Scientific Consulting Scientist - (Foundation Scientist)

The Met Office is recruiting for a Scientific Consulting Scientist (Foundation) based at Exeter.

As our Scientific Consulting Scientist (Foundation), the starting salary will be £24,146 with opportunities to progress to £26,641 over time. New joiners to the Met Office will start on the salary band minima.

Our total reward package is potentially worth up to £34,693 per annum, which includes basic salary, potential corporate bonus, employer pension contributions.

We also offer:

• Outstanding Civil Service Pension
• Flexible hours and homeworking
• Annual Leave starting at 27.5 days (plus Bank Holidays) rising to 32.5 days (plus Bank Holidays) after 5 years
• Option to buy or sell up to 5 days per year of annual leave
• Cycle to work scheme for the purchase of a bicycle and equipment for healthy, low carbon travel
• Access to discounted shopping on a range of retail, leisure and lifestyle categories

We are looking for a scientist who is interested in working with a diverse range of stakeholders, scientists and technologists. The successful candidate will combine a good understanding of industry and customer needs, or the willingness to develop it, with a scientific and/or technical, background. You will join a team of scientists and consultants working on environmental, public health, coastal, and marine projects on scales ranging from short-term to seasonal and climate scales.

You will be involved in projects aimed at closing the gap between science and society, within the spirit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. These range from predicting and preventing infectious diseases, in low- and middle-income countries, to understanding the characteristics, changing risk, and impacts of multiple environmental hazards (e.g. heat waves, sea level rise, air pollution/aeroallergens) in the developed world, including the UK.

You will be working closely with national and international partners, including academic ones in Russell Group Universities, as well as partners in the newly formed Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Public Health England, the European Centre for Environment and Human Health and the World Health Organisation, to name a few.

To contribute to the delivery of multi-year projects (e.g. Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU), Weather and Climate Science for Service Partnership (WCSSP) , harnessing, delivering and shaping the development of the Met Office’s scientific and technical capabilities relating to weather, seasonal and climate timescales of the environment, health, coastal and marine sectors.

To work closely with scientists, customers and consultants to develop and deliver multi-year research and scientific consultancy projects.

• Develop a detailed understanding of relevant sectors and how they are impacted by weather and climate; and to apply this knowledge to support the team.

• Lead and carry out the scientific activities required to ensure the timely delivery of agreed project outputs for the benefit of customers.

• Maintain and develop a good working knowledge of existing and future Met Office capabilities and their relevance to customer needs in order to develop solutions that address customer issues, hands-on delivery of significant parts of these solutions.

• A multi-disciplinary and cross-function approach to delivery, including support to the Applied Science Scientific Consultancy team and other Met Office teams to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.

1. Relevant experience in a scientific, technical or computational science area.

2. Demonstrated analytical ability to assess and apply weather and/or climate information, using numerical (e.g. statistical, machine learning) and programming (e.g. python, R) skills.

3. Ability to work independently and to learn new subject areas as required.

4. Solid written and oral communication skills in order to translate complex scientific and technical information to meet stakeholders’ needs.

1. A postgraduate qualification, or equivalent experience in a numerical, technical, computational or applied science area.

2. Good general knowledge of Met Office capabilities in weather and climate science; or a strong understanding of relevant sectors, which enable turning broadly defined concepts or questions into high quality outputs which meet customer need with limited supervision.

3. Recognised as an expert in their field.

4. Experience with version control systems, e.g. Git.

To apply, please click on the link below and follow the steps to apply using our online application form.

Closing date 25/07/2021 with interviews commencing from 03/08/2021 .We update all applicants once the vacancy has closed and applications have been reviewed.

At present, all interviews are taking place remotely via Microsoft Teams.

We are an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from those with all protected characteristics.

We recognise that Great Minds Don’t Think Alike and are committed to being a more diverse and inclusive organisation. We are a Disability Confident, Mindful Employer and we hold an Athena Swan Bronze award for our work on gender equality. We apply the Civil Service Code to ensure that everyone is recruited on merit, fairness, and open competition.

If you are considering applying and need assistance to do so, please contact us via askHR@metoffice.gov.uk. You can request adjustments either within our application form or via email.

We offer disabled applicants the option of requesting their application is considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme. To be invited to interview/assessment under this scheme, your application must meet the minimum criteria for the role. 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.

We can only accept applications from those eligible to live and work in the UK - please refer to GOV.UK for information. Our roles sometimes require higher level Security Clearance, which generally requires living in the UK for at least three out of the last five years, but applicants not meeting this criteria may be considered.