Chief Security Officer

Job summary

We are pleased to bring to the market the role of Chief Security Officer at the Met Office.

As our Chief Security Officer, you will lead physical, personnel and cyber security to ensure the Met Office stays safe and thrives in a changing world. Based in Exeter with hybrid working, we are seeking a permanent appointment and will consider applications for full time and compressed hours.

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

The Chief Security Officer (CSO) is responsible for providing executive leadership and accountability for all aspects of security across the organisation, ensuring the protection of people, assets, information, systems, and operations in an evolving threat environment.

This role has end‑to‑end ownership of Physical Security, Personnel (People) Security, Cyber Security, and Information Security, bringing these together as a single, integrated enterprise security function. The CSO sets security strategy, establishes risk appetite, and ensures that security enables the organisation to operate safely, resiliently and with confidence.

The role will involve all aspects of our operations from supply chain through to delivery of secure and protected products and services to our customers.

Key to this role is ensuring that the organisation has the required security resources and skills to meet its changing needs, helping the Met Office achieve its purpose and strategic goals.

The organisation operates in a complex national and international environment, with increasing physical, cyber and insider threats, heightened regulatory expectations, and growing reliance on digital services and critical infrastructure.

The CSO plays a central role in ensuring the organisation is threat‑informed, risk‑focused and impact‑driven, balancing operational delivery with long term resilience and preparedness.

Your key duties

• Establish and lead a single, coherent security domain spanning physical, people, cyber and information security.
• Provide senior leadership to security teams across physical, personnel, cyber and information security, setting clear expectations for delivery standards, performance and professional practice. Act as a visible leader, setting the tone for security culture and accountability, building strong relationships with senior internal stakeholders across the organisation.
• Define and own enterprise security strategy, policy, standards and risk appetite, acting as the organisation’s senior owner for security risk, including strategic, operational and emerging threats, you will ensure security is embedded as an enabler of organisational objectives, not treated as a standalone compliance activity.
• Provide authoritative advice to the Executive Committee and Board on security risk, resilience and preparedness and ensure robust security arrangements are in place for crisis management, incident response and business resilience.
• Establish proportionate security governance frameworks covering all security disciplines and ensure compliance with relevant statutory, regulatory and government security obligations.
• Oversee assurance activity and engage confidently with auditors, regulators and external reviewers.
• Represent the Met Office in cross Government initiatives, working groups and other governance bodies.

Person specification

Essential Criteria, skills and experience:

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

1. Experience of providing leadership to Security teams across physical, personnel, cyber and information security and be at, or on track, to Chartered status in a related security profession (or equivalent).
2. Proven experience operating at executive and Board level on security risk, resilience and assurance and senior leadership experience across multiple security disciplines, explicitly including physical security, personnel (people) security, cyber security and information security.
3. A track record of establishing enterprise-wide security strategy and governance in complex environments.
4. Experience leading organisational change and integrating disparate security functions, with strong judgement, credibility and the ability to influence at the highest levels.
5. Must have Developed Vetting (DV) or be able to attain a successful DV clearance on appointment.

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 Chief Security Officer your annual salary and allowances will be circa £82,606. Your total reward package, including the below elements, is potentially worth circa £110,250 annually, which includes:

• Base pay in the range of £74,856 to £82,084
• Discretionary Recruitment & Retention annual allowance of £7,750
• An outstanding Civil Service pension, Met Office contributing 28.97%
• Performance related bonuses
• 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 may be available.

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 Supporting Statement for you to evidence your experience and skills against each of the essential criteria. Closing date Sunday 31st May.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview which will take place at our Exeter HQ on 16th June.

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 Sunday 31st May.

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 Developed Vetting security clearance for this role – you must already have this or be able to attain a successful DV clearance prior to appointment 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.

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 developed vetting (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 : Careers@metoffice.gov.uk
• Email : Careers@metoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : careers@metoffice.gov.uk

Further information

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: careers@metoffice.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission at: info@csc.gov.uk

https://careers.metoffice.gov.uk/we-are-the-met-office