Senior Research Community Manager

Full-time, fixed-term to start ASAP until 31 December 2027.

We are looking for a proactive leader with community and project management experience to manage and grow our existing regional research software community into a diverse, inclusive and engaging group supporting digital Research Technical Professionals (dRTPs). Working as part of our new STEP-UP project, this role will also involve undertaking project management and overseeing a range of project activities.

STEP-UP (a Strategic TEchnical Platform for University technical Professionals), is a new UKRI-EPSRC-funded project developing enhanced support for digital Research Technical Professionals – this includes Research Software Engineers (RSEs) and technical professionals working in data and computing infrastructure / High Performance Computing (HPC) roles. Led by Imperial College London, the project is being undertaken in collaboration with UCL, King’s College London and University of Westminster. The project’s aims include dRTP community development, enhancing career pathways and structures and providing a variety of knowledge exchange and skills development opportunities. To support this, we will develop our existing “Research Software London” Community of Practice to represent new areas of the dRTP space, design and run an RTP secondment scheme, pilot a new mentoring programme and design and operate a wide-ranging training programme.

Duties and responsibilities

The postholder will be expected to lead the development of an extended community of research technical professionals and researchers who are undertaking or supporting research work that develops or makes use of software, research data and computing infrastructure. This will involve building on our existing Research Software London community that was started in 2018, and expanding it to support the wider dRTP space. They will also lead the organisation and running of a programme of community events and activities, including our annual community conference which we’ll be growing over the coming years to encompass new groups of dRTPs. The postholder will also support the PI and other investigators with the day-to-day management and administration of the STEP-UP project, organising meetings and keeping the website and other communication channels up to date. The role will also involve helping to manage our secondment and mentoring schemes.

The postholder will also be expected to build contacts within the project’s partner institutions and the wider research technical professional community as well as being supported to develop and grow personal community management knowledge and technical skills and to apply these to support the project as it progresses.

Essential requirements

• Educated to Degree level or possess equivalent experience. A Masters degree or PhD in a technical or scientific discipline, or other experience of working within a research community is desirable.
• Experience of leading or contributing to managing/running community building activities.
• Excellent project management and organisational capabilities and attention to detail.
• Experience of organising events within the Higher Education sector or Industry.
• Understanding of community development processes and challenges.
• Ability to take ownership and responsibility for community development, growth and sustainability.

Please see job description for a full list of essential and desirable requirements. 

To apply

To apply online for this vacancy and to view further information about the role, please click on the Apply button above. In addition to completing the online application, please attach:

• A full CV
• A personal statement

For informal enquiries related to the position contact Dr Jeremy Cohen: jeremy.cohen@imperial.ac.uk. 

For queries regarding the application process Jamie Perrins: j.perrins@imperial.ac.uk.

Closing Date: 14/08/2024 (midnight)

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