Lead Data Governance Manager

Met Office

Hybrid

Expires: Expiring in less than 2 weeks

Full time

£54,515 - £58,582 per year

Job summary

We’re looking for an exceptional Lead Data Governance Manager to help us make a difference to our planet.

As our Lead Data Governance Manager, 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.

Our opportunity is full time, 37 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

Job description

You will design and deliver a structured approach to the governance of our environmental data assets from data ingestion, data creation, processing and provision to our external users. You will lead on data governance activities across the organisation ensuring and leading compliance with policies, standards and provide support to internal user groups. Identify opportunities to support strategic objectives and corporate decision making. This will lead to the effective use of our environmental data and data services both across the Met Office and in delivering our commitments to government, industry and the public.

Your key duties:

Working with the Head of Data Governance and key stakeholders including senior leadership teams, you will establish and maintain a Data Governance Framework of principles, policies and guidance that underpin our data governance and corporate decision making and communicate and reinforce their adoption to enable us to deliver the many data-related objectives of our strategic actions.
Ability to engage with business units and end users to promote data governance principles, build stakeholder buy-in, and communicate the value of trusted data as a driver for operational efficiency and strategic decision-making.
Develop and support the adoption of the Data Governance Framework through formal and informal engagement across capabilities within the organisation.
Responding to business challenges and identifying opportunities, you will maintain alignment to enterprise design frameworks and compliance with external policies and best practice.
You will introduce and manage measures to monitor and raise Met Office maturity in environmental data governance practices and, through research, collaboration and user feedback, you will identify organisational challenges and blockers, making improvements to support staff, to embed sustainable ways of working and to address business needs.
Lead an inclusive and accountable approach to environmental data governance and management to build a culture of openness and transparency across the Met Office, so that insights, intelligence, experience and lessons learned inform decisions, direct work priorities and enable staff to collaborate on efficient and consistent approach to environmental data management.
Work with industry leaders and external stakeholders to exchange governance knowledge and learning.
Lead data governance assurance reviews to ensure compliance, data quality, and risk mitigation. Provide expert guidance to stakeholders, promoting best practices and a consistent enterprise-wide approach to managing environmental data assets.

Person specification

Leadership & Mentorship - Ability and willingness to be an effective line manager and mentor, supporting, developing, and motivating others.
Enterprise Data Strategy & Governance - Proven experience in helping develop, then lead the implementing of enterprise-wide data strategies, establishing governance structures for design, assurance, and delivery of data-driven products and services.
Stakeholder Engagement & Policy Design - Excellent ability to engage technical and non-technical stakeholders, advocate for data management best practices, and design clear, practical governance policies that address adoption challenges and embed new ways of working.
Compliance, Assurance & Technical Expertise - Evidence of embedding compliance across the data lifecycle, defining and monitoring assurance metrics, aligning with regulatory and organisational requirements, and applying strong technical understanding of data architecture, metadata management, and data management principle.

We encourage you to apply if you believe you meet our essential criteria, but we’re also keen to discover if you have:

Experience with working on Environmental data and geospatial data
DAMA - DMBOK knowledge and qualified with experience of delivering across all the DAMA functional areas
Experience of leading a Data Strategy and implement the necessary governance required for effective design and delivery of products and services with a focus on AI

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £54,515, Met Office contributes £15,792 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

As our Lead Data Governance Manager, your total reward package will be up to £79,657 annually, which includes:

£54,515 base pay
An outstanding Civil Service pension, with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
Recruitment Retention Allowance (RRA) you will be paid £3,800 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

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

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 21/01/2026 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 09/02/2026. 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 careers@metoffice.gov.uk.

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: 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

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

Salary range

£54,515 - £58,582 per year