Job Introduction

We’re looking for an exceptional Software Developer in Observations Research & Development (R&D) help us make a difference to our planet.

Your world of expertise

In our Observations Research & Development Technology team, your contributions will directly impact global and national networks of sensors and instruments. These systems gather essential data, powering the Met Office’s world-class forecasting models and cutting-edge research.

As a Software Developer, you’ll collaborate with a passionate and dedicated DevOps team, developing and maintaining systems that process and distribute vast amounts of critical data. You’ll help create innovative tools that support our Operational Meteorologists and Engineers, enabling them to monitor observations and ensure the health of our remote networks.

Working with exciting technologies like Python, AWS, Angular, and Node, you’ll be part of a collaborative environment, where you’ll design and implement modern, cloud-based solutions, while building strong relationships within the Observations community.

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.

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  We’re a force for good – focusing on our environmental and social impact
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  We’re experts by nature – always learning and developing to do things better
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  We live and breathe it – putting our purpose at the heart of decision-making
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  We’re better together – understanding partnerships and inclusivity make us greater
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  We keep evolving – pushing boundaries to make tomorrow better for our customers

Your key duties

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  Collaborate: Work with a team to understand what needs to be built to enable product delivery and build solutions to meet the requirements.
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  Be an Expert: Understand the system and business domain. Take responsibility for technical debt and feature development. Share your knowledge by coaching and mentoring more junior colleagues.
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  Take Ownership: Operate the production services you build, improving system robustness, resilience, and stability.

We operate an on-call roster 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.

Why join us

Our work is life-changing, often life-saving and always life-enhancing. The Met Office is accredited as a ‘Great Place to Work UK 2023’ and in addition has achieved a place on both the UK’s ‘Best Workplaces in Tech’ and ‘Best Workplaces for Women’ lists.

As our Software Developer – Observations R&D, your total reward package will be up to £47,606 annually, which includes:

• £33,794 base pay.
• An outstanding Civil Service pension, with an average employer contribution of 27%.
• Recruitment Retention Allowance (RRA) you will be paid £2200 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 September 2025 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.

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.

This opportunity is full time, 37 hours per week, but we would also consider applicants wishing to work a minimum of 30 hours per week.

Additionally, 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.

Essential Criteria, skills and experience:

The role is aligned to the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework for the Software Developer family

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  Modern development standards: You have good knowledge of best practices in software development and system design. You have experience of using this knowledge to improve the quality of the software produced.
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  Programming and build (software engineering): You can create high-quality, maintainable, and secure code. You have a good understanding of programming languages, frameworks, and tools. You can use these technologies to develop, debug, test and deploy secure, reliable, scalable, and performant web applications
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  User focus: You can identify user requirements and deliver software that accurately meets users’ needs. You understand how to identify user needs and the value of user research.
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  Support: You have experience of supporting time-critical services and can respond quickly to problems. You can identify, locate, and fix faults and carry out maintenance tasks.
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  Communication: You can communicate complex ideas and information clearly in a variety of ways including coaching junior team members. You can adapt your communication appropriately based on your audience and their requirements.

Desirable Criteria:

We encourage you to apply if you believe you meet our essential criteria, but we’re also keen to discover if you have:

• Experience of working with AWS (Amazon Web Services) cloud-based services and infrastructure-as-code

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 02/02/2025 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 10/02/2025. You will hear from us once the closing date has passed.

How we can help

If you are considering applying and need support to do so, please contact us via careers@metoffice.gov.uk. 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.