Squad Lead

Job Introduction

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

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.

We’re seeking to appoint a permanent Squad Lead, to lead our Hazards Squad, but will also look to create a reserve pool to fill future permanent or temporary vacancies that may arise over the next twelve months. 

As our current vacancy is Hazards Squad Lead, this post will be Exeter based. However, future opportunities maybe based at one of our Civil Met Office sites such as Exeter, Edinburgh, Aberdeen or an appropriate Frontline Site. To see potential location options please visit our Careers Site or for specific enquiries contact Careers@metoffice.gov.uk.  

Our opportunity is full time, 37 hours per week, but we would also 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 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. 

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  

As Squad Lead reporting directly to a Head within the Weather Impacts and Advice (WIA) Senior Leadership Team, you will have responsibility for customer service and delivery for operational teams within WIA. 

Working closely with Met Office Markets, Science and Technology, you'll ensure the most efficient and effective use of Met Office partnerships and emerging capability to support customers’ decision making. A key aspect of this will be operational engagement with key stakeholders to understand current and future requirements and adapting services to meet these in line with our Future Operating Model.    

Collaborating with the team of Squad Leads across the whole network, you'll have additional individual responsibilities for cross-team activity to support the wider operational needs, engagement and planning for the Weather Impacts and Advice sub-directorate. You will also be an active member of the WIA Extended Leadership Team.  

You will champion change working closely with change partners to ensure our operations are fit for the future, actively contributing to the delivery and roll out of key strategic projects relevant to the future of operational meteorology.  

This is an excellent opportunity to develop networks across many parts of the Met Office. You’ll have the opportunity to work on strategic, high-profile projects which shape the future of the Met Office and our ways of working, particularly in an operational environment, which provide significant benefits to all Met Office business areas and customers. 

Your key duties 

• Lead service delivery teams, at a variety of locations, to ensure excellence in delivery of customer requirements as defined by the customer service agreements, strategically managing resource and priorities as needed.
• Drive service excellence and change, ensuring services are developed and maintained using an efficient and effective through life methodology and exploiting new and emerging capabilities. You will be instrumental in ensuring activity in your respective area is aligned to our Future Operating Model programme of work. 
• Working closely with Markets, establish and develop customer-supplier relationships to enhance the services we provide and deliver the platform needed for future growth.
• Working closely with Services Transformation, Science and Technology teams, develop an in depth understanding of cross-organisation capabilities to enable development and implementation of current and future strategies that meet customer and meteorologists’ needs.
• Monitor and control strategic resources, including financial, reporting against agreed budgets for delivery of through life capability.
• Provide resource and skills requirements teams with relevant detail on service change information to ensure sufficient lead time for resource planning and skills development.
• As a key member of the Weather Impacts and Advice Extended Leadership Team, support the implementing of corporate strategy, policy and delivery of corporate objectives, acting as a role model for our values.
• Support service resilience and restoration, potentially including participation in IMTs (Incident Management Team), potentially as part of the IMT Chair roster. 

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. 

Your total reward package will be up to £72,530 annually, which includes: 

• £52,799 base pay
• An outstanding Civil Service pension, with an average employer contribution of 27%
• 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. Proven ability to lead and inspire individuals, creating a high performing team who live and breathe it when delivering exceptional services to end users.
2. Evidence that you keep evolving with demonstrable experience of meeting and exceeding business or customer requirements, demonstrating excellent relationship building and networking skills within a customer stakeholder or service-oriented environment.
3. Demonstrable ability to lead and champion change, working better together to meet future demand.
4. Exceptional team working skills demonstrating we’re better together to achieve common objectives and to contribute to wider programme success. 

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 18/08/2024 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 02/09/2024. 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.