People Leader - Early Career Meteorologists

Job Introduction

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 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. 

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 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'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.  

Your key duties:

• 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).

Why join us 

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: 

• £41,725 base pay.
• 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: 

1. 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.
2. Show that you are a force for good by providing evidence of impactful line management that drives performance including having challenging conversations when required. 
3. Show that you keep evolving with evidence of your willingness to actively engage and contribute towards change, improvement and new ways of working. 
4. 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, please get in touch. 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.