Associate Director, Customer Relationships

Job summary

We are pleased to bring to the market the role of Associate Director, Customer Relationships.

As our Associate Director of Customer Relationships, you will provide strategic leadership to our Products and Services across Met Office, helping us deliver more impact, innovation and value to our customers. Your leadership will enable our people to feel empowered to innovate, deliver and thrive within a positive environment.

Based in Exeterhttps://careershub.metoffice.gov.uk/members/modules/ats/tracking.php?record=1115#_msocom_2 or Reading, your work will ensure the Met Office can realise its business strategy to ensure citizens, communities and businesses are served with trusted services which deliver growth and value.

World changing work

As one of the world’s leading weather and climate organisations, the Met Office is a world leading scientific institution with a global reputation for excellence in weather and climate science and services. Our work supports everything from daily life and travel, to defence, agriculture, energy and emergency response.

Job description

Your world of expertise

Reporting to the Chief Customer Officer, you will be an expert in leading high level relationships with key customer contacts across government and industry, and will own the Met Office approach to strategic customer relationship. Being our most senior point of contact for most customer contracts, you will ensure that our partners and customers across government and industry get full value from our weather and climate intelligence.

You will lead, inspire and develop your team to ensure the sustained achievement of Met Office objectives and an environment of trust and inclusion.

Your key duties

• Role model leadership behaviours so that our employees feel empowered to innovate, deliver and thrive within a positive environment.
• You will lead the customer lifecycle, from the onboarding of key customers, ensuring their needs are met when engaging us.
• Lead our Market Postures work to identify market sectors in which we will focus.
• You will be Deputy to Chief Customer Officer assuming full Director delegations internally and externally, deputising at Executive and Main Board meetings.
• Effectively communicate and deliver transformational change across the business.

Person specification

Essential Criteria, skills and experience:

We are seeking a permanent appointment for an exceptional leader whose experience aligns with our criteria:

1. Able to inspire confidence with senior external stakeholders, with a track record of networking skills; gaining trust, credibility and building successful relationships.
2. Demonstrable people leadership skills, with the ability to manage, support and inspire a multi-disciplinary senior team.
3. Excellent skills in clear, confident, compelling communication to enable you to regularly negotiate and influence at Executive level to reach an agreed position in the best interest of the Met Office.
4. Demonstrable and high level understanding of the end-to-end value chain of the organisation and how this influences and impacts products and services delivery to customers.
5. Evidence of strong cross-functional working, with demonstrable evidence of building trusted, productive working relationships with senior colleagues across the organisation and operating collaboratively to deliver shared objectives.

Some UK and international travel will be required.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £74,856, Met Office contributes £21,685 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Why join us

Our work is life-changing, often life-saving and always life-enhancing. The Met Office is accredited as a 'Great Place to Work UK’ and in addition has achieved a place on both the UK's 'Best Workplaces in Tech' and 'Best Workplaces for Women' lists.

As our Associate Director your total reward package is potentially worth in the range of £103,515 annually, which includes:

• Base pay of £74,856
• An outstanding Civil Service pension
• A discretionary performance related bonus
• 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

• A relocation package is availablehttps://careershub.metoffice.gov.uk/members/modules/ats/tracking.php?record=1115#_msocom_6.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Our selection process

To apply, follow the steps below which will include a Cover Letter/Supporting Statement for you to evidence your experience and skills against each of the essential criteria.

Closing date Wednesday 4th February 23:59. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a first stage interview which will take place from March 2026

How to apply

If you share our values, we’d love to hear from you. Apply below using your CV and a Cover Letter/Supporting Statement with evidence against each of the essential criteria. We recommend candidates use the CARL method (Context, Action, Result and Learning) for presenting evidence of experience and skills.

Closing date Wednesday 4th February 23:59.

How we can help:

If you are considering applying and need support to do so, please contact us via careers@metoffice.gov.uk . 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.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Resourcing Team
• Email : careers@metoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : careers@metoffice.gov.uk