Climate Monitoring Scientist

Location: Exeter HQ Met Office

Reference number: 1457

Contract: Permanent

Hours per week: 37

Salary: £35,145-£37,701

We're looking for 3 exceptional Climate Monitoring Scientists to help us make a difference to our planet.

As our Climate Monitoring 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 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

The Climate Monitoring and Attribution group (CMA) at the Met Office Hadley Centre is an internationally recognised group that specialises in working with observations to monitor and understand our climate.

We work closely with experts both within and outside of the Met Office, and with international agencies and initiatives, such as the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the European Space Agency and EUMETSAT, the European meteorological satellite agency, and we provide climate information to customers and end users, including the UK government and the public

We are recruiting into three different positions in CMA:

• Global Surface Temperature Climate Monitoring Scientist: This position sits within the 'Observing Climate: Marine and Cross-Domain Analysis' team. In this role, you will develop global observational data sets and use them to monitor and report on the Earth's climate across land, ocean and ice, with a focus on temperature change at the Earth's surface. You will use your data analysis skills to combine current and historical instrumental data to quantify observed changes, assess uncertainty in those changes, and put current observed climate into historical context. You will develop data sets that have a wide range of applications in climate science and that are relevant to informing international climate policy and agreements.
• Satellite Climate Observations Scientist: This position sits within the 'Observing Climate: Land and Atmosphere' team. The role is primarily focused on using satellite data for UK and global climate monitoring. This includes development of novel satellite-based climate indicators to characterise and track impactful climatic events, such as extreme heat, drought, vegetation stress and wildfires, and combining satellite and station data to produce new 'blended' datasets for key variables. This role provides the opportunity to contribute new satellite-based metrics to our Met Office Climate Dashboard, which is used internationally as a trusted source of global climate monitoring information.
• UK Climate Scientist: This position sits within The National Climate Information Centre (NCIC) team. We are looking for a scientist with strong data management and communication skills to work closely with the existing team developing the flagship climate data sets HadUK-Grid and HadCET and supplying UK climate information to a variety of users. We communicate our analysis through regular reports and media output, most notably the high-profile annual State of the UK Climate report.

Through your work and through collaboration with experts both within and outside of the Met Office, you will utilise observational data to quantify climate change and variability by applying your analytical and scientific software skills. This role will include opportunities to apply cutting edge research such as ML approaches and new data gridding/mapping methods.

We welcome applications for all three roles from candidates with a range of scientific backgrounds. We are particularly interested in individuals who are motivated to apply their scientific and analytical skills to climate observations and climate monitoring, and who are enthusiastic about developing a career in this area.

Your key duties

• Working with data from a variety of sources, including UK and global weather stations, satellites, ships and buoys to create new observational climate data sets and update existing data sets.
• Effectively conveying confidence in results through robust quantification of observational uncertainty and evaluation.
• Analysing new and existing observational data sets to characterise and monitor global, regional and UK climate change.
• Documenting and disseminating scientific findings via peer-reviewed papers, reports, webpages, press releases and through presentations at national/international meetings and conferences. Providing guidance to internal and external users of climate observation data.
• Working collaboratively within a team of scientists and scientific software engineers to deliver and communicate high-quality scientific output.

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 Climate Monitoring 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

1. Lead Criteria: Demonstrated understanding and application of statistical/data analysis methods to environmental or other complex data sets, including, for example, characterising relationships, variability, trends and/or uncertainty, together with a systematic approach to verifying your results. (We're experts by nature)
2. Expertise in physical, mathematical, environmental or data science gained through postgraduate research experience (e.g. PhD, or demonstration of equivalent experience). Evidence of a proactive approach to your own development. (We're experts by nature, We keep evolving)
3. Demonstrated experience of writing and adapting computer code in Python (or a similar programming language) to process and analyse scientific data, including implementing or applying analytical methods and carefully checking results. (We're experts by nature)
4. Evidence of good communication skills (written, oral, presentation and listening) with a demonstrated interest in communicating scientific results (e.g. in research papers or at conferences), and adapting the approach for different audiences. (We're experts by nature)
5. Evidence of the ability to balance competing demands on your time, plan and deliver your own work with an understanding of its wider context and to work in a collaborative scientific/research team to successfully deliver a common goal. (We live and breathe it, We're better together)

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.

Please note: We are currently recruiting for 3 roles which are being advertised at 2 levels (Foundation Scientist and Scientist). Those wishing to be considered at multiple levels should submit an application at each level.

Candidates selected for interview will be asked if they have a preference of area and this will be taken into consideration by the chairperson when offers are made.

Closing date 04/11/2026 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 23/11/2026. 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 without caveats and/or restrictions for this role, 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.

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