extremes you will make an important contribution to the science behind our national climate projections, understanding the role of large-scale circulation drivers on future weather extremes, and using this information to provide explanations of the projections to users and ways to aid adaptation decisions. You will work as part of the Ensemble Climate Projection team and develop collaborations with a wide range of scientists including seasonal and decadal forecasters, and providers of weather services. Your key responsibilities are:

• focus on the drivers of year-to-year variability and how these evolve under climate change, as well as the long-term climate change drivers of circulation.
• keep abreast of topical extreme weather, what is driving it, and use these events as a context for understanding and describing future events. Relevant drivers will also be identified by understanding those that cause rapid transitions in the local-scale extremes seen in our regional very high-resolution projections for the UK.
• analyse observations and global models across a range of resolutions to understand how well these models capture these processes you have identified, and how any systematic deficiencies affect future weather extremes going beyond modelled ranges.
• explore a number of ways to do this, for example, causal networks, analogues, and more detailed tracking of small-scale meteorology that can enhance the extreme.

Person specification

Essential Qualifications, Skills & Abilities:

1. Postgraduate research experience in physical or environmental science (e.g. PhD) or demonstration of equivalent experience (We’re experts by nature).
2. Demonstrated interest in climate science and enthusiasm for using it to benefit society (We live and breathe it).
3. Evidence of experience in processing, analysing and interpreting data from observations and/or numerical simulations to gain new scientific insight (We’re experts by nature).
4. Demonstrated experience of writing computer code in Python (or other similar coding language) to process and/or analyse scientific data.
5. Evidence of the ability to work in a team to successfully deliver a common goal (We’re better together).
6. Evidence of good communication skills (written, oral, presentation and listening).

 

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. Experience in large-scale atmospheric dynamics.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,100, Met Office contributes £27 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 a Cover Letter/Supporting Statement which evidences 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.

Closing date 21/01/2024 at 23:59 with interviews commencing from 19/02/2024. You will hear from us 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 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.

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.