Science Education Officer in Public Engagement team

Full Job Description

Salary for this Role:

From £36,680 with benefits, subject to skills and experience

Job Title:

Science Education Officer--in-- Public Engagement --team

Reports to:

Ellie Horner

Closing Date:

23/Oct/2023 23.59 GMT

Job Description:

Science Education Officer – Comms and Public Engagement

Salary for this Role:

• From £36,680 with benefits, subject to skills and experience

Reports to:

• Education Operations Manager

Contact term:

• This is a full-time, permanent position on Crick terms and conditions of employment.

Summary

Science Education Officers play a key role in delivering the Crick’s strategy to engage and inspire the public - growing and diversifying the community of people who aspire to careers in STEM and/or are engaged with science and the Crick. Reporting to the Education Operations Manager, this role will involve delivery of practical science workshops in schools, local community spaces and in our dedicated onsite outreach lab. Working as part of the Education and Community Engagement team, you will also collaborate with the ‘Public Engagement with Science’ and ‘Digital and Creative’ teams to identify and develop opportunities to increase local engagement with our events and online programmes. Through relationship building with local organizations that support families, you will help the Crick understand what they want and need from our programmes and will help to evaluate whether our outputs are impactful.

Key Responsibilities

These include but are not limited to:

• Delivery of Crick Education outreach activities to primary and secondary school children on themes relating to the National Curriculum and current research at Crick:
• Solo delivery of up to 5 practical science workshops per day in school to classes of children aged 5-11;
• Lead practical science workshops in our lab for children aged 9-18;
• Deliver careers-related learning activities to groups of school children from individuals to whole year groups;
• Assist with logistics and behaviour management at other events, e.g. science shows.
• Adapt a wide range of science activities for different audiences, including: pre-schoolers, primary school aged children and parents/carers.
• Lead on the science engagement with local parents/carers
• Develop an approach to parent/carer engagement that supports and reinforces key aspects of the wider education and community outreach programmes;
• Build relationships with key internal and local external stakeholders in the area of STEM careers;
• Identify opportunities for collaborations that will allow us to reach local audiences, including through our events and digital programmes;
• Lead delivery of practical science activities aimed specifically at local parents/carers, including: training and supporting volunteers; risk-assessment and in-event safety management;
• Provide insight from local families to guide content and format of the Crick’s newsletter to primary school families;
• Provide support and insight to the community engagement activities, including assisting with the delivery of Crick Discovery (open) Days, Science on Screen film events and being an inspiring and enthusiastic presence at local community festivals.   
• Uphold and promote the Crick’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI); and actively contribute to an inclusive workplace culture.
• Work with colleagues to strategically embed EDI principles and practice in our public engagement programmes, and ensure our activities are as inclusive and accessible as possible.

Key experience and competencies

The post holder should embody and demonstrate our core Crick values:

Bold; Open; Collegial in addition to the following:

The successful candidate will be a highly motivated and experienced presenter with a desire to use engagement to benefit the lives of audiences who are often not traditionally engaged with research institutes or science.

Essential

Qualifications, experience and competencies:

• BSc or equivalent qualification or experience in a science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) field;
• Experience in delivering practical science sessions to large groups of under 12s, e.g. as a teacher, with a science outreach organisation, in a science Discovery Centre or within the museum sector.
• A broad scientific knowledge; understanding of the importance of STEM qualifications and the role of informal science learning in building Science Capital.
• An ability to confidently present hands-on science workshops in a fun and engaging way;
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills, appropriate for a diverse audience that includes young children as well as adults in the early stages of learning English.
• Ability to adapt a wide range of practical science activities to make them accessible and inclusive for diverse audiences.
• Excellent organisational skills, including a methodical approach to administrative tasks and strong attention to detail;
• Computer literacy, particularly the effective use of the Microsoft suite of packages;
• An ability to build effective relationships with a range of stakeholders;
• Self-motivated and able to work independently and within a team, demonstrating enthusiasm and initiative;
• Flexibility, with a willingness to work occasional evenings/weekends (approximately 3-4 times per year) when required as part of the Crick’s broader public engagement programme;
• The role involves work in Camden schools that are multi-floor and without lifts, so the post-holder should be capable of ascending and descending several flights of stairs;
• Appointment to the post will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.

Desirable

Qualifications, experience and competencies:

• In-depth knowledge of the English National Curriculum for EYFS, KS1 and KS2.
• Experience of efficiently learning the content of a portfolio of practical science workshops through scripts and/or watch/assist/deliver methods.
• Experience of training adults to engage children and young people with STEM.
• Familiarity with legislation and good practice with regard to Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. Experience collaborating with diverse communities facing health and wellbeing inequalities and socio economic challenges, either through professional work or volunteer engagements.

Interviews to be held week commencing 30th October 2023

Find out what benefits the Crick has to offer:

For more information on our great pay and benefits package please click here:

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion:

We welcome applications from all backgrounds. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, pregnancy, age, disability, or civil partnership, marital or family status. We particularly welcome applications from people who are Minority Ethnic as they are currently underrepresented in the Crick at this level.

Diversity is essential to excellence in scientific endeavour. It increases breadth and perspective, leading to more innovation and creativity. We want the Crick to be a place where everyone feels valued and where diversity is celebrated and seen as part of the foundation for our Institute’s success.

The Crick is committed to creating equality of opportunity and promoting diversity and inclusivity. We all share in the responsibility to actively promote dignity, respect, inclusivity and equal treatment and it is our aim to ensure that these principles are reflected and implemented in all strategies, policies and practices.

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