Met Office Board

It does this by supporting and challenging our Executive in order to assist it in delivering against agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).  

The Board is led by an independent, non-executive Chair and has additional non-executive members.  The Chief Executive, Chief Scientist, Chief Finance Officer, Chief People Officer and Services Director are also standing members of the Board.  Other Met Office directors attend meetings on a rotating basis, depending on the central topics of discussion.

The Non-Executive Directors of the Board are encouraged to assist in raising external awareness of the Met Office and its work, and to build beneficial external relationships.

Rob Woodward, Non-Executive Chair

Rob was appointed as Chair of the Met Office Board in July 2018 having previously held leadership positions across both the public and private sectors.

Prior to joining the Met Office, Rob was CEO of STV Group plc for nearly 11 years where he led the successful transformation into a pre-eminent digital media group. Prior to STV, Rob was Commercial Director at Channel 4 Television and was previously a Managing Director with UBS Corporate Finance and the lead partner for Deloitte's TMT Industry Group in Europe.

He is currently Chair of the AIM-listed international software provider Blancco Technology Group plc and the marketing analytics provider Ebiquity plc.  He is also Chair of Court at Glasgow Caledonian University.  In May 2021, Rob was appointed to the board of OneWeb as the new non-executive director representing the UK Government.

 

Penny Endersby, Met Office Chief Executive

Professor Penny Endersby is an outstanding scientist, engineer and inspirational leader who has made significant contributions to the delivery of life-saving science and services in defence and security and weather and climate, both in the UK and internationally. She was appointed Chief Executive at the Met Office in 2018 and President of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in 2023, the first woman to fill either role.

Prior to joining the Met Office, Penny had a distinguished career at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), where she was instrumental in building up Dstl’s capabilities in cyber and data science research and increasing their pipeline of innovative research and intellectual property. She was awarded the 2021 Society Medal by the British Computer Society, became an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 2021 and awarded CBE in 2024.

Penny is a visiting professor in the Electronics and Computer Science Faculty at Southampton University and an honorary professor of Physics and the Environment at the University of Exeter. Penny is chair of the Dartmoor National Park Steering Group, a place where she spends much of her free time.

 

Hunada Nouss, Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit & Risk Assurance Committee

Hunada currently holds a number of non-executive roles, supporting the drive for performance improvement and strategic change, bringing to these roles her expertise as a business and finance leader across the private sector (Diageo plc, Burger King Corp.) and public sector (Department for Work & Pensions and former Department for Communities and Local Government) and not-for-profit. Alongside her role at the Met Office, Hunada is a Board member, and Audit Chair for the Education and Skills Funding Agency, the body responsible for mobilising £60bn of funding for education and training. She sits on a number of Audit committees including that of the Royal Society and the Sponsor Board of the Restoration & Renewal project of the Palace of Westminster. She has recently completed a 9 year commitment as Council member and Audit Chair of City, University of London, a leading global university.

Hunada is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, and has an MA from Oxford University.

 

Professor Jordan Giddings, Non-Executive Director

Jordan is an experienced leader of innovation and change in systems, data, cyber and technology domains with a background in academia, the private sector and government recognised at a national and international level. Driven by cutting edge challenges at the intersection of government, industry and academia, he is particularly focussed on enabling innovation through multidisciplinary and cross cutting teams. His areas of particular interest and expertise include dual use and emerging technologies, complexity and complex systems, transdisciplinary research and innovation, cyber, infrastructure, AI, autonomy, and data sciences to build long term, co-created capabilities across government and the private sector.  

Professionally, Jordan is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Chartered Physicist and Chartered Scientist. Jordan holds an MA Degree from the University of Oxford in Physics and a PhD from the University of London in High Energy Particle Physics.

 

Stephen Belcher, Chief of Science and Technology

Stephen became Chief Science and Technology Officer of the Met Office in October 2016.  Before this he was Director of the Met Office Hadley Centre.  Stephen has a varied background in academia where he is an expert in atmospheric and oceanic science.  In particular, the turbulent motions of the winds and ocean currents.

As Chief Science and Technology Officer Stephen:

• Leads the science and technology work done at the Met Office
• Represents our scientific and technical work to those outside the Met Office

Stephen is a visiting professor at the University of Reading where he worked prior to joining the Met Office.

 

Simon Brown, Services Director

Simon joined the Met Office in September 2020.  He has a background in the water industry in both technical and leadership roles.  These experiences developed his passion for customer service and operational delivery.

As Services Director, Simon has accountability for the delivery of Met Office Services to users.  This includes:

• Our observation network (land, sea and space).
• Operational forecasts and the National Severe Weather Warning Service (NSWWS).
• Hazard monitoring.
• Production and maintenance of user products and digital services such as the website.

 

Charles Ewen, Technology Director and Chief Information Officer

Charles Ewen is the Director of Technology, Chief Information Officer and Senior Information Risk Officer. He is accountable for all aspects of Information Technology and sponsors the Data and Digital, Cyber Security and Knowledge and Information professions at the Met Office.

He undertook a degree apprenticeship with the RAF, graduating with a Higher National Diploma in Electronic Systems and serving for eight years before working in systems design and engineering in the defence sector. He spent several years leading operational technology teams in the US, UK and Asia. He is a Fellow of the BCS and has completed the Major Programmes Leadership Academy at the University of Oxford Said Business School.

Charles has worked for the Met Office in a variety of senior technology roles since joining as Head of Web and Media in 2008. He became Director of Technology in 2014 and leads a large and capable team delivering world-class IT capability. He is accountable for integrating cutting-edge supercomputing, cloud adoption and modernising ways of working supporting our world-leading science and services.

 

Nick Jobling, Chief Finance Officer

Nick joined the Met Office in 2004 and is a Chartered Accountant.  Before joining the Met Office he worked across a broad range of financial disciplines.  This experience was in the sectors of high-tech manufacturing and telecoms.

As Chief Financial Officer, Nick is responsible for the delivery of financial advice, planning, control and support to the organisation. As well as finance, he leads:

• The Enterprise Portfolio Office,
• Change Management,
• Property and Commercial, and
• Procurement.

 

Tammy Lillie, Chief People Officer

Tammy is responsible for the People directorate which encompasses all the aspects of the people lifecycle at the Met Office, communications, and engagement across all audiences. She is committed to making the Met Office an employer of choice and is passionate about realising the potential of people to continually drive the organisation forward, keeping staff well-informed, well-led, resilient to change and clear on purpose. 

Tammy has a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Masters degree in Environmental Engineering as well as a Teaching Degree for Higher Education. She is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering and a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personal Development. She is a member of the Institute of Directors, and also holds an Advanced Diploma in Coaching. 

Graduating from University College and Imperial College, London, with engineering degrees, the first half of her career was spent in ship building design and teaching merchant seafarers before she moved into human resources, using engineering principles to embed HR transformation into organisations through talent, leadership, and cultural change.    

 

Lisa Browne, Prospect Union National Negotiator

Lisa is a Negotiations Officer for Prospect trade union. The Met Office is one of the Prospect branches that Lisa works with to negotiate with the employer to secure agreements on terms and conditions and other matters that further members’ interests. She also provides individual and collective representation and advice to members and branches in order to meet their needs and ensure successful outcomes. 

 

Adam Jackson, Representative for Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Adam Jackson is a Senior Civil Servant and currently Director – International Research and Innovation in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). He is a development economist by background, having in his 20s worked as an economic adviser to the Ministry of Finance in Sierra Leone, and for the UK’s Department for International Development in Bangladesh. 

He subsequently worked in HM Treasury, the Department for Exiting the European Union and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Currently, he leads the Directorate that develops our international science partnerships, research establishments and infrastructures, research security, research talent, and the government’s work with the National Academies.

 

Anusha Shah, Non-Executive Director

Anusha is a leading chartered engineer, thought leader, keynote speaker, panellist and a passionate advocate for diversity, inclusion and fairness.

She is currently Director, Resilient Cities at Arcadis - UK, Fellow and Vice President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Visiting Professor at King's College London and Honorary Professor with University of Wolverhampton. She is the Past Chair of the Thames Estuary Partnership Board and was Non-Executive Director of Thomas Telford Board ( ICE’s Business wing), Past Chair of ICE London and Past Co-Chair of ICE London & South East Diversity Task Force.

With over two decades of leadership and management excellence on numerous high profile engineering and environmental projects in the UK and internationally, she is driven by a desire to make societies inclusive, safe, climate resilient and sustainable. Anusha sits on various industry NetZero and Climate Change groups including London Climate Change Partnership.

She is recipient of several awards including the 2020 - Top 50 UK Women Engineers in Sustainability Award.

 

Professor Alan Thorpe, Non-Executive Director

Alan joined the Board as a NED in November 2019. His previous full-time roles have included: Director-General of ECMWF, Chief Executive of NERC, Director of the Hadley Centre, and Professor and Head of Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading. Currently he holds part-time roles with the World Bank, Spire Global, and as a visiting professor at the University of Reading. For much of his career he was a research scientist in weather and climate. He was awarded an OBE for services to environmental science in the 2018 New Year Honours List.

 

Dr Andy Samuel, Non-Executive Director

During his eight-year tenure as Chief Executive of the UK's North Sea Transition Authority Andy played a pivotal role in conceiving and delivering on a fresh vision for the UK Continental Shelf.

With a keen focus on climate change and the opportunities arising from the global energy transition, Andy's work underscored the substantial potential for carbon reduction within the North Sea region. This includes carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and offshore wind energy.

Andy serves on a number of boards and helps companies formulate and deliver on their energy transition strategies and projects.  He co-chaired the Aberdeen Maggie’s cancer charity for five years.

He holds an MA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a PhD from London University and was awarded a CBE for his services to the Energy Sector.

Andy lives on a North Devon coastal farm, where he and his wife are enhancing the biodiversity. When not working, he enjoys surfing and spending time in nature with friends and family.

Catherine Bremner, Non Executive Director

Catherine joined the Board of the Met Office in 2023 and is Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

Catherine is a highly respected leader within green finance, with over 25 years of experience in sustainable development, finance, strategy and change management.

She is chief strategy and operations officer at Impax Asset Management. She is responsible for overseeing the firm’s risk and compliance functions, IT, and operations, as well as strategic projects working with the CEO.

Catherine has a wealth of experience across civil service organisations including:

• Director of international energy and climate finance at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
• Chair of the UK climate and energy G7 Presidency in 2022; the first G7 to agree to Net Zero commitments.
• Head of Climate Science and co-sponsor for the Met Office Hadley Centre climate science programme.

Catherine’s previous positions include:

• Vice-chair of the International Energy Agency
• Trustee of the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust
• Global head of environmental sustainability at ANZ bank
• Chief operating officer at Low Carbon Australia.