An external view of the Met Office building at night.

Careers in Engineering

Overview

Behind our world-class scientific capabilities and forecasting expertise lies an incredible amount of weather data. We go, quite literally, above and beyond to collect the best possible data. From land to sea, from state-of-the-art weather radars to oceanographic buoys, our engineers are the guardians of all data gathering equipment.

The need for high-quality observational data, and for new, innovative ways to meet customers’ data requirements, is bigger than ever.  Our engineers play an incredibly important part in our work. We have a designated research and development (R&D) team who are constantly working towards developing new instruments and capabilities, along with Field Services, Technical Services, Marine Engineering and Weather Radar teams. Our engineers collaborate closely with Science, Forecasting, Property Management and other areas of the organisation. Recently, our R&D team collaborated with Science to undertake the massive project of modernising the UK’s weather radar network. Their work is therefore fundamental to our weather forecasts, services and climate change capabilities and critical to our success.

Career development

The nature of this role means that you’ll be fascinated and fulfilled as you approach different challenges every day. We want our engineers to be up-to-the-minute with the latest technical advances, to be constantly learning and feel consistently stimulated. That’s why we invest so heavily in career development. Our Engineering Professional Skills Framework is aligned with the Engineering Council UK and incorporates a large number of technologies and information systems. As well as full and regular engineer training (Climb and Rescue, Advanced Driving, Equipment Training etc), our engineers are encouraged and supported through Professional Registration to gain Engineering Technician, Incorporated Engineer or Chartered Engineer status.

Our Engineering Professional Skills Framework provides a career map to show individuals different available routes to help them plan and reach their career aspirations. We offer regular performance evaluations and encourage development at every level. While there are a number of paths that individuals can take, opportunities are there for everyone – excel as an engineer, enhance our capabilities and progression is highly achievable. Secondments to other areas of the organisation are also encouraged.

What we look for

Our teams of engineers come from a range of backgrounds and levels. The relevant skills you bring to us are more important than where you come from. Be it from a degree or practical experience, you’ll need a good knowledge of engineering: working with electronics, mechanisms, calibration, instrumentation and process measurements. You’ll combine initiative and independence with the ability to work as a great team player; proactivity and urgency with high professional standards; and technical ability with those all-important softer skills.

We will, of course, give you extensive training but we’d like you to come to us with a natural passion for finding innovative solutions to complex problems. You may be out and about at different sites, interacting with different people so it’s important that you’re confident talking to people at all levels. A good sense of commercial awareness and business acumen would also be great. Exact requirements will vary from role to role but will always be clearly outlined on adverts and role descriptions.

Locations and opportunities

As an engineer at the Met Office, you’ll be working with technology that’s at the cutting-edge of possibility and at the forefront of its field. As our instruments and equipment are varied and constantly evolving, you’ll enjoy a journey of continuous learning and technical discovery. We don’t pigeonhole people to the day-to-day, we encourage experience. Within Engineering, there are a number of different teams covering different scopes of work and you’re also likely to find opportunities for secondments across the business and in different areas like the Mobile Met Unit (deployed anywhere in support of British military operations).

There are many locations across the UK for our engineers to be based – including Exeter, Nottingham, Aberporth, Crawley, Glasgow, Belfast, Lathom and Southampton for marine engineers. Locations of roles will always be specified on advertisements, and frequent travel will be required regionally. There may also be international travel opportunity for engineers to experience some of our locations abroad.