About the job

Job summary

Our reward package:

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

As our Strategic Stakeholder Relationship Manager you will work a hybrid pattern, attending the office for occasional major directorate and team meetings as well as to support team priorities such as ad-hoc high profile government and parliament visits on site in Exeter. You can choose to work more frequently in our state-of-the-art office if you'd prefer.

This post is nominally based in Exeter, but we may offer other locations at our other UK Met Office sites depending on availability and suitability for the role.

Our opportunity is full time, 37 hours per week, but we would also consider applicants wishing to work a minimum of 29.6 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?

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 Strategic 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 Strategic Stakeholder Relationship Manager, your starting salary will be £38838.00. New joiners to the Met Office will start on the salary band minimum. Our 2022-25 pay award means the salary will increase to £41725.00 from 1st April 2024, and you will be able to progress towards £45257.00 over time.

Your total reward package is potentially worth up to £53757.00 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 National Engagement team is a friendly and well regarded team which manages a range of important corporate functions on behalf of the Met Office Executive. It supports delivery of the Met Office’s Corporate Strategy by:

• Managing Met Office parliamentary business and other formal activities to ensure delivery of its responsibilities as a civil service public body.
• Developing and managing relationships with key strategic stakeholders to support mutually beneficial outcomes and ensure the greatest impact and benefit from Met Office capability.
• Providing insights and advice on the external landscape to inform Met Office decision making.
• Raising awareness of the Met Office externally, particularly across UK and Devolved Governments and Parliaments, to inform policy development and support new opportunities to use Met Office capability.
• Providing special support on key corporate priorities and new developments.

The purpose of this role is to help deliver the team’s responsibilities and wider Met Office objectives by:

• Managing the Met Office’s parliamentary business, with support from subject matter experts, to deliver our responsibilities as a public body. Maintaining a strong understanding of Parliamentary process to guide our approach and provide advice to colleagues.
• Developing and maintaining a comprehensive overview of Parliamentary and Government activity that affects the Met Office and share insights to inform decision making, service development and engagement.
• Managing the Met Office’s response to government consultations and Parliamentary Select Committee inquiries, coordinating contributions from colleagues from across the office.
• Supporting the Head of National Engagement on organising VIP visits, external meetings and events.
• Supporting communications activities including development of briefings and lines to take.
• Providing flexible support on urgent activities, corporate priorities or particular topics of in-year focus.
• Building strong relationships across the office raising awareness of the work of the team and when to engage with us. Help build wider awareness of the work of Government and Parliament, how Met Office work contributes to these, and help develop policy related skills and understanding.

Person specification

Essential Qualifications, Skills & Abilities:

1. Expert by nature – High quality and rapid written communications skills will help a candidate to thrive in this role. Experience in writing clear, concise and high quality content such as briefing, communications materials or report summaries and the ability to convey scientific or technical information in a way that is easily understood.
2. Expert by nature – Excellent analytical skills with proven ability to understand issues quickly, simplify complexity and provide insight and recommendations.
3. Better together – An ability to build, maintain and influence working relationships with a network of stakeholders, including some at senior level. This should ideally be within a public sector, government or parliamentary environment.
4. Keep evolving – Highly organised with an ability to rapidly prioritise and deliver short notice tasks while keeping track of wider deliverables.
5. Expert by nature – Knowledge of the internal workings of Government or Parliament, and the processes, requirements and sensitivities relevant to engagement.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,838, Met Office contributes £10,525 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 18/02/2024 at 23:59 with interviews commencing from 28/02/2024. 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 Various, 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.