Foundation Scientist - Ocean, Cryosphere and Climate

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Job Reference metoffice/TP/1305/1146

Permanent

Working Hours:

37

Location (City/Town):

Exeter

Closing Date:

08/03/2026

Profession:

Science

Region / Division:

UK Region

Careers website category:

Science

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'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 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.

You will contribute to evaluation and development of the sea ice model configurations used within Met Office modelling systems and will perform research to further our understanding of the polar regions. Job responsibilities include:

• 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…