The Met Office is delighted to open our advertising for a number of apprenticeships, which will commence in September 2023.
We’re looking for an exceptional IT Solutions Apprentice to help us make a difference to our planet. This apprenticeship can offer you the support, training and industry recognised qualifications to get you on the path to a career in IT.
As a Level 3 apprentice, the current starting salary will be £15,990.00 in Year 1, increasing to a minimum of £20,048 in Year 2 in line with National Living Wage from April 2023. Our salaries are reviewed annually and we are currently in the process of reviewing our rates from 01 April 2023.
We expect apprentices to work in a hybrid fashion with 1 - 2 days per week from our Exeter HQ, and one day per week for study. Please note that any travel costs to the primary workplace location will be borne by the apprentice.
We also offer:
- Outstanding Civil Service Pension
- Flexible hours and homeworking
- Annual Leave starting at 27.5 days (plus Bank Holidays) and option to buy or sell up to 5 days per year of annual leave
- Access to discounted shopping on a range of retail, leisure and lifestyle categories
We provide critical weather services and world-leading climate science, to help people make better decisions to stay safe and thrive.
Together:
- 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
Find out more about our values - https://bit.ly/3fokaRD
We would look for you to join us in September 2023 with your apprenticeship training beginning in the same month. Your working hours are typically 9am - 5pm and you would have 1 day per week dedicated to your 20% training. Working towards the Level 3 IT Solutions Apprentice, the training will be mostly delivered online as well as self-study. Before applying, we recommend you consider if the delivery method suits your learner needs along with whether you feel you are committed to your own development and training as this element forms a significant aspect of a modern apprenticeship.
The training will be provided by Babington who will provide the course content along with support and external mentoring. You will be managed by a line manager and have a mentor to offer further support. In addition to the formal training, you will also have in house and on the job training
As our Level 3 IT Solutions Apprentice, the key duties are:
- Apply industry best practice to developing proposals for improving our IT support of the networks to improve resilience and efficiency.
- Engaging in training fully and completing log books and tasks as required
- Build and configure workstation & server PCs, and Raspberry Pi devices, for deployment into unattended 24/7 environmental monitoring platforms
- Assist the Upper Air Observations IT Specialist with operational support and increasing automation and quality-assurance processes
- Assist operational support colleagues, and developing their monitoring tools, to increase their self-sufficiency; reducing the call on IT staff for 4th-line support
- Assist with the design and development of modernised IT infrastructure
- Automation of manual processes
- Have achieved English/Maths GCSE (Grade A*-C or 9-4) Note: For English & Maths, there are alternatives that can be undertaken alongside the course in the form of Functional Skills tests. Currently all candidates are required to carry out an ‘Initial Assessment’ in the form of online Basic Skills English and Maths assessments.
- A keen interest in Technology with a willingness to develop your skills and apply your learning to help us keep evolving.
- Experience in a programming language (e.g. Python) and IT hardware (e.g. Windows & Linux tools).
- A proactive problem solver, able to analyse a technical problem and identify the root cause.
- Able to build good working relationships and work better together in a multi-skilled team.
- Able to plan and organise work using own initiative, adapting to changing requirements.
Where candidates are awaiting exam results, any offer made will be conditional on meeting the entry requirements been included under the criteria
In addition to the criteria listed above, you must also be eligible to qualify for apprenticeship funding by meeting the following:
- Not be enrolled on another funded apprenticeship or another funded further education or higher education programme at the time you start this apprenticeship.
- Are applying for an apprenticeship that is unrelated to any qualifications you already hold at the same or higher level than this apprenticeship.
If you share our values, we’d love to hear from you. Please clink the link below and complete the application form, making sure to include how you meet each of the criteria above. You may want to take a look at our application tips sheet attached to the bottom of this advert before submitting.
Closing date 16/04/2023 at 23:59 with interviews commencing from 08/05/2023. You will hear from us once the closing date has passed. Our interviews are taking place remotely via Microsoft Teams.
If successful, please note we are unable to offer expenses for travel to your normal place of work. Please ask at interview if you would like extra clarity on how often this requirement is likely to be.
How we can help:
If you are considering applying and need assistance to do so, please contact us via askHR@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 (Guaranteed Interview) Scheme. To be invited to interview/assessment under this scheme, your application must meet the essential criteria for the role.
We are an equal opportunities employer, welcoming 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. You will need to achieve full security clearance within your first 6 months with us.
Whilst this temporary apprentice post is for up to 18 months, there is the potential for it to develop into a permanent position on successful completion of your apprenticeship. This would likely be in one of our IT roles.
- ApplicationTips_EarlyCareers.pdf