Flood Forecasting Centre Industrial Placement 2022

The Met Office is delighted to open our advertising for a number of progressive industrial placements, which will commence from July 2022 until July 2023.

We are hiring for a Flood Forecasting Centre Industrial Placement to be based in Exeter with hybrid working with a salary of £17,900 plus amazing benefits.

Why should I choose the Met Office?

• Flexible hours and homeworking (where business requirements allow)
• Our Industrial Placement scheme
• 27.5 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) and an option to buy or sell up to 5 days per year of annual leave
• Access to discounted shopping on a range of retail, leisure and lifestyle categories

Who we are

The Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC) is a hub of expertise that provides specialised hydrometeorology services to Government and Emergency Responders. We do this in the partnership by combining the meteorology and world-leading science of the Met Office with the world class expertise in hydrology of the Environment Agency.

Our Industrial Placement programme offers ambitious, capable under-graduates the opportunity to gain valuable experience working alongside diverse and highly skilled experts in their field. Our specialist team are cross-trained in meteorology and hydrology, several have doctorates and many have expertise in related disciplines such as oceanography. Our blend of academic, technical and operational skills enables us to develop and deploy world leading approaches to flood forecasting and operational flood risk assessment.

We work alongside colleagues in the Met Office and Environment Agency and with other organisations such as the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the British Geological Survey, as well as the research community including academia and consultants.

By combining our knowledge and experience we are improving our ability to deliver longer lead time flood forecasts and more accurate, targeted information to the Category 1 and 2 responders who have roles and responsibilities in handling emergency situations. This earlier and better communication of flood risk enables national and local responders to support the public and local communities at risk of flooding. This provides people more time to take action to protect themselves and their homes and businesses from flooding.

As our Flood Forecasting Industrial Placement, you’ll be working on projects that really matter and will make a difference. The programme also opens up opportunities in the future after you graduate.

Our Met Office values – it’s who we are:

• We’re a force for good
• We’re experts by nature
• We live and breathe it
• We’re better together
• We keep evolving

Come and join us and help us to make a difference.

Job Purpose

This exciting 12-month industrial placement, will give you an opportunity to gain valuable experience working alongside diverse and highly skilled experts in their field, supporting you to achieve key deliverables and to develop your own skills and knowledge.

The placement will be fully integrated with your university requirements to ensure you gain the most value possible from your experience with us. You will have the opportunity to network with our cohort of Industrial Placements all over the Met Office and understand what career opportunities we can offer you after your degree.

As an Industrial Placement at the Flood Forecasting Centre based in the Operations Centre at the Met Office you will be helping to protect lives and livelihoods from flooding. You will be working to support us in our day to day operations, verifying of our performance during periods of flooding or supporting us with science projects to improve our flood forecasting capability.

You’ll also have opportunity to help us solve some key challenges, such as improved visualisation of probabilistic forecasts, development of dashboards that consolidate key forecast information or developing approaches that use social media to help understand flooding impacts in real-time and assisting in planning activities across our team.

Key Duties

• Support the FFC team in its day-to-day activities.
• Work with FFC team members on projects to improve the centre's operational forecasting activities and capability.
• Work with the team to verify model and system performance during periods of flooding, and prepare post event reviews.
• Work across a number of different disciplines within the FFC, which may include liaising with the wider Environment Agency and Met Office, or external organisations

This Industrial Placement is an exciting opportunity to see first-hand what we do, make a real impact that the Met Office and Flood Forecasting Centre truly values, and also gain an insight into flood operations at the Environment Agency.

Essential Qualifications, Skills and Abilities

To become an FFC Industrial Placement at the Met Office you will need to be someone who:

• Is studying for an undergraduate degree with a significant numeracy, science (e.g. Environmental Science) and/or IT element
• Demonstrates evidence of good oral and written communication skills
• Can plan and organise work using own initiative
• Possesses strong IT and Applied Science skills
• Has an appreciation of customer needs and the importance of good customer service
• Has proven ability to work well as a member of a team

How to apply

If this opportunity excites you to join us and make a difference, click the link below and attach your CV and a cover letter. You should use your cover letter to evidence how you meet our essential criteria.

We are accepting applications until 23:59 on 18th February 2022. You will hear from us after this date to let you know if you have been shortlisted for an interview. Our interviews are taking place remotely via Microsoft Teams.

How we can help

If you are considering applying and need assistance to do so, we can help. Contact us via askHR@metoffice.gov.uk or you can request adjustments within your application. 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 (Guaranteed Interview) Scheme. To be invited to interview/assessment under this scheme, your application must meet the essential criteria for the role.

We are an equal opportunities employer, welcoming 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.