Senior Scientific Software Engineer - Momentum Partnership

We're looking for an exceptional Senior Scientific Software Engineer to help us make a difference to our planet. 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: Momentum is a framework of Software comprising the model codes and supporting infrastructure that provides the ability to run Earth Environment Prediction applications, together with the Science Configurations that define the way model codes are run for regional or global applications. The Met Office and its Momentum partners use the various elements of the framework to build Prediction Systems. The Momentum Partnership is a coordinated activity consisting of operational and research centres that use and develop the Momentum and associated workflows for weather and climate applications. The use of Momentum for research and operations strengthens the Met Office's position as a global leader in the weather and climate science and enables partners to contribute to the Met Office's Research and Innovation themes.

In this post you will develop and maintain the infrastructure that supports the data provision for Momentum Partners to initialise Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) systems, as well as support for the implementation of configurations developed from research into the operational systems across the Momentum Partnership. You will work closely with partner scientists and developers to enable their contributions to the Momentum Partnership's science and technical infrastructure programs, supported by colleagues across National Capability. This involves understanding partner capabilities, providing training and mentoring, and, where needed, developing or coordinating tools that allow partners to configure, run, and evaluate physical or machine-learning models for model development and assessment.

The Met Office and its Momentum Partners are adopting next-generation Momentum systems, which opens exciting opportunities for you to:

• Advance your expertise in research, development, and application of Momentum components.
• Collaborate at a high level across the Met Office and with international Momentum partners.
• Work alongside and contributing to the operational implementation of a world leading seamless modelling system.
• Work within a global partnership that embraces creativity and diversity.

The job holder will contribute to the overall work of the Momentum Partnerships team. Core responsibilities will include:

• Providing technical support and develop capabilities to enable effective use of Momentum and its associated software for operational NWP systems across the Momentum Partnership. This support can be delivered remotely or through visits to Momentum partner organisations, through an understanding of Momentum partner strengths and capabilities.
• Providing technical support for Momentum partners to contribute to joint science and technical infrastructure plans.
• Developing and maintaining the Initialisation Data Service that provides operational data streams to Momentum partners.
• Working closely with the Research to Operations (R2O) team in Weather Science to ensure that workflow developments align with R2O plans including those needed for Parallel Suites and support the R2O process across the Momentum Partnership.

Additional responsibilities may include:

• Supporting the transition of partners to use and develop Momentum.
• Contributing to Momentum Partnership projects related to the Partnership priority areas.

The job holder will be expected to manage and build relationships with scientists and software engineers from different cultures and organisations. 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 Senior Scientific Software Engineer, your total reward package will be up to £62,968 annually, which includes:

• An outstanding Civil Service pension, with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
• Recruitment Retention Allowance (RRA) you will be paid £2,700 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 2024 until March 2026 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:

• A strong background in computational science, physical science or mathematics, demonstrated by a degree or equivalent qualifications or experience.
• Demonstrated ability to write high quality scientific software applications (e.g., Fortran, C++, Python, etc.), and develop new technical skills where required.
• Demonstrated ability to set-up and manage a quality assurance process for a code base and facilitate its adoption by others.
• Evidence of an organised approach to work and ability to cope with a range of competing demands.
• Evidence of ability to work well with people and foster collaboration and mentoring.

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 25/01/2026 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 02/02/2026. 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 have any questions or would like to discuss this opportunity further, please contact us. 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.