Job summary

We’re looking for an exceptional Lead Technical Architect - Hazards and Resilience Technology to help us make a difference to our planet.

As our Lead Technical Architect, 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.

Whilst this is a temporary position until 1st June 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

Job description

You will be leading the design of some of our most critical services, including the National Severe Weather Warning Service. You will apply governance, assurance, and innovation, leveraging the latest and greatest technologies and balancing risk with agility.

Hazards & Resilience Technology is at the core of our purpose, keeping people and infrastructure safe. Our key customers include emergency responders and civil contingency planners. Our reach is extensive. As well as providing warnings and guidance to millions of people on Earth, our systems also support our Space Weather Operations Centre: one of only a few in the world. If you're mission-driven and seeking a highly impactful role, we'd love to hear from you.

Your key duties:

Defining, designing, and supporting the implementation of solutions that meet customer and strategic needs
Acting as a subject matter expert for your area with regard to the technologies employed and systems used
Being part of the senior leadership team for Hazards and Resilience Technology, making and driving decisions and managing change across a range of stakeholders
Providing leadership and mentoring to teams and to other architects within the community

We operate an on-call roster in Technology to provide 24/7/365 support to respond to operational service requirements. This post may be part of an on-call roster and the postholder would be required to participate in an on-call roster where in operation.

Person specification

Essential Criteria, skills and experience:

Turning business problems into solution designs - experience of working with business and technology stakeholders to translate business problems into secure technical designs (Expert by Nature)
Bridging the gap between the technical and non-technical – the ability to translate technical concepts relating to solution architecture, software engineering, delivery management and service management so they are understood by all (Better Together)
Providing leadership and governance - supporting continual improvement through effective collaboration and mentoring with teams and architects, delivering outcomes in a sustainable manner and contributing to the assurance of other services (Keep Evolving)
Making and guiding decisions – experience of guiding and making effective decisions supported by clear reasoning and explanation, including the ability to understand and resolve technical disputes (Live and Breathe It)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £52,799, Met Office contributes £15,295 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

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 Lead Technical Architect, your total reward package will be up to £80,518 annually, which includes:

£52,799 base pay
An outstanding Civil Service pension, with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
Recruitment Retention Allowance (RRA) you will be paid £7,000 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 March 2026 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

Things you need to know

Selection process details

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 02/07/2025 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 15/07/2025. 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.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

UK nationals
nationals of the Republic of Ireland
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

Name :
careers@metoffice.gov.uk
Email :
careers@metoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email :
careers@metoffice.gov.uk

Further information

https://careers.metoffice.gov.uk/join-us

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