We’re looking for an exceptional Senior Project Manager to help us make a difference to people and planet. Our Senior Project Manager will be responsible for managing key components of our Weather & Climate Information Services (WISER) projects
For more details on WISER please see Weather and Climate Information Services (WISER) programme
This position is open to Civil Service candidates as a loan. For external candidates, the post will be on a 12-month fixed term appointment contract. Whilst this is a temporary 12-month position, there is the potential for it to develop into a permanent position. The opportunity is full time, 37 hours per week.
The Met Office WISER family of programmes supports initiatives to build resilience to the effects of climate change through coproducing and strengthening the access and use of weather and climate information services across Africa, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Asia Pacific Regions. The WISER Programme Team works in partnership with and is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and delivers through the global meteorological community, national governments, development agencies and NGOs. We act as a strategic partner to deliver UK and FCDO objectives and support countries to strengthen their own weather and climate capability, policies and services.
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. There is the opportunity for international travel as part of this role and a willingness to travel internationally is essential.
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 post aligns with Project Manager Level 3 in the UK Governments Project Delivery Capability Framework (PDCF).
Key duties are expected to include but are not limited to:
- Oversight of budgets to ensure robust project and programme financial management including through support to project partners and close work with finance colleagues and the WISER Programme Manager.
- Ownership of an aspect of risk management under WISER including the quality governance, communication, and escalation of risks from downstream partners up to the WISER Programme Board as necessary.
- Close work with the WISER Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) team to co-lead on results reporting to ensure progress is tracked and communicated and that your projects are delivering high quality socio-economic benefits in line with the results framework and objectives.
- Management, through relationships, cost assurance and governance, of WISER projects that are delivered internally by Met Office technical experts, and ensure their coherence with our grants.
- Strong relationship management with grantees and other downstream partners to support institutional development, particularly those in-region, and the robust delivery of agreed outputs and outcomes.
- Develop and foster working relationships with other areas of the Met Office also working on WISER, and with FCDO or other key external stakeholders.
- Activity management of a small project team, likely including Regional Coordinator(s), with support from the WISER Programme Manager and Team Leader as part of a matrix management approach.
- Support a proactive package of communications that tell the story of WISER successes with close working with WISER’s allocated communications resource and comms colleagues within the FCDO and our implementing partners.
- Close working with commercial colleagues to support the development and evaluation of new grants and contracts as needed in the delivery of WISER.
- Identification of synergies and opportunities for lesson learning and continuous improvement across WISER regions in support of a dynamic and coherent suite of global WISER projects and programmes.
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.
As our Senior Project Manager, your total reward package will be up to £73,518 annually, which includes:
- £52,799 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
