Foundation Operational Meteorologist (MMU)

Kickstart your meteorology career with a global leader in weather and climate science and services! We have opportunities for you to join the Mobile Meteorological Unit (MMU), a Sponsored Reserve unit within the RAF which is run by the Met Office and provides meteorological and environmental advice to the UK’s armed forces on operations and exercises across the world.

This role offers pathways to qualification as an Operational Meteorologist combining meaningful ‘hands-on’ experience with training and development. As a Mobile Met Unit Operational Meteorologist, you will split your time between working on deployed operations and exercises as a member of the UK’s armed forces and civilian work for the Met Office within the Operation Meteorology profession.

You will start your journey training to become an Operational Meteorologist alongside our other Foundation Operational Meteorologists. Once qualified, you will begin your military training, starting with Officer and Aircrew selection, then completing basic recruit and reserve officer training before passing out as a fully qualified reserve officer from RAF Cranwell.

Having completed your military training, in your military role, you will provide meteorological and environmental advice to the UK’s armed forces during operations and exercises around the world. This means analysing the weather and other physical conditions to understand the threats and opportunities and influencing decision makers to make the best of the situation.

In your civilian role, you will work in a team with the largest customers of our weather services nationwide. From day one you will be making a direct, real-life impact to our armed forces, airports and the safety of the public.

Our opportunities are full time, 37 hours per week, starting in August 2026 and you will be deployed to various Met Office sites across the UK and abroad.

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.

Why you should join

• Comprehensive and world-leading training with a variety of development pathways. Your route will be determined by your previous meteorological experience and performance during recruitment selection days, but you can typically expect to be qualified within 18 months.
• A supportive and collaborative team environment with an opportunity to shape your own development within the Met Office, supported by dedicated People Leaders (who specialise in career development) and experienced Meteorologists.
• A range of potential development pathways, leading to diverse and rewarding careers in areas such as operational meteorology, customer service delivery, business analysis or scientific research.
• Varied work designed to help you gain a broad understanding of our business and customers including time at your primary location as well as other sites across the UK. There is also potential for overseas secondments at our defence locations.
• Additional remuneration for your work as an MMU Meteorologist.
• The chance to get involved with military adventurous training whilst deployed.

What you’ll do

Your role will be dependent on the pathway you take. Based on your experience and the needs of our business when you join you may focus more on some of the following areas than others, or you may proceed directly to study for your qualifications. Either way you will build the experience and skills to deliver across these areas.

• Weather Observations & Analysis: Real time analysis of the local weather and environmental conditions, conveying technical data to your team, contributing to the creation of products for a range of customers.
• Delivering weather-based environmental services: Using environmental data to deliver a range of services that allow customers to make better decisions to stay safe and thrive. You will gradually increase in responsibility to deliver these independently.
• Customer Engagement: You will actively partner with a range of users, which may include defence, aviation, or media customers, responding to initial queries and engaging with the Met Office team if required.
• Business Support: As a core part of your team, you will contribute to day-to-day office operations. Maintain local knowledge management, processes such as updating guidance and communicating changes to the wider team.
• Network: Make an impact to the wider network by collaborating with colleagues across the organisation, sharing knowledge and building strong working relationships with peers.
• Project Work/Activity: Contribute to business-critical Met Office-wide projects such as key change initiatives, events, software testbeds or the creation of educational materials.
• Self-Development: Create and be responsible for a personal development plan ensuring that you understand the wider organisation, our products and services and keep learning throughout your career.

An expert by nature with a degree in meteorology, a physical science, mathematics or engineering (at 2:2 or higher) or experience in Operational Meteorology. Ideally you also hold A-level mathematics or physics, or the direct equivalent qualification.

Lead Criteria

• Excellent communication skills and fluency in both spoken and written English; this is important as you will need to communicate in a technical and public-facing capacity.
• Able to engage with users and understand their needs helping them to make better decisions.
• You’re team-orientated, demonstrating that we are better together.
• A positive approach to change is necessary to be agile in the way you work.
• A genuine interest for what we do. That could be the weather, our customers or service delivery.
• The requirement for a full UK driving licence is highly desirable and sometimes essential depending on location.
• The ability to show leadership qualities and lead small teams, which is important for a role within the Mobile Met Unit (MMU).

Am I eligible to apply?

In addition to the criteria listed above, you must also meet the following:

• The role requires resilience and willingness to work shifts including ‘unsocial’ hours (such as night shifts and working weekends or public holidays) as required by your role and/or location.
• Flexible to be able to work across the UK as the business requires.
• You may deploy up to three times during your training and although we will take your preferences into consideration, we cannot guarantee locations.
• Willing and able to become a member of the UK’s armed forces.

The Met Office is Great Place to Work UK certified. We are also featured on their ‘Best Workplaces in Tech’ 2023, 2024 and 2025 lists, as well as their ‘54 Best Workplaces for Women’ 2023 list.

As a Foundation Operational Meteorologist - MMU, your total reward package will be up to £41,724 annually, which includes:

• Unsociable Hours Allowances (UHA) available when you join an operational roster.
• Shift Disturbance of £1,200 per annum (pro-rated) as an allowance for shift working.
• Hourly Rate of £4.50 per hour for qualifying hours working in unsocial hours.
• Additional allowances paid whilst on deployment.
• An outstanding Civil Service pension, with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
• Annual Leave starting at 27.5 days (plus Bank Holidays) rising to 32.5 days (plus Bank Holidays) after 5 years.

Our recruitment process

If you share our values and are ready to take the first step in your meteorology career, we’d love to hear from you.

Apply: Submit your application online following the guidelines given; incomplete responses or CV’s alone will not be accepted.

Closing Date: 23/02/2026 at 23:59.

Initial Sift: Based on evidencing the essential criteria.

Selection Centre: A full day in-person experience at one of our customer bases, currently planned for mid-March in Edinburgh and Exeter.

Offer: Successful candidates will receive an offer and confirmation of the pathway we believe is best suited to them.

Start Date: Begin your journey with us in August 2026.

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.

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.

We can only accept applications from those eligible to live and work in the UK.