Radar R&D - Scientific Software Engineer

Met Office; Devon and Torbay; Hybrid; GBP 46,483 - 56,812; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Civil Service pension

Annual Leave starting at 27.5 days

Market supplement allowance of £2,200

Job summary

An environmental agency in the UK is seeking a Scientific Software Engineer in Radar R&D. This hybrid role involves developing innovative techniques to enhance weather radar data services and collaborating with scientists to improve high-quality software solutions. Ideal candidates will have expertise in Python, cloud computing, and extensive experience in scientific software engineering, along with a strong commitment to quality assurance. This position includes a competitive salary up to £51,648 and excellent benefits, including a Civil Service pension and generous leave entitlement.

Qualifications

• Experience in solving scientific software engineering tasks.
• Proven ability to communicate with colleagues effectively.
• Demonstrated proactive skills development and support for others.

Responsibilities

• Develop techniques for data services using cloud technologies.
• Support development of high-quality code for scientific projects.
• Collaborate with a team to solve real-world challenges.

Skills

Computer programming in Python

Cloud computing

Linux environment

Quality Assurance processes

Scientific and technical insight

Education

Mathematical, physical or computational science

Job description

We\'re looking for an exceptional Scientific Software Engineer in Radar R&D to help us make a difference to our planet.

As our 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.

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

As a world-leading authority in weather and climate services, observations are fundamental to almost everything we do at the Met Office. Our network of weather radars measure the atmosphere, feeding data into high performance numerical models and are used by our forecasting teams to precisely predict the weather. To collect these underpinning observations, we utilise innovative technology that improves the quality and accuracy of our radar systems and helps us to deliver the most accurate forecasts to our customers. Technology and science go hand-in-hand to drive our success and that\'s where you come in.

Working with our upgraded Dual Polarisation radars, you\'ll join our Radar Research and Development Team to develop techniques and processes to enhance the data collected through our observing network. The Radar R&D team are responsible for end-to-end upgrades of the UK Weather Radar capability. Your technical skills, combined with your scientific understanding, can help us develop the cutting-edge systems that will deliver reliable and timely weather information to our customers, which include the Flood Forecasting Centre, regional water companies across the UK and the Environment Agency.

• Help to design and develop operational data services exploiting cloud computing technologies to efficiently produce radar products.
• Support Met Office scientists and engineers to develop high-quality code and implementations of their research, lead activities to develop their capabilities.
• Collaborate with a motivated team to deliver projects that solve real world challenges.

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 Scientific Software Engineer in Radar R&D, your total reward package will be up to £51,648 annually, which includes:

• An outstanding Civil Service pension, with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
• Recruitment Retention Allowance (RRA) you will be paid £2,200 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

• Experience and knowledge in a mathematical, physical or computational science or related discipline, equivalent to several years working post-graduate.
• Provide proactive scientific and technical insight into the solving of scientific software engineering tasks or problems
• Experience in designing, writing and understanding Python code, in a cloud-based, Linux environment.
• Apply good Quality Assurance processes, best practice, standards and/or regulations to all aspects of your work to achieve the agreed standard
• Communicate accurately and concisely with colleagues and/or wider stakeholders to develop trust and credibility, tailoring your method of sharing to a range of audiences
• Develop your skills proactively, and provide support to others to develop their skills leading to beneficial impacts

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 15/02/2026 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 23/02/2026. 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 at .

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.

If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then in the first instance you should contact us at: If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission at: