Scientist - Defence Applications
We’re looking for an exceptional Scientist – Deference Applications to help us make a difference to our planet.
As our Scientist, 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, but we would also consider applicants wishing to work a minimum of 25 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
This is an exciting opportunity to join a team which translates Met Office weather and climate science and modelling expertise into information and intelligence which directly supports decision-making across defence and security stakeholders. Our work includes exploring the effects of the climate, and how it is changing, on defence planning and operations, and the development of methods to model environmental impacts on defence systems and tactical decisions. You will work closely with our customers and other teams across the Met Office to create real world impact.
Your key duties:
- Develop and apply suitable analysis / data science techniques on environmental, weather and climate data to assess impacts and risks to customer interests.
- Contribute to the scientific production and delivery of high-quality project reports and other outputs for customers.
- Act as a collaborative and supportive team member, sharing knowledge to develop the team's scientific and technical capabilities, and working together to achieve successful outcomes.
- Work with wider Met Office teams and partners across government to understand Met Office capabilities and how they can be used to address stakeholder requirements.
- Represent the Met Office at customer meetings, workshops, scientific conferences etc. where the application of science needs to be presented and discussed.
Developed Vetting (DV) security clearance, or a willingness to undergo the process on appointment, although is not a essential requirement for the role. Please see UKSV guidance and the Met Office security manual for details on nationality 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, 2024 and 2025 lists, as well as their ’54 Best Workplaces for Women’ 2023 list.
As our Scientist, your total reward package will be up to £49,448 annually, which includes:
- £35,145 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:
- Expert by nature - experience and knowledge in a physical or environmental science, mathematics, statistics and/or data science, gained through a relevant degree or subsequent professional experience and/or postgraduate qualification. (Lead criteria)
- Effective oral and written communication skills, with demonstrated ability to convey complex scientific and technical information clearly and with impact to a range of audiences.
- Better together - good organisational skills, with an ability to plan your own work and collaborate with others to deliver significant contributions to high quality scientific outputs while meeting tight deadlines.
- Live and breathe it - an ability to discuss diverse user needs and propose appropriate solutions, and to apply your scientific and analytical skills to generate user-relevant insights.
- Expert by nature - strong scientific computing skills, with experience of coding (especially in Python) and/or using advanced tools for data analysis and visualisation. Experience of applying recognised approaches to software quality assurance.
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.
Closing date 19/04/2026 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 11/05/2026. 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, 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.
If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then in the first instance you should contact us at: careers@metoffice.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission at: info@csc.gov.uk
Rewards and benefits
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.
Generous holiday allowance
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.
Civil Service pension
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.
Continuous career development
We’ll invest in your training and personal development throughout your career to help you reach your potential. We provide you with the space and freedom to think, innovate and try new things and have professional frameworks aligned to each area. We encourage and support professional memberships, have an array of internal apprenticeship and qualification opportunities and a comprehensive mentoring and coaching programme to name just a few initiatives to create your world of development at the Met Office!
Cycle to work scheme
We can help towards the purchase of bicycles and equipment for healthy, low carbon travel via a salary sacrifice scheme.
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.
Onsite parking and EV charging
We offer onsite free parking at our main offices with disabled parking spots also available. We are ever expanding our eCharging stations and have these available for use at most sites.
Benefits platform
We offer an enhanced discount shopping portal and schemes for employees to make everyday savings including retail shopping such as your weekly food shops, technology products, DIY projects, travel and trips as well as active lifestyle options. We also have an instant recognition scheme with the potential for you to receive vouchers for when you have gone the extra mile to demonstrate our Met Office Values.
Employee wellbeing
Across our offices we have an array of different options to support your wellbeing including 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) with phone and app provisions, lots of EDI initiatives to empower our diverse workforce and a dedicated wellbeing network with regular events to help you thrive!
Commitment to our environment and biodiversity
Our force for good value aligns perfectly with our support for environmental impact improvements. We were the first public sector body to be awarded the prestigious Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark Award and have different initiatives across our sites from our beautiful biodiversity butterfly garden, toilet water provided from the cooling of our epic supercomputer, car share schemes, team beach clean events and extensive recycling facilities for our everyday use.
It’s good to talk
We have a fantastic group of employee volunteers who form our Mental Health First Aiders as well as Dignity & Respect at Work groups. Alongside our EAP they are in the office or a remote call away to support with a listening ear and can signpost you to helpful resources and support.
ED&I staff networks
We recognise the benefits that networks can offer to our employees not only in terms of better together peer support but also in raising awareness of the challenges some of our employees may experience, and we know that people perform better when they can be themselves.
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.
More about what we can offer you
Meet some of the team
Emily Wallace
Science Fellow, Weather and Climate Extremes and Impacts Team
The Weather and Climate Extremes and Impacts Team was formed in response to multiple extreme events in the UK. Our customers are dealing with the impacts of severe weather and are more routinely asking questions that blur the lines between what would have traditionally been thought of separately as weather services and climate services. The work we do is critical in our changing world as we bring together teams to provide seamless services to help people stay safe.
Anna Whitford
Scientific Consultant
Coming from an academic background I wanted to be able to develop new research approaches, but I also wanted a change towards being more impact-focused, where the science I produced would be both useful and used right away. My work is supporting customers to better understand the impact of climate change on their business, with the added benefit of gaining experience on a wide range of projects - there is always something new to learn!
Rhiannon Davies
Senior Scientific Software Engineer
There is a great variety of work here, sometimes I can be applying new science to one of our models, improving some of our internal tools, reviewing code, helping someone get the most out of their development plan, or attending a talk to learn new skills. Sometimes I work with older code cleaning it up, so it works better and is more future-proof. It’s always satisfying to see other people working with my improved code.
Jessica Standen
Managing Scientific Consultant
I have been at the Met Office since graduating and have been able to work my way from a foundation scientist to a manager. I enjoy working with customers on the application of science, helping them operate more safely and efficiently and enabling them to be more resilient to the weather both now and in the future. I get to see how the work of the team is directly having impact and benefit to industry and society.
Our typical recruitment process
1. Eligibility
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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
Ready to apply?
Scientist - Defence Applications
Location: Exeter HQ Met Office
Reference number: 1222
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