Reports to: Public Engagement Manager (Events and Programmes)

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

SUMMARY

One of the Francis Crick Institute’s strategic priorities is to engage and inspire the public through its education, public and community engagement programmes, backed by a body of active research scientists who have the skills, desire and opportunity to engage people in their work.

Building on successful initiatives already in place, the Public Engagement Officer (Events and Programmes) plays an important role in achieving this strategic priority through the development and delivery of events for public audiences, and training for Crick staff and students.

Reporting to the Public Engagement Manager (Events and Programmes), the Public Engagement Officer (Events and Programmes) is based in the Public Engagement team, which is responsible for a range of activity including public events and exhibitions, community engagement, and education outreach.

The post-holder will work closely with other members of the Public Engagement team, the Communications team, Front of House teams, service partners, colleagues from partner organisations, local stakeholders, community organisations, and freelancers where appropriate.

The successful candidate will be a highly motivated, creative and experienced public engagement professional with an interest in connecting a wide range of audiences with science, and a commitment to the principles and practice of equality, diversity and inclusion.

Key responsibilities

These include but are not limited to:

• Supporting the development and delivery of the Crick’s programme of public events for adults, families and young people, including Meet a Scientist sessions, discussion events, and festivals. This will include developing activities, working with researchers and supporting event delivery.
• Leading the development and delivery of specific event formats within this programme, including the Science on Screen film festival and family Discovery Day. This will include managing budgets, co-producing content with target audiences, recruiting and training Crick staff, writing copy, managing ticketing, and identifying opportunities to increase audience reach via digital engagement and social media.
• Leading on the development and delivery on specific online event formats such as Covid Conversations, and supporting digital PE projects such as the Family zone, Instagram Meet a Scientist, and hybrid events. 
• Creative development of new activities that engage wide audiences with Crick science, working collaboratively with Crick staff and external consultants. 
• Supporting and mentoring Crick staff to develop and deliver their own public engagement projects.
• Supporting the development and delivery of public engagement training for Crick staff and students.
• Supporting the evaluation of the events programme.
• Working with the Marketing Manager to identify opportunities to promote the events programme to target audiences.
• Working closely with the Public Engagement Coordinator and Public Engagement Assistant on event logistics, and providing guidance and support on their projects.
• Considering the Crick’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion when planning, supporting and evaluating events and activities, and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Working with the Exhibitions, Education and Community Engagement teams to identify opportunities to collaborate, and supporting cross-team projects.
• Raising the profile of the Public Engagement team and its activities within and beyond the Crick through writing news stories for the intranet and external website, social media and pop-up activities.
• Upholding the Crick’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and actively contributing to an inclusive workplace culture.

Key experience and competencies

The post holder should embody and demonstrate our core Crick values: bold, imaginative, open, dynamic and collegial, in addition to the following:

Essential

Qualifications, experience and competencies:

• Significant experience in a public engagement role, preferably within a scientific or an academic setting.

• A comprehensive knowledge of event management, ideally seeing events through from inception to evaluation.
• Experience of working closely with scientists or academics to develop and deliver engaging, public facing events and/or activities.
• An appreciation of the current public engagement with science agenda, and of how to translate cutting edge science into innovative and inclusive programming.
• Educated to degree level or equivalent.
• Experience of working with a broad range of public audiences, including adults, families, and young people.
• An awareness of the principles and practice of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and how they relate to public engagement, including a commitment to respecting and valuing diversity.
• Creative, resourceful and imaginative, with an interest and enthusiasm for public engagement, particularly with biomedical research.
• Outstanding communication skills, both oral and written, and the ability to engage and build relationships with a range of audiences and stakeholders.
• Attention to detail and strong organisational and project management skills.
• High levels of self-motivation, with the ability to prioritise tasks in the face of competing demands, and proven success in delivering work to tight deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, enabling the post holder to influence at all levels and to work effectively as part of a team.
• Computer literacy enabling the effective use of the Microsoft suite of packages.

Desirable

Qualifications, experience and competencies:

• A postgraduate qualification in an appropriate subject (e.g. Science Communication).
• Experience developing and delivering digital engagement programmes.
• Experience of coproducing events with public audiences or special interest groups (e.g. patients, community groups, young people).
• Knowledge of access requirements (physical, sensory, intellectual).

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

We welcome applications from all. 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 Black, Asian and 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.

ABOUT US

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases.

An independent organisation, its founding partners are the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King’s College London. 

The Crick was formed in 2015, and in 2016 it moved into a brand new state-of-the-art building in central London which brings together 1500 scientists and support staff working collaboratively across disciplines, making it the biggest biomedical research facility under a single roof in Europe.

The Francis Crick Institute will be world-class with a strong national role. Its distinctive vision for excellence includes commitments to collaboration; to developing emerging talent and exporting it the rest of the UK; to public engagement; and to helping turn discoveries into treatments as quickly as possible to improve lives and strengthen the economy.

Please note: all offers of employment are subject to successful security screening and continuous eligibility to work in the United Kingdom.