Climate Monitoring Foundation Scientist

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

As our Climate Monitoring Foundation 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.

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)

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

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