KERN Coordinator -INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

THIS VACANCY IS OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

Impact and Engagement Services at King’s College London are seeking an individual with an interest in Public and Community Engagement with Research (P&CER) to coordinate the King’s Engaged Researcher Network (KERN). The Coordinator will work closely with the Impact and Engagement Services team and KERN management group to help build and grow the network, and will support delivery of activities such as the KERN newsletter, blog and social media channels, training sessions and seminars.

This is an ideal opportunity for a PhD student, Research Assistant or Professional Services staff member from King’s, who is currently working part time, to develop their communication, event delivery and team-working skills, and to make connections with the growing community of staff and students from across the College who are interested in P&CE with research. Through proactively building the network, the Coordinator will play a pivotal role in shaping how P&CE with research is supported and carried out at King’s

The KERN aims to connect King’s staff and students who are keen to develop, share and celebrate their public engagement skills and experiences. It was established in 2016 when King’s was awarded the RCUK Catalyst Seed Fund to help create an environment where public engagement is understood, practiced and valued. Since then, it has been sustained and grown thanks to funding from the Wellcome Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF) and more recently central funding within research strategy and development at King’s.

The KERN management group, which is made up of over 40 staff from across King’s who have P&CE responsibilities within their roles, meet once a month to discuss challenges, opportunities and updates. The KERN offer for researchers includes:

•       Termly public engagement training workshops. To date these have focussed on topics such as online engagement, engagement through storytelling, funding public engagement activities, online inclusive practice and engaging schools

•       A monthly newsletter, which outlines opportunities to get hands-on experience, funding opportunities, useful tools and resources, and P&CE news from across the College. There are currently 750 staff and staff and students from across King’s who signed up to this newsletter.

•       A website which includes a blog featuring examples of P&CE best practice from King’s, and pages detailing useful contacts, resources, upcoming events, and the PEAKSS.

Reporting into the Public Engagement Manager in the Impact and Engagement Services team, the KERN Coordinator, will be responsible for organising the above activities.

This post will be offered on an fixed-term contract for 1 year

This is a part-time post at 1 day a week (0.2 FTE)

•      The KERN Coordinator will work closely with the Impact and Engagement Services team and KERN management members to lead on the following core responsibilities:  

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•      Taking minutes during the monthly KERN management meetings  

•      Coordinating and editing the monthly KERN newsletter  

•      Planning and delivering one P&CE training sessions per term 

•      Collating and creating content for the KERN website, and keeping it up to date  

•      Regularly posting from the KERN Twitter account 

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.  

We are looking for someone who is passionate about P&CE with research and is excited by the opportunity to help build a network and community of practice at King’s.  

Essential criteria  

1.       An understanding of the role of public and community engagement in research and demonstrable knowledge of public engagement practice  

2.       Experience of developing and delivering online and/or in-person events

3.       Excellent communication skills, with an eye for detail and experience of writing content for newsletters, blogs and/or websites, and giving presentations to a range of audiences  

4.       An ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team

5.       Good people skills, with the ability to develop effective relationships with a range of stakeholders 

6.       Excellent time management skills 

Desirable criteria

7.       An understanding of evaluation approaches to measure success 

8.       Experience of website management