The Festival and Projects Officer, working with a full time Festival Director and Festival Manager, is responsible for developing and delivering communications, content and events for the 30th science and ideas Festival in Oxford in 2021.

IF Oxford, the science and ideas Festival in Oxford, is managed and operated by an independent charity, with a Board of Trustees and a small team of staff and volunteer professionals, which bring in others to support PR, marketing and evaluation as needed.

Over the past few years IF Oxford has presented programmes of 100+ events as an annual opportunity for people to explore complexity, fun and learning across science and arts.

During October 2020, IF Oxford hosted an online season of activity, connecting topics in creative ways, developing individual skills and enriching society, with a focus on families and people who don’t normally think ‘science is for me’. The inspiring programme attracted 21,000 digital visitors, bringing together the scientific and artistic creativity of 450 contributors within 100 events.

The role will require flexibility in working pattern, particularly in the final planning stages and delivery of IF Oxford in October 2021.

IF Oxford is aiming to further diversify its team and if you think you have something to offer that doesn’t fit this role description, we still want to hear from you. We welcome applications from all sectors of society, particularly from candidates with a connection and knowledge of our target area of Southeast Oxford, or people from multicultural communities or with no Higher Education background.

Informal enquiries: please email info@if-oxford.com with “ASSOCIATE” in the subject line and we may arrange an informal phone call.

 

Other benefits

Pension and statutory paid leave.

Contribution of £15 per month to mobile phone data plan and a laptop computer, if required.

We are keen for the postholder to develop this role according to their skills and interests, and the main responsibilities are:

• Planning and development (~15% of role)

To include topic research, recruitment of presenters and content, and develop events and materials to engage audiences under the broad definition of science and creative ideas.

• Event management (~15% of role)

To include (physical) venue or (digital) platform logistics planning and implementation, presenter liaison, volunteer support and deployment, audience and event management, event recording, editing and publishing, and events feedback and reporting.

• Communications (~35-40% of role)

To include a year-round social media presence on the IF Oxford Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linked-In and other accounts with the aim of supporting and developing our audience, volunteer and other stakeholder relationships.

• Infrastructure administration (~10-15% of role)

To include updating and maintaining the www.if-oxford.com website, our contact management packages and associated data security requirements, and managing physical assets as needed.

• Production and Marketing (~10% of role)

To include contributing to developing the Festival brochure and leading on implementing its distribution alongside other Festival marketing collateral and materials.

• Projects (~0-10% of role)

To include leading on new and existing projects from recruitment of partners and ideas, and management of budgets and processes from marketing to Festival integration and their reporting.

We do not expect all suitable candidates to have experience of project management, in which case we will support your development in this area.

• Other (~5% of role)

Deputising and supporting the Festival Manager and Director as required with occasional duties.

 

The role holder will be expected to:

Pro-actively strengthen IF Oxford’s profile and reputation among audiences and stakeholders, acting as a professional representative of IF Oxford.

Maintain awareness of your own and others’ health and safety, data security and wellbeing (including emotional, physical and public health, and Safeguarding), complying with the responsibilities and policies of the charity.

Cooperate with others working on IF Oxford, including those in the team, its Trustees, freelancers, product or service suppliers, volunteers and contributors or other stakeholders, especially at busy times or on specific areas of expertise. This may include flexible working hours (often compensated by ‘time off in lieu’ for weekend working and other instances.)

Below is a summary of essential and desirable criteria needed for this role, as well as how we will assess a candidate’s suitability, through a CV, cover letter, and at interview.

 

Essential criteria	CV or cover letter	Interview
Appreciate how science, technology and arts subjects and skills might be relevant to society	+	+
Understand how festivals / events can benefit communities	+	+
Good computer and digital communications skills (eg. using Microsoft, Apple, Google or other software)	+	+
Good written and verbal communication skills	+	+
Familiar with using digital / social media platforms		+
Ability to work calmly under pressure and to deadlines		+
A good team player with a positive and flexible approach to work		+

 

Desirable criteria	CV or cover letter	Interview
Connection with communities in Southeast Oxford, UK	+	+
Public speaking and presentation skills	+	+
Volunteer and or people management skills	+	+
Understand how to engage under-served or disengaged audiences	+	+
Experience of developing and delivering collaborative projects with a wide range of stakeholders	+	+
Events production and management	+	+

 

Please send a CV and covering letter (each of no more than two A4 pages) that summarises your interest in the role, how it fits with your interests, and details of your ability to match the criteria. Please include a selection of (personal and / or professional) social media platforms that you manage.

Applications should be made by emailing recruitment@if-oxford.com

You can learn more about the Festival, by visiting www.if-oxford.com/about. This part of the website contains the Festival programmes and reports for past Festivals, information on the team and what we do, our background and who we work with. There is contact information for phone and email enquiries (we do not recommend postal enquiries at the present time.)

The closing date for applications is

Monday 15 March 2021 (at 11.59pm)

Interviews are due to take place on Monday 22 – Friday 26 March 2021

You will be informed as soon as possible after the application deadline whether you have been selected for interview. We will make appropriate arrangements with you for interviews.

IF Oxford is run by the charity “Oxfordshire Science Festival Ltd”, which is committed to treating all its employees, freelance applicants, contract-partners, volunteers and public audiences equally and fairly. It is a positive working environment, where sexual orientation or status, disability, ethnicity, religion or beliefs, or socioeconomic status are embraced within legal guidelines. We note that only applicants who have a legal right to work within the UK will be considered and you will be asked to show proof of nationality and/or proof of ability to work in the UK. You will also be asked to declare any previous convictions in line with your rights under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) order 1975.

This is a description of the deliverable of the contract as it is presently constituted. It is our practice to examine these descriptions from time to time and to update them to ensure they relate to the activities performed, or to incorporate whatever changes are reasonably required, in discussion with the postholder.

As part of the recruitment process your data will be collected and processed in accordance with the Data Management Policy and we do not use automation in the selection of candidates; if-oxford.com/about/policies/data-management-policy.

All disabled applicants who meet the ‘essential criteria’ for this vacancy will be offered an interview under the Disability Confident (Committed) scheme’s definition of disability, which is in line with the Equalities Act 2010: “a physical or mental condition which has a long-term and substantial effect on your daily life”. Further information about the Disability Confident commitments can be found on: www.gov.uk/disability-confident.