Engagement Project Officer

Royal Society; City of Westminster; Hybrid; GBP 38,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent academic organization is seeking an Engagement Project Officer to support its career development and engagement program for funded Research Fellows. This role includes managing training activities, collaborating on leadership programs, and enhancing engagement with the research community. The ideal candidate will have excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, a degree in a relevant field, and experience in mentoring or training programs. The post offers a full-time contract with a salary of £37,105 and a hybrid working option.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a similar role.
• Experience in developing and managing mentoring or training programmes.
• Experience of working across teams and departments.
• Experience of managing meetings with internal and external participants.
• Experience of establishing and maintaining a network of contacts.
• Able to be flexible about working hours and travel across the UK.

Responsibilities

• Support the development and delivery of key activities for the SUSTAIN programme.
• Manage the delivery of training activities for current award holders.
• Assist in strengthening engagement with the Society’s research community.
• Identify and develop effective strategies of engagement with early and mid-career researchers.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with award holders.
• Utilise evaluation methods for events and activities.

Skills

Excellent communication (oral and written)

Excellent planning and organisational skills

Good IT and presentation skills

Good stakeholder management

Strong attention to detail

Good analytical and problem-solving skills

Education

Degree standard or equivalent

Understanding of academic and/or research activities

Science degree

Job description

Job Scope

The Engagement Team sits within the Grants Section and is responsible for the training, mentoring and networking events for our funded Research Fellows. The team work with internal and external stakeholders and suppliers to provide a wide range of career development opportunities. The extensive Engagement Programme has been highlighted by Research Fellows as a key benefit of being funded by the Royal Society. We are now looking for a Engagement Project Officer to join the team.

The postholder will be expected to:

Todeliveraspectsofthe Royal Society's career development and engagement programme for award holders based in the UK.

To support the extension ofSUSTAIN,a year-longleadershipprogramme for women researchers andcontribute to the development of newengagementactivitiesin collaboration with partner organisations.

Workingwithinspecifictimescales, budget and the required qualitywhilstmaximisingtheir success and supporting the needs of award holders.

Please note that we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Reports to: Senior EngagementManager

Line manages:N/A

Hours: Full-time, 35 hours per week

Location:Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG plus hybrid remote working

Pay Band:C

Salary: £37,105

Contract type: permanant

Application closing date is 7 January 2026.

Interviews will be held on 14 January 2026.

Responsibilities

• To work closely with the Senior Engagement Manager and other relevant colleagues to support thedevelopment and delivery ofkeyactivitiesfor thedelivery of theSUSTAIN programme.Theseinclude: tomanage the selection process, support thementoringactivitiesand theimplementation of a new‘leadership shadowingscheme’andassistwith the organisation of workshopsand networkingevents.
• Tomanagethe delivery of training activities for current award holderswith support from the Engagement Officers, including liaising with Procurement,Conferencingand other internal teams as well as external suppliers
• Toassistthe Senior Engagement Manager instrengthening engagement with theSociety’s research community and supporting the developmentof analumni engagementprogramme.
• Toassistwith thesetting of plans,objectivesand time scales andproviderecommendationstothe Senior Engagement Manager when these need to be updated/changed, including maintenance of the annual engagement plan/calendar.
• Tocontribute toidentifyand developeffective strategies of engagement withearly andmid-careerresearchers in STEM academia and manage relationships with internal and external service providers (incl. training providers, event venues, designservices, digital marketing) and a variety of Society contacts, including Fellows of the Society and active award holders, involved in the delivery of career development and engagement activities.
• To develop andmaintainstrong relationships withaward holders to understand their needs, feeding back information to Senior Engagement Manager and other relevant colleagues to ensureappropriate supportand development is offered to the researchers.
• To utiliseappropriate evaluationmethods for events and activities, ensuringaccuratedata is available and producing clear reports for key stakeholders to inform future developmentsand iterative changes
• Tosupport theadministrationof selectionprocesses, including commissioning and procurement activities and call for proposals for specifictraining,eventsor activities.
• Torepresentthe programme and organisation at meetings, interest groups, and events, including giving presentations and providing briefings.
• To support activities within the Grants team aimed at increasing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion including encouraging participation from underrepresented groups and supporting the development and maintenance of policies and practices to foster greater inclusivity and to ensure that those who have followed a non-standard career path are encouraged to apply.
• To share experience and ideas with others in the Section and the Society and contribute broadly to the Royal Society’s mission and priorities.
• To role model desired behaviours in line with the Grants Team Charter.

Key Knowledge and Skills Required

EDUCATION/QUALIFICATIONS/KNOWLEDGE

Educated to degree standard or equivalent.

Essential

A good understanding of academic and/or research activities in scienceand research funding.

Essential

Science degree

Desirable

SKILLS

Excellent communication (oral and written) and interpersonal skills across a range of audiences

Essential

Excellent planning andorganisational skills

Essential

Good IT and presentation skills

Essential

Goodstakeholder management,

Essential

Strong attention to detail

Essential

Goodanalytical and problem-solving skills

Essential

EXPERIENCE

Proven experience in a similar role

Desirable

Demonstrable experience in developing and managing mentoringor trainingprogrammes and career development activities

Desirable

Experience of working across teams and departments

Essential

Experience of managing meetings with internal and external participants

Essential

Experience of establishingand maintaining a network of contacts

Essential

CIRCUMSTANCES

Able to be flexible about working hours and travel across the UK

Essential

Competencies

Self-management

• Works unsupervised and can motivate self
• Produces results under pressure
• Can manage in stressful situations
• Pushes for the best results
• Can be innovative and offer solutions and suggestions when not initially obvious
• Keen to be involved in organisational and corporate working groups informally or formally
• Canrepresentsection on some duties
• Works within the Royal Society Values at all times

Working with others

• Contributes ideas andidentifiesopportunities to work with others both within the team and across the organisation
• Willing to provide and accept feedback to and from sectional colleagues when requested
• Produces succinct presentations and papers for senior colleagues, is a capable presenter and can explain topics and projects to a range of audiences
• Understands when to seek senior advice on a wide range of matters and act upon it.

Resource management

• Makes the best of internal/external resources and coordinateswell with external partners to best meet the needs of the Society
• Builds contingency into projectstaking into accountpossible outside factors
• Sets and monitors performance against quality and results orientated targets.
• Focuses on both short and long-term goals

Critical thinking

• Determinesand clarifies the exact requirements of any situation · Checks information for accuracy and raises concerns if information is inaccurate
• Extracts the key points succinctly,clearlyand accurately
• Puts forward suggestions for improvement concerning current processes or systems
• Triesdifferent waysof doing things to get the best results

Adaptability

• Overcomes obstacles and is not deterred by setbacks; checks assumptions and first principles and works out alternative approaches
• Reacts proactively to new challenges and works in a flexible manner to produce solutions
• Provides feedback andparticipatesin discussions surroundingnew ideasapproaches or projects

Managing people and relationships

• Can delegates effectively if needed setting clear expectations and authority · May line manage or supervise others
• Monitors results and feedback to own team on a regular basis constructively · Recognises others’ contributions and acknowledges their strengths and limitations
• Helps others toidentifyways to improve their performance and encourages learning from others in the team
• Prioritises supervisory responsibilities and carries them out in line with organisational policies
• Understands and canidentifyclient/stakeholder/staff needs and looks for opportunities to improve their experiences