Urban-scale Prediction Scientific Software Engineer in Reading

We're looking for an exceptional Urban-scale Prediction Scientific Software Engineer to help us make a difference to our planet.

As our Urban-scale Prediction Scientific Software Engineer, 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. 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

You will join a team developing 100m-scale urban prediction techniques to forecast small-scale hazards like thunderstorms, heat, and fog. High-resolution physical models are computationally prohibitively expensive for routine use, creating a clear opportunity for data-driven solutions. Utilising our unique high-resolution training datasets, you will build, optimise, and implement machine learning models and workflows into practical, routine-running applications. Based at our University of Reading hub, you will apply advanced ML engineering to solve urban weather challenges alongside academic and research specialists.

Your key duties

• Contributing to research and software delivery for urban-scale machine learning, including refactoring, modularizing, and optimizing ML workflows; evaluating and adopting emerging algorithms; implementing software best practices; and optimizing code performance across high-performance computing (HPC, including GPUs) and cloud computing platforms.
• Working closely with colleagues across different teams within the Met Office to ensure consistency of approach and software standardisation.
• Working collaboratively with partners in UK universities and UM partner organisations to advance partnerships on sub-km/urban prediction applications, noting in particular links with University of Reading scientists which are currently being strengthened through the new Local Hazard Prediction Centre of Excellence.
• Documenting and presenting the work in internal reports, meetings, scientific journals, and external conferences. To provide scientific/technical advice to peers, management and external stakeholders.

Why join us

Our work is life-changing, often life-saving and always life-enhancing. 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 our Urban-scale Prediction Scientific Software Engineer, your total reward package will be up to £51,448 annually, which includes:

• £35,145 base pay
• An outstanding Civil Service pension, with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
• Recruitment Retention Allowance (RRA) you will be paid £2,000 per annum as a market supplement to reflect the demand for your skills. Whilst in post, you will be paid this market driven allowance from April 2026 until March 2027 in your monthly pay
• 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

• Lead Criterion: Show technical insight through delivery of significant advances in software capability by the effective application of technical knowledge, understanding and skills (Expert By Nature)
• An understanding of, demonstrable interest in, or experience of machine learning, AI, or data science methods to solve complex problems (Experts by nature)
• Apply good Quality Assurance processes, best practice, standards and/or regulations in your work (Live and Breathe It)
• Engage with others to understand the requirements for your work and its wider context, and contribute to the development of plans to meet these requirements (Better Together)
• Communicate knowledge accurately and concisely in written documents and group discussions, tailoring communication for diverse audiences and building trust/credibility (Better Together)
• Proactively develop your skills and support others in developing their skills, leading to beneficial impacts (Keep Evolving)

The panel may perform a preliminary sift of the lead criteria as indicated above.

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.

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