The Met Office is delighted to open our advertising for Industrial Placements 2026.
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Met Office on a 12-month Year in Industry placement, commencing at the start of July 2026, developing your skills and knowledge and ensuring you gain the most value possible from your experience with us.
You will have the opportunity to network with our cohort of Industrial Placements all over the Met Office and understand what career opportunities are on offer at the Met Office after you graduate.
We’re looking for a Interaction Designer Industrial Placement 2026 to help us make a difference to our planet.
As our Interaction Designer Industrial Placement 2026, 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. As an Industrial Placement, we would expect you to attend the office once a week as a minimum.
Our opportunity is full time, 37 hours per week. 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.
World changing work
From science to technology, from meteorology to management, and from planning to communication, our expertise helps us stand out as the authority on weather accuracy and climate prediction. We help individuals, industries and government to make better decisions to stay safe and thrive. This is the Met Office. This is who we are.
* 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
Your world of expertise
Our Industrial Placement scheme offers ambitious and capable undergraduates the opportunity to gain valuable experience working alongside diverse and highly skilled experts in their field. You’ll be working on projects that really matter and will make a difference.
The Met Office purpose is to help people stay safe and thrive. To achieve this, we need to understand the people we serve and their needs. The user-centred design team at the Met Office includes user researchers, interaction designers, content designers, service designers and accessibility specialists, working across different areas of the business to help solve real world problems by putting the user at the heart of Met Office products and services.
The Industrial Placement for interaction design will work closely with the interaction designers and service designers in the team to provide support ensuring that our products and services meet the needs of users. They will support with discovering the best way to let users interact with our products, identifying user issues and generating multiple solutions to a problem.
They will be involved in activities to enable our user-centred design team, including maintaining design systems and guidance documentation, providing support with user recruitment and testing, and advocating user-centred design across the business.
The Interaction Design Industrial Placement will:
* provide support for user-centred design teams including user recruitment, note taking, documenting design decisions, maintaining design systems and guidance documentation
* be supported to work collaboratively with teams, understanding the importance of team dynamics, collaboration and feedback
* understand the importance of using data and evidence to make design decisions and use this information to collaboratively come up with solutions to problems
* recommend design decisions and be able to describe the reasoning behind them
* follow direction to create prototypes to demonstrate and test potential solutions
* work in an open-minded and iterative way
* follow the Government Digital Service Standards and user-centred design best practice guidelines to ensure solutions are focused on user needs
* communicate effectively with technical and non-technical colleagues, supporting multidisciplinary discussions
* be an advocate for the UCD team within the Met Office and be able to explain why interaction design and user-centred design is important
* be part of the UCD community of practice and champion user-centred design
Our work is life-changing, often life-saving and always life-enhancing. The Met Office is Great Place to Work UK certified. We are also featured on their ‘Best Workplaces in Tech’ 2023 and 2024 lists, as well as their ’54 Best Workplaces for Women’ 2023 list.
Your package includes:
* Your salary will be £27,170
* Annual Leave starting at 27.5 days
* Access to discounted shopping, inclusive of retail, leisure and lifestyle brands
Whilst this is a temporary position until July 2027, there may be an opportunity to apply for our Graduate Development scheme upon completion of your university studies. However, this is not guaranteed and would be subject to programme availability and a successful application.
Essential Criteria, skills and experience:
* Lead Criteria: Awareness of prototyping. You can explain what prototyping is, and why and when to use it and are passionate about putting this into practice. Experience using design software (such as Figma.)
* Evidence-based design: You are passionate about creating designs for digital products and understand the value of using evidence to inform design decisions.
* Agile thinking. You understand the benefits of agile working and the different roles in a multidisciplinary team. You are aligned with the value \"we keep evolving\" and are willing to iterate your work.
* User focus and advocacy. You can explain how user-centred practices can be used to build products that \"keep evolving\" to changing user behaviour and needs. You are willing to champion a user-focused approach with your colleagues.
* Better together. You are able to communicate effectively with stakeholders and team members and present design decisions and ideas. You can be an active member and advocate of the user-centred design community.
* Studying in digital design or similar.
The panel may perform a preliminary sift of the lead criteria as indicated above.
How to apply
If you share our values, we’d love to hear from you! Click apply to begin your application.
Please complete your career history and provide evidence against each of the essential criteria in the supporting statement questionnaire. We recommend candidates use the CARL method (Context, Action, Result and Learning) for presenting evidence of experience and skills. Please also look at the Early Careers Programmes Application Guidance at the bottom of this advert.
Closing date: 23:59 7th December 2025. Please note we often receive a high volume of applications, but we will contact everyone who applies once the closing date has past.
Interviews will be completed by February 2026.
Using AI in your application
We welcome applications that use AI tools for support in drafting or refining, as long as they accurately reflect your own skills and experience. All hiring decisions at the Met Office are made by people, not AI. For more details, visit our approach to recruitment.
How we can help
If you have any questions or would like to discuss this opportunity further, please contact us at careers@metoffice.gov.uk.
If you’re considering applying and need support to do so, you can request adjustments either within your application or by contacting us. Should you be offered an interview, 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 DisabilityConfidentScheme. 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, 2 of these years must be immediately preceding the point of your application. You will need to achieve full security clearance within your first 6 months with us.
Our rewards and benefits are as varied as our customers and our people, depending on your role and which part of the business you join. The one thing they have in common is that they’re designed to recognise your contribution to our success.
Starting at 27.5 days and rising to 32.5 days after five years of service (both figures exclude bank holidays). As well as the flexibility to buy or sell annual leave annually.
You’ll automatically qualify to join our alpha pension scheme, part of the Civil Service Pension arrangements. The scheme is recognised as one of the most generous occupational pensions.
Lifestyle support
Whether you wish to utilise our excellent family-friendly schemes, be paid up to 3 days for volunteering with your chosen organisation, have the reassurance of a generous sickness pay scheme or be part of an organisation that is happy to pro-actively talk about flexible working the Met Office wants you to have a great work and lifestyle balance.
Established hybrid working
We have bases all over the UK and some roles allow for you to work abroad so there is the option to travel for work also, we have established amazing hybrid working practices across all of our offices and have enhanced technology to enable office and home-based meetings. We work with employees to agree on a suitable working pattern that works for us both and have various working patterns in place.
Investing in your development
The world around us is constantly changing. New technologies, shifting climate patterns, artificial intelligence. These factors and more shape the need for us to develop our skills and knowledge as a business and as individuals. Our investment in learning and development is testament to this and we have partnered with external bodies in each profession to help shape the way we develop the incredible talent right across the Met Office. We help everyone to understand their strengths and opportunities and tailor learning programmes that match their career. For us, this is world-leading learning and development.
Something amazing is that there is such a huge variety of opportunities and departments, that you can really start a career in anything. It could be product management or marketing - you don\'t have to be an operational meteorologist to work here! And whatever you want to do, you’ll be supported to go for it. There is a culture of generosity and kindness, and people go above and beyond to help you.
Edith Warne
I’ve had so many brilliant opportunities, I’ve been able to lead my own project, creating a data catalogue, which was so rewarding and gave me a great sense of achievement to see it through from start to finish. This enabled me to develop relationships as I have collaborated with people across the office in workshops and meetings. I have also been given the opportunity to undertake a six-week secondment with the Communications and Engagement team.
No matter the problem, there was always someone willing to help. I was lucky to work across different teams, so I had a great support network. On the rare occasion my team didn’t have an answer, there were always others who could help. Read my story
The Met Office stands out as an exceptional workplace for several reasons. Firstly, the unwavering support from colleagues creates a collaborative and nurturing atmosphere, fostering both personal and professional growth. Secondly, the relaxed and flexible atmosphere is invaluable, especially for those stepping into their first full-time roles, as it facilitates the development of a healthy work-life balance. Finally, the breadth of work ensures that employees are engaged in diverse and impactful projects, making working here unique.
With a reputation of being a great place to work and having values that really resonated with me, I felt the Met Office would be a fantastic environment to begin my career. Read my story.
Everyone I have come across so far has been welcoming, easily approachable and happy to help, which has been crucial for me and the other placement students - who are all new to the working world. I think there is quite a kudos to being able to tell someone you work in science at the Met Office. Both in the brand itself and the global impact of the work.
The people are supportive and no matter who you speak to, everyone makes you feel seen and heard. There are so many opportunities that make you think more widely about what you want to do, and if you see something that sparks your interest, you’re encouraged and supported to explore it. I’ve been given the time and opportunities to figure out my goals for this year and the start of my career.
Freya Lewin
My placement helped me to grow in three key areas: confidence, communication, and analysis. These are all transferable skills that will benefit me both when I return to university as well as my future career. Read my story
Rhea Basra
I’ve found the Met Office to be welcoming and accommodating of everyone, regardless of their background and circumstances, which has motivated me to succeed. Read my story.
Emily Inganni
People are often quite surprised when I tell them I work at the Met Office, especially if they know I am doing a politics degree. For most people, the only part they really see is the forecasting, but there’s so much more going on. No matter your background, you’ll be made to feel very welcome here. I live with two other industrial placements and the breadth of what the three of us are involved in is astounding.
Something amazing is that there is such a huge variety of opportunities and departments, that you can really start a career in anything. It could be product management or marketing - you don\'t have to be an operational meteorologist to work here! And whatever you want to do, you’ll be supported to go for it. There is a culture of generosity and kindness, and people go above and beyond to help you.
Our typical recruitment process
1. Application
Apply through our careers website. Each application will be assessed against the essential criteria detailed in the job advert. We recommend that you use the CARL or STAR method to answer the key questions. Evidence your answers and reference our values to bring your application to life.
2. Screening
The sift panel will assess all applications against our essential criteria. Our screening process usually takes one to two weeks following the closing date of the advert. After which, we\'ll be in touch to let you know whether your application has progressed to the next stage.
3. Interview
Most recruitment processes will include a single-stage interview, some of which are virtual interviews and some may be in-person. Our interviews tend to blend competency questions, which focus on the essential criteria, with values-based questions.
4. Assessment
Some roles may require you to attend an assessment day. Any job-specific assessments will be outlined in the job advert and more details will be provided at the interview stage.
5. Offer
If you are successful following the interview, the hiring manager will contact you to offer the role. The Resourcing Team will then follow up with an offer letter and start your onboarding.
6. Onboarding
Before we can confirm a start date, we will first need to complete security clearance and reference checks. These usually take between eight to ten weeks to complete. We\'ll also discuss any workplace adjustments that you may need. So they are in place on your first day.
On your first day your new manager will introduce you to the team and you’ll start our online corporate induction. You’ll also be asked to update your details in our People Hub system including bank details ready for your first pay day.
For those living outside of the UK, there are some roles where we can sponsor Skilled Worker visas. However, you will still need to pass security clearance which requires you to have resided in the UK for 30 months in the last three years.
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