About the job

Job summary

Our reward package:

We’re looking for an exceptional Senior Stakeholder Relationship Manager to help us make a difference to our planet.

As our Senior Stakeholder Relationship Manager, you will be based at Exeter HQ. This 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, but we would also consider applicants wishing to work a minimum of 4 days per week and we will also consider applications from job share partnerships.  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 Senior Stakeholder Relationship Manager, 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 Senior Stakeholder Relationship Manager, your starting salary will be £49149.00. New joiners to the Met Office will start on the salary band minimum. Our 2022-25 pay award means the salary will increase to £52799.00 from 1st April 2024, and you will be able to progress towards £56738.00 over time.

Your total reward package is potentially worth up to £67622.00 annually, which includes basic salary, potential corporate bonus and employer pension contributions.

Relocation Assistance may be available.

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:

The job sits within the Met Office’s Stakeholders team. We are a small, friendly and very well regarded team delivering important corporate functions for the Met Office. These include handling ministerial and parliamentary business, managing relationships with key stakeholders and raising awareness of the Met Office across government to ensure the greatest benefit can be drawn from its capabilities and services. The team also plays an important role in providing insights on external developments to inform decision making and help the Met Office support key government priorities.

The job holder is a key part of the Met Office’s relationship with its owning department DSIT and works closely with colleagues in our sponsor team there – a strong and positive relationship for both organisations. The job holder also works with the Chief Executive in some key areas, including support to the Met Office Executive Board and leads on a range of activities related to the Met Office’s duties as a public body.

The team’s work looks across the full breadth of what the Met Office does and so offers unparalleled opportunity to get involved in a fascinating range of topics and develop valuable experience in a positive working environment.

The responsibilities of this job include:

• Proactively building and maintaining relationships with the DSIT sponsor team and other relevant DSIT teams on matters relating to Met Office ownership and ministerial interest.
• Preparing ministerial submissions and responses to briefing requests from DSIT ministers and other senior stakeholders, working with subject matter experts and the Executive Board as required.
• Playing a leading role on Parliamentary Business, drafting responses to Parliamentary Questions and correspondence and providing advice and guidance on handling.
• Acting as focal point for co-ordinating and responding to important cross-cutting government commissions and briefing requests. For example, the current post holder played a leading role on the Met Office’s recent Public Bodies Review.
• Operating as a trusted, expert advisor on matters of propriety and ethics, providing guidance to enable Met Office staff to carry out their work objectively and impartially, in accordance with the standards of behaviour set out in the civil service code.
• Providing strategic support to the Met Office Executive Board and ensuring the effective running of Exec Board meetings.
• Providing flexible support on urgent activities, corporate priorities or particular topics of in-year focus.

Person specification

Essential Qualifications, Skills & Abilities:

1. Strong written and oral communications skills will help a candidate to thrive in this role, preferably with experience of writing briefing for ministers or parliamentary business.
2. Excellent relationship management skills: experienced in building and maintaining successful working relationships with a network of senior internal and external stakeholders.
3. Sound judgement: strong analytical skills and the ability to understand issues, implications and sensitivities, and to develop clear recommendations based on these.
4. Highly organised: enjoys a fast-moving environment and has an ability to rapidly prioritise and deliver short notice tasks while keeping track of wider deliverables.
5. Government knowledge: Good understanding of how departments work, for example the submissions process and how parliamentary business is delivered.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £49,149, Met Office contributes £67,622 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 17/03/2024 at 23:59 with interviews commencing from 01/04/2024. 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

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission. 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.