Managing Director, Enabling Domain in Exeter

Contract: Permanent - Full Time

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

Shape the Future. Enable National Impact.

The Met Office is one of the world's leading weather and climate science organisations, helping citizens, businesses and governments make better decisions to stay safe and thrive. We are seeking an exceptional executive leader to join our Main Board as Managing Director, Enabling Domain incorporating Chief Financial Officer. This is a rare opportunity to lead a critical part of a nationally important organisation and drive transformation across the corporate services enabling functions that underpin our success.

This role combines strategic enterprise leadership with Chief Financial Officer accountability, overseeing the resources, systems, governance and people that allow the Met Office to deliver its mission.

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.

The Opportunity

As Director of the Enabling Domain, you will lead a diverse portfolio of professional functions that support the effective, secure and compliant operation of the Met Office, including:

• Commercial
• People & Culture
• Communications and Engagement
• Governance and Legal
• Internal Audit
• Health, Safety and Wellbeing
• Security and Cyber Security
• Corporate IT

Reporting directly to the CEO and serving as a member of the Main Board, Executive Committee and Audit & Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC), you will help shape our long-term ambitions and deliver our strategy. You will lead a newly established Enabling Domain of approximately 650 colleagues, working across multiple disciplines to build an integrated, high-performing and future-ready organisation.

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to the strategic leadership of the Met Office as a member of the Main Board and Executive Committee.
• Partner with the CEO and fellow Directors to set organisational direction and ensure successful delivery of strategic priorities.
• Promote a culture of innovation, inclusion, accountability and high performance.
• Lead the Enabling Domain and oversee delivery of its strategy, operating model and transformation agenda.
• Chair the Enabling Domain Board and provide clear strategic direction across all enabling functions.
• Establish effective governance, policies and service arrangements across the organisation.
• Drive operational excellence, simplification and efficiency through modernisation and automation.
• Act as Chief Financial Officer for the Met Office.
• Provide stewardship of annual turnover of approximately £300 million.
• Lead a direct cost base of approximately £100 million.
• Oversee substantial government loans, grants and capital programmes worth around £100 million, including major national infrastructure investments.
• Ensure compliance with Managing Public Money, Government Functional Standards and all relevant financial governance requirements.
• Deliver robust financial planning, forecasting, risk management and performance oversight.

Transformation and Change

• Play a leading role in embedding the recently established domain model.
• Drive organisational transformation and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Build strong collaboration and alignment across the organisation's three strategic domains.
• Ensure enabling services evolve to meet future business needs.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Represent the Met Office at senior levels across government.
• Build trusted relationships with Accounting Officers, senior finance leaders and key stakeholders.
• Engage confidently with sponsoring departments, government functions and external partners.
• Maintain the highest standards of governance, transparency and public accountability.

About You

We are looking for a strategic and collaborative executive who combines financial expertise with broad organisational leadership experience.

Why Join Us?

This is an opportunity to help lead one of the UK's most trusted public institutions. You will join a highly respected organisation that delivers services critical to public safety, national resilience, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability. Our work is life-changing, often life-saving and always life-enhancing. The Met Office is Great Place to Work UK certified.

In return, we offer:

• A competitive total reward of £130k + package
• 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
• Relocation Assistance may be available
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements
• The opportunity to deliver national impact through world-leading science and technology

You will bring:

• Significant executive-level leadership experience within a large, complex organisation, with board-level financial accountability and experience operating as a CFO, Finance Director or equivalent senior leader.
• Proven executive leadership of large-scale corporate or enabling service functions.
• Experience managing substantial budgets and delivering financial performance, efficiencies and value for money.
• A strong track record of leading organisational transformation and change, with exceptional communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills.
• Extensive understanding of governance, risk management and regulatory compliance.
• Experience working with senior government stakeholders or within a regulated public-sector environment.

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

• Knowledge of Managing Public Money and Government Functional Standards.
• Experience overseeing major capital investment programmes.
• Experience leading technology, cyber security or digital transformation.
• Experience operating within a scientific, research, technology or data-driven organisation.

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 midnight on 14th August. You will hear from us once the closing date has passed.

Using AI in your application

We welcome applications that use AI tools for supporting 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.

In addition, we have retained Moon Executive Search to work with us on this executive search opportunity. 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, 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. You will need to achieve full security clearance within your first 6 months with us.

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.

Our rewards and benefits are as varied as our customers and our people, depending on your role, and which part of the business you join.

The one thing they have in common is that they’re designed to recognise your contribution to our success. Starting at 27.5 days and rising to 32.5 days after five years of service (both figures exclude bank holidays). As well as the flexibility to buy or sell annual leave annually.

You’ll automatically qualify to join our alpha pension scheme, part of the Civil Service Pension arrangements. The scheme is recognised as one of the most generous occupational pensions.

Lifestyle support

Whether you wish to utilise our excellent family-friendly schemes, be paid up to 3 days for volunteering with your chosen organisation, have the reassurance of a generous sickness pay scheme or be part of an organisation that is happy to pro-actively talk about flexible working the Met Office wants you to have a great work and lifestyle balance.

Established hybrid working

We have bases all over the UK and some roles allow for you to work abroad so there is the option to travel for work also, we have established amazing hybrid working practices across all of our offices and have enhanced technology to enable office and home-based meetings. We work with employees to agree on a suitable working pattern that works for us both and have various working patterns in place.

Investing in your development

The world around us is constantly changing. New technologies, shifting climate patterns, artificial intelligence. These factors and more shape the need for us to develop our skills and knowledge as a business and as individuals. Our investment in learning and development is testament to this and we have partnered with external bodies in each profession to help shape the way we develop the incredible talent right across the Met Office. We help everyone to understand their strengths and opportunities and tailor learning programmes that match their career.