Data Architect

We’re looking for a Data Architect to help us shape how our data is managed, shared and exploited to make a difference to our planet.

As our Data 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, based in Exeter HQ. 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

We are a data-centric organisation where trusted, discoverable and reusable data is a strategic asset. Working with complex scientific, meteorological and environmental data, you'll help shape how data is managed, shared and exploited across the Met Office and through our Defence portfolio of products and services.

You will work closely with the Senior Data Architect combining data architecture, governance, data engineering and technical enablement. You'll help design data models, metadata frameworks and integration patterns whilst also producing technical standards, reference implementations, automation tooling and reusable components that support delivery teams in adopting best practice. As Defence capabilities continue to evolve, you'll help define, implement and promote common data architectures, standards and engineering patterns that enable people and systems to find, understand and use data consistently.

The role combines strategic thinking with practical delivery. Using your knowledge and people skills, you'll ensure that data standards and governance are defined, understood and successfully embedded into operational systems and delivery teams.

This role involves regular travel within the UK to engage with Defence customers, stakeholders and delivery teams. You will also be expected to undertake international travel, typically three to four trips per year, primarily to Europe and the United States.

Your key duties:

• Support the Senior Data Architect in developing and maintaining Defence data strategy and architecture roadmaps.
• Contribute to the design of data pipelines, data hubs and cloud-native data services.
• Support implementation of API-first architectures, Environmental Data Retrieval (EDR) services and data products.
• Help delivery teams adopt standardised approaches to data validation, quality assurance and metadata capture.
• Support compliance with organisational, Defence, WMO and OGC standards.
• Work with scientists, engineers, architects and Defence stakeholders to understand requirements and translate them into data solutions.

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)

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 18/11/2026 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 27/11/2026. 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.

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