Community Manager for Digital Research Infrastructure

Durham University; North East; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Durham University is seeking a community manager to support multiple research projects in the Digital Research Infrastructure landscape. This role involves developing educational materials, organizing upskilling events, and establishing connections within the research community, requiring strong communication and organizational skills.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience.
• Experience in delivering hybrid events and developing e-learning materials.
• Strong problem-solving and operational planning skills.

Responsibilities

• Liaising with the UK's DRI landscape to build a thriving community.
• Collaborating with the PI and supporting the development of upskilling initiatives.
• Implementing policies and procedures for improving community engagement.

Skills

Excellent spoken and written communication

Digital competence

Problem-solving

Operational planning

Education

Degree level education or equivalent experience

BSc/MSc in a technical discipline

Job description

The Role and Department

Durham University's Department of Computer Science and the Institute for Data Science have recently secured multiple research projects within the remit of Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) upskilling. These projects aim to create an upskilling landscape—predominantly for simulations and AI running on HPC machinery—for the whole UK DRI community. This includes creating material for this upskilling, organising upskilling events, and understanding the needs and requirements of the target community. Therefore, we are searching for a community manager who can liaise with the UK's DRI landscape—including research software engineers, platform experts, PhDs, PDRAs, and academics—and build a thriving community committed to world-leading research.

The candidate will work in close collaboration with the PI (located in Computer Science) and will be based in the offices of the Institute for Data Science in Montjoy.

Further information about the role and responsibilities is provided at the bottom of this job description.

Essential Criteria

Your application should cover the following criteria:

Qualifications/Experience

• Educated to degree level (or equivalent experience).
• Professional practitioner with knowledge and expertise in delivering and developing in-person and hybrid events, e-learning materials, and brand-building/PR activities within the organisation.
• Experience of implementing policies and procedures and supporting change and service improvements.
• Experience of providing specialist advice and guidance to a range of customers and colleagues, including more senior colleagues. This includes consulting on the successful realisation of upskilling events, creation of upskilling materials, and distributed collaboration activities.
• Experience of participating in internal or external networks to share and discuss good practice, develop strong and productive relationships, and positively influence the University's reputation.

Skills/Abilities/Knowledge

• Excellent spoken and written communication skills, including the ability to develop effective working relationships both internally and externally.
• Strong digital competence across a range of devices and apps, including digital communication tools for creating e-learning content, collaboration, and social media.
• Commitment to continuing professional development to maintain professional recognition, including participation in Community Manager training.
• Knowledge and experience of ensuring compliance with regulatory and organisational policies and guidelines.
• Ability to solve problems and plan appropriate solutions.
• Ability to contribute to operational planning.

Desirable Criteria

Qualifications/Experience

• An BSc/MSc degree in a technical discipline (e.g., Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Earth Sciences) with a strong computational focus.

When appointing to this role, the University must ensure that it meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary thresholds for some visas.