An external view of the Met Office building at night.

Careers in Customer & Stakeholder Management

Overview

Behind our meteorological and climate capabilities are millions of customers who rely on our products and services. You could say that Customer and Stakeholder Management forms the face of the Met Office. We’re a collaborative organisation and our teams of business development, sales, marketing and product development professionals are on the frontline of our success, using our incredible scientific capabilities to meet the needs of our customers through a wide range of offerings.  These people nurture key relationships with our customers, stakeholders and the Government; widen the reach of our products and services; win and secure new partnerships and take good care of the ones we already have. From Defence, Aviation and Utilities to Retail, Health and the general public, our work reaches far and wide. This team, divided into two key functions, look for and look after both opportunities in Government and commercial areas and maintain our position as a world-leading provider of meteorological and climate products and services..

Teams

Divided into business to business, Government and direct to the consumer activities, this area looks after what we sell and who we sell to. Our team of sales, marketing and business development professionals identifies and looks after our customers’ needs; they then feed this information to our Products colleagues who consider the most effective, efficient way to meet needs through product development.

The Business to Business team provides a vital link with our all-important customers. Their work focuses on three crucial areas of the business. Aviation is integral to the Met Office. Airlines rely on our forecasts and meteorological capabilities to fly safely and efficiently so the Aviation subteam have a busy and key role to play as they manage all of our relationships in the Aviation sector. There is also a subteam who look after Industry and Transport services.  They support a wide variety of our customers, from providing support for both on and offshore wind energy initiatives, to helping make decisions about gritting roads and car parks, and working with oil and gas companies who need to ensure safety of their operations.

The Digital & Global Media team focuses on the more digital side of our commercial services: the reach of our website and our digital offerings, the weather broadcasts you see on TV and also wider sponsorship and advertising.

We are proud to be one of the very best meteorological organisations in the entire world. And the Government Services team focuses on helping us to hold this position. They look after the funding we receive from Government and Defence and maintain our longstanding partnership with a range of Government departments. They also promote what we do to other governmental organisations, developing new partnerships and identifying opportunities for new services to support government’s needs. Included within Government Services are teams supporting the Public Weather Service and Defence customers as well as our work with other areas of Government, such as Health services, covering everything from the innovative products we supply to the NHS, to helping developing countries understand climate change. Their work is hugely varied and highly valued. From managing the funds we receive to research climate science and looking after existing contracts, to looking after our core agreements about what we deliver to the public through social media, web, TV and radio forecasts, this function is vital to our success.

Products function

The Products team is the driving force behind our wide range of products and services. The ground-breaking climate consultancy services we offer all over the world; the products that defence, government, the health sector and many other industries rely on to operate; our mobile apps and innovative web products, this team oversees it all. You can have a deeper look at some of the products and services they look after on our corporate website.

Learning and development

Whatever stage of your career you join us at, whether you come and work in Product, Commercial or Government Services, in Business Development, Marketing or Account Management, we will invest in your development and continued learning. Our Professional Skills Framework will help to equip you with a breadth and depth of useful skills. The uniqueness of our work, the diversity of sectors we serve across public and private markets, offers opportunities like no other. You’ll have the chance to specialise in different areas; work with an incredible spectrum of customers and stakeholders and enrich your skills and knowledge. If you’ve enthusiasm, passion and keenness to learn, you’ll have our full support and encouragement to reach your career ambitions in a world-leading organisation.

What we look for

We take people on at a wide range of levels in this area. From Business graduates, who are given extensive training across the full lifecycles of work in this area, to Marketing Managers and other more senior roles. The skills and experience that you need will vary from role to role and will always be clearly outlined in individual role specifications. A willingness to travel is a must-have as you’ll need to spend time with our customers and stakeholders.

What’s important for all positions in this area is that you’re a real team player as we work very collaboratively in order to further establish our world-leading status. You’ll also need to have a real appreciation of customer and stakeholder needs; a creative mind and innovative outlook on how we can use our products and services to meet them. Organised, driven, results-focused with brilliant communication skills – all those things almost go without saying. Combining your skills with our training and opportunities, you’ll have the perfect platform for a fascinating career.

Locations and opportunities

Working here offers a breadth of work, customers and stakeholders that you wouldn’t find elsewhere. In this area, your work could be key to ensuring that planes take off safely or that we’re meeting government requirements,  providing the general public with exactly what they need to know or developing the client base of a world-leading organisation. Whatever you’re managing, commercialising or marketing will make a real difference to people’s lives.

Endless opportunities here that will undoubtedly take your career to incredible heights. Whether you’re based in our all-under-one-roof, state-of-the-art Exeter headquarters or elsewhere, there’s likely to be travel involved in your role – this could be nationwide or it could be internationally dependant on your work.  Great opportunities will be yours for the taking.