The Executive Team

The role of our Executive Team is the effective day-to-day leadership, direction and management of the Met Office. It is tasked with directing strategic change and implementing strategic decisions taken by the Met Office Board. The Executive works under the leadership of the Chief Executive and operates as a corporately cohesive collective with a shared interest in the successful achievement of our aims and objectives.

Penny Endersby - Chief Executive

Professor Penny Endersby CBE, FREng, Hon FInstP, is an outstanding government scientist 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 of the Met Office in 2018, President of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in 2023 and is the first woman appointed to each role.

Find out more about her career here.

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 Vosper - Science Director

Simon leads the Science directorate with accountability for the Met Office’s world-leading research in Foundation, Weather and Climate Science and for developing the scientific capability which underpins all the Met Office products and services.

He is responsible for the Next Generation Modelling Systems programme which aims to reformulate and redesign the whole of the Met Office weather and climate research and operational systems. Ultimately enabling the organisation to exploit future generations of supercomputers and remain at the forefront of weather and climate science and services.

Simon gained a BSc in Maths from the University of Leeds in 1991 and then went on to study for a PhD in the Applied Maths department. He is expert in atmospheric science, in particular model development and in orographic processes - the effect that hills and mountains have on the weather. His work has led to improved understanding of a range of hazardous atmospheric phenomena such as mountain waves, rotors and to better models and practical tools for their prediction.

Simon joined the Met Office in 2001 as a research scientist and has been involved in many exciting projects, including working with the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) research aircraft, studying rotors over the Sierra Nevada mountains in California as a Principal Investigator for the international T-REX programme.

He has retained very strong links with the University of Leeds and has a visiting Professorship position at the School of Earth and Environment.

He enjoys spending time on Dartmoor and the beautiful beaches of South Devon, is a keen angler and a lifelong Liverpool FC fan. 

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. He is currently the Senior Responsible Officer of a £1.2bn Programme to deliver scientific supercomputing ‘in the cloud’, with Microsoft.

Charles sits on various advisory boards for large technology companies and public sector bodies such as AWS and the RSC. He is an active Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) ambassador and industry advisor to secondary schools. Charles enjoys all major sports, especially rugby and cricket as a player, coach, referee and umpire and lives on Dartmoor where he enjoys walking, horse riding and generally being outdoors.

Elizabeth Harris - Programmes Director

Elizabeth is the first Programmes Director, joining the Met Office in November 2020.  She began her career as an electronic engineering apprentice and completed her degree by day release with her employer.  She is now a Chartered Project Professional, with decades of experience leading the delivery of cutting-edge research within government.

As the Programmes Director, Elizabeth has accountability for programme delivery within the Met Office.

Elizabeth is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

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.

Tammy 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. 

She 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.    

Richard Bevan - Chief Technology Officer 

Richard joined the Met Office in 1998 as a software engineer. He has built his career in the technology profession, initially working in the software engineering discipline before later leading the delivery of IT infrastructure and operations at the Met Office. Richard took up the position of Chief Technology Officer in November 2021.

As Chief Technology Officer, Richard has accountability for running all aspects of Met Office IT, ensuring the world-class IT capability continues to meet the needs of the organisation.