Finance Business Partner

Job summary

We’re looking for an exceptional Finance Business Partner to help us make a difference to our planet.

As one of our Finance Business Partners, 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.

Whilst this is a temporary position until 31 March 2028, there is potential for it to develop into a permanent position.

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

Your world of expertise

You will be a key part of our Finance Business Support Team and one of a team of Finance Business Partners supporting the Met Office and its Domains with expert financial guidance and insight to support key decisions at all levels, delivering outstanding outcomes for the Met Office and our customers.

As a Finance Business Partner you are part of the Finance Business Support team who provide the Met Office with expert financial guidance, control and best practice to support key decisions at all levels to deliver the Met Office Strategy, Corporate Plan and Budget. This Finance Business Partner role will also play a key part in reviewing and simplifying our cost allocation model.

Your key duties:

• Provide valuable financial advice and insight to help the Met Office make informed decisions on strategic initiatives and business cases.
• Understand the business and translate and present complex financial information in a clear and impactful way.
• Provide analysis, reports and insight on the financial position for the business area you support, to ensure performance targets are met.
• Challenge and influence financial plans and highlight the key issues, risks and opportunities to the budget holder.
• Maintain the financial control environment to ensure all areas of the Met Office are compliant with internal controls and external financial legislation.

Person specification

Essential Criteria, skills and experience:

1. Lead Criteria: Qualified accountant (CCAB or CIMA), with relevant post qualification experience working in a business partner role (Expert by nature)
2. Evidence of providing expert financial advice to Senior Managers dealing with complex financial issues and reaching appropriate business solutions (Expert by nature)
3. Excellent skills in clear, compelling communication to enable you to challenge and influence at a senior level (Better together)
4. A demonstrable track record in managing and driving performance improvement and delivery of key finance processes, including financial modelling and allocations (Keep evolving)
5. Experience of leading and influencing teams to deliver key financial outputs (Live and breathe it)

The panel may perform a preliminary sift of the lead criteria as indicated above.

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 (opens in a new window).

Why join us

Our work is life-changing, often life-saving and always life-enhancing. The Met Office is Great Place to Work UK certified. We are also featured on their ‘Best Workplaces in Tech’ 2023, 2024 and 2025 lists, as well as their ’54 Best Workplaces for Women’ 2023 list.

As our Finance Business Partner, your total reward package will be up to £75,957 annually, which includes:

• £54,515 base pay
• An outstanding Civil Service pension, with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
• 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

How to apply

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 13/09/2026 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 21/09/2026. 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 [email removed].

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 wor