People Leader - Early Career Meteorologists
We’re looking for a People Leader for Early Careers Meteorologists to help us make a difference to our planet.
As our People Leader, 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.
Our opportunity is full time, 37 hours per week, based in Exeter, Reading or one of our UK Defence bases (including Benson, Cranwell, Northolt, Odiham and Waddington). We would consider applicants wishing to work a minimum of 30 hours per week and we will also try our best to consider those intending to work a jobshare. 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.
Whilst this is a temporary position until December 2026, there is potential for it to develop into a permanent position.
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 aforce 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
You'll be responsible for guiding, managing, and developing a team of Early Career Meteorologists (ECMs) at the start of their Met Office career, guiding them from induction through to qualification and their first permanent role.
Using your excellent people management skills, you'll line manage approximately 16-20 ECMs, ensuring effective management to our performance metrics in order to drive team growth and success and deliver on Met Office objectives. You will travel regularly (approximately 20% of time) to meet staff face-to-face and attend meetings, primarily between our headquarters in Exeter and Defence bases across the country.
Our approach to training and qualification for ECMs is currently under review, so you will help inform and implement new ways of working to ensure we provide a rewarding experience for ECMs whilst meeting current and future business needs. You will also play a major part in the annual recruitment of new ECMs into the organisation.
* Leadership: As an enthusiastic leader and role model, manage and lead a team of ECMs such that they are engaged, motivated and inspired as they progress on their training journey with the Met Office, ensuring a consistent employee experience. Embed the business vision and priorities using them to create clear purpose and engagement with our goals. Contribute to the leadership of annual Early Careers recruitment campaigns, induction and onboarding.
* Talent Management: Work with the ECMs in your team to ensure that they are developed to support their needs and organisation. Invest time in developing relationships with all team members to understand their motivations and what energises them, unlocking their potential and promoting a culture of development within the team.
* Line management: Build trusted relationships with your team. Develop and implement strategies to enhance employee/team engagement and well-being. Manage attendance effectively and ensure optimal employee experience throughout the whole employee lifecycle. Ensure appropriate recognition, reward and interventions take place based on robust evidence, working closely with local Operational Leads. Manage team performance, ensure clear objectives aligned to Met Office strategy. Hold regular 1:1s and reviews, provide constructive feedback and celebrate success.
* Change Management: Lead and manage change initiatives, promoting agility and adaptability within the team. Provide clear contextual understanding of the ‘Why’ and the benefits of change.
* Enabling projects: Either undertake work/projects to benefit your team or key stakeholders, or undertake cross office business projects related to your area of expertise (up to 20% of your time to be flexed in the context of team requirements).
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 total reward package will be up to £58,419 annually, which includes:
* An outstanding Civil Service pension, with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
* 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.
Essential Criteria, skills and experience:
* Evidence of being an expert by nature by demonstrating your experience of leadership; when and how you have motivated team members in a positive way to develop them.
* Show that you are a force for good by providing evidence of impactful line management that drives performance including having challenging conversations when required.
* Show that you keep evolving with evidence of your willingness to actively engage and contribute towards change, improvement and new ways of working.
* Show that you are better together with evidence of working as part of a team to deliver a successful project.
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.
Closing date 15/09/2025 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 22/09/2025. You will hear from us once the closing date has passed.
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. 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.
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.
Ready to apply?
People Leader - Early Career Meteorologists
If you can’t see a job that interests you, register for our job alerts by email service and we’ll email you when a job that matches what you’re looking for is uploaded onto the site.
#J-18808-Ljbffr