Senior Developer

Job Introduction

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

As our Senior Developer, 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.  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

You will join and area of Technology responsible for delivering and supporting systems/services to the Transport industry. The team's current area of focus is delivering data services to the Aviation industry.

As one of two World Area Forecasting Centres, we are responsible for forecasting upper air winds, temperatures and significant weather hazards to enhance safety and identify potential delays.

We are an Agile team who build solutions using Python and AWS cloud computing services.

Your key duties

At this role, you will:

• Plan and lead development on sets of related stories
• Have an understanding of the whole system and take responsibility for teaching this to others
• Work with other disciplines to understand what needs to be built
• Coach and mentor junior colleagues
• Find ways to improve system robustness, resilience and stability

Why join us

Our work is life-changing, often life-saving and always life-enhancing. 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.

As our Senior Developer, your total reward package will be up to £62,939 annually, which includes:

• £41,725 base pay
• An outstanding Civil Service pension, with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Recruitment Retention Allowance (RRA) you will be paid £5,300 per annum as a market supplement to reflect the demand for your skills. Whilst in post, you will be paid this market driven allowance from April 2024 until September 2025 in your monthly pay
• 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:

1. Information Security - You can understand information security. You can design solutions and services with security controls enbedded, specifically engineered with mitigation of security threats as a core feature (Force for good)
2. Modern standards approach - You can competently apply a modern standards approach and guide others to do so (Live and breathe it)
3. Programming and build - You can collaborate with others when necessary to review specifications. You can use the agreed specifications to design, code, test and document programs or scripts of medium-to-high complexity, using the right standards and tools (Keep evolving)
4. Systems Design - You can design systems characterised by medium levels of risk, impact, and business or technical complexity. You can select appropriate design standards, methods and tools, and ensure they are applied effectively. You can review the systems designs of others to ensure the selection of appropriate technology, efficient use of resources and integration of multiple systems and technology (Expert by nature)
5. User focus - You can collaborate with user researchers and can represent users internally. You can explain the difference between user needs and the desires of the user. You can prioritise and define approaches to understand the user story, guiding others in doing so. You can offer recommendations on the best tools and methods to use (Better together)

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 11/08/2024 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 12/08/2024. You will hear from us once the closing date has passed.

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.