Foundation Scientist - Ocean, Cryosphere and Climate

We are seeking talented Foundation Scientists to join the Ocean, Cryosphere and Climate (OCC) group. There are three positions on offer: Polar Climate foundation scientist, Sea Level foundation scientist, Marine Extremes foundation scientist. These positions 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. Our people are at the heart of what we do and we will do our best to agree a working pattern that works for everyone.

Your world of expertise

You will join the Ocean, Cryosphere and Climate group, where we develop and use models to understand the impact of climate on global, regional and polar marine environments. This is an exciting time for the group, with research underway to improve our understanding of climate change in the polar regions and also its influence on sea levels and extreme ocean conditions. In these roles you will collaborate with Met Office experts and international partners, conduct innovative research leading to high quality publications, and produce scientific outputs that inform and shape government policy.

Each role involves undertaking scientific research to deepen our understanding of both past and projected changes in ocean and cryosphere climate. Communicating your findings is a vital component of the work: you will write and publish peer-reviewed papers and actively engage with the scientific community and other stakeholders, within the Met Office and beyond. This may include contributing to workshops, conferences, and collaborative projects.

Role-specific duties are listed below.

• Perform research to improve the understanding and representation of physical processes in Met Office modelling systems that are important for polar modelling to support weather prediction and climate projection capabilities - in particular those that affect the evolution of sea ice.
• Contribute to development of the sea ice model component - including scientific evaluation, technical review and testing of code or configuration changes.
• Contribute to, and where appropriate lead, the evaluation, presentation, and publication of Met Office/UK sea ice model configurations.

Sea Level Foundation Scientist

Your work will advance our understanding of global and regional changes in sea level. You will use projections from climate models to study how climate processes contribute to changes in sea level, and to better understand the hazards and risks of future sea level change. The work offers an exciting opportunity to contribute science to support a major programme, UK Climate Information, that will build on the legacy of UK Climate Projections to deliver authoritative climate data for researchers and policy makers.

• Developing scientific capability and maintaining robust software for sea level projections, data analysis and visualisation.
• Building strong collaborations with team members, project stakeholders and other national and international experts.

Marine Extremes Foundation Scientist

You will examine climate stressors and extreme events in marine and coastal environments. Research themes are likely to include marine heatwaves and extreme coastal water level events, and how the frequency and characteristics of these events may change over time using statistical methods. This role will also contribute science to support UK Climate Information.

• Developing scientific capability and maintaining robust software for data analysis and visualisation.
• Building strong collaborations with team members, project stakeholders and other national and international experts.

As our Foundation Scientist, your total reward package will be up to £40,524 annually, which includes:

• 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 and option to buy or sell up to 5 days per year of annual leave.

Essential Criteria, skills and experience:

• Knowledge/experience equivalent to a university degree with a strong physics, meteorology or mathematical content.
• EITHER: experience and knowledge of physical oceanography, sea ice or ocean modelling, sea level processes or marine extremes; OR: a proven ability to quickly learn new science areas, techniques or concepts.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with the ability to perform effective communication of scientific and/or technical concepts to a broad range of audiences.
• Experience in the use of scientific software to analyse and interpret scientific data.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently on challenging scientific or technical problems and to deliver high quality scientific output in a timely fashion through effective planning.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with others sharing own knowledge and expertise to successfully deliver common goals.

How to apply

If you share our values, we would 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.

Applicants need only apply once to be considered for all three roles. Candidates selected for interview will be asked if they have a preference of role. Please note that these positions are being advertised at both Foundation Scientist level and, for those with suitable experience, at Scientist level. Those wishing to be considered for both levels must submit two applications.

Closing date 08/03/2026 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 16/03/2026. 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 are 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.