Schools Engagement Officer

The Royal Society is the independent scientific academy of the UK, dedicated to promoting excellence in science. We believe that science is central to modern culture and demonstrating the importance of science to everyone is one of the strategic aims of the Royal Society. We want to enable young people to understand what it is to be a scientist and to encourage experimental work and problem solving in schools and colleges to improve understanding of the scientific process. We promote and support good practice in teaching Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and promote STEM for all young people.

Our major schools engagement programme includes:

Grants to support schools and colleges to enable students, aged 5-18, to carry out investigative science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) projects in partnership with a STEM professional, primarily through the Partnership Grants scheme.

Grants to support organisations to work with STEM professionals and clusters of UK schools and colleges in areas of most need, to undertake investigative projects, through the Science Community Grant and Partnership Seed Grant schemes. Evidence-based resources to support excellence in the teaching of science, maths and computing, in particular around scientific literacy and practical science.

Events to showcase practical science, including a tailored schools programme at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition.

The Schools Engagement Officer will primarily be responsible for supporting the Science Community Grant and Partnership Seed Grant. Both grants are designed to support organisations to build lasting relationships between STEM professionals and clusters of UK-based schools and colleges to undertake practical STEM investigations. The officer will support the workflow of these grants within the wider engagement team. This includes supporting the day-to-day stewardship, administration, monitoring and evaluation of the grant, supporting and developing relationships with stakeholder organisations such as grant holders and their organisations, schools and teachers, and STEM professionals. This role involves attending and delivering events, as well as working with a range of colleagues across the Royal Society in our Policy, Development, Public Engagement, Press, Communication and Conferencing teams. The officer will also contribute to the wider work of the Schools Engagement team and undertake tasks related to Partnership Grants and other schools engagement strands of work, when needed.

This position is suitable for an individual with strong project administration, evaluation and impact, and project data analysis experience who shares our belief in the value of science and mathematics education and public engagement and enjoys working with a range of people. The post-holder should have good organisational skills, a commitment to high standards throughout their work, and strong attention to detail. They should also be able to manage and prioritise

their own workload, collaborate with colleagues on shared tasks and projects to ensure milestones and targets are achieved and be able to represent the team professionally when responding to enquiries and supporting meetings, events, and other team priorities.

In return, this role offers the chance to contribute to an exciting schools engagement programme that benefits teachers, young people and STEM professionals. The successful candidate will see funded projects first-hand, bring people across STEM and education together, and help ensure our grants provide meaningful, hands-on STEM experiences for young people. They will help shape support for a new group of STEM organisations and use lessons from their work to improve future grants-all while working at one of the world's most respected scientific organisations.

Reports to: Senior Schools Engagement Officer

Line manages: N/A

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

Pay band: C

Salary: £38,403

Contract type: Fixed-term 3 years with opportunity to extend

Hours: 35 hours per week (full time), occasional travel to visit grant holders (mainly within the UK), evening and weekend work required.

Closing date: 18 November 2026

Interview date: w/c 7 - 11 December 2026

This role will require occasional travel to visit grant projects across the UK. The post holder will be subject to enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.

Key Responsibilities And Tasks

The work of the Schools Engagement Officer will include:

• Being the first point of contact for grant holders, providing clear guidance resolving routine queries and coordinating specialist input from colleagues when required.
• Implementing internal monitoring, reporting and evaluation of the Science Community Grant scheme, including conducting monitoring meeting calls and in-person visits to grant projects and organisations around the UK, as required, to track progress against agreed plans.
• Accessing and maintaining school data and contributing to inclusive engagement by helping the team understand who our grant programmes are reaching and where participation can be strengthened.
• Maintaining and processing grant monitoring and evaluation data, carrying out proportionate checks and applying appropriate statistical analysis to identify grant outcomes and insights, and preparing reports and case studies for senior colleagues, committee members and external stakeholders.
• Promoting the different grant strands through preparing promotional and impact material and presenting at internal and external events and conferences, as required.
• Building and maintaining relationships with key networks and external stakeholders such as grant recipients and other key stakeholders, as well as working with internal teams across the Society.
• Contributing to the day-to-day running of the Partnership Seed Grant scheme providing detailed support and feedback to applicants and recipients, processing grants forms and payments, and administering the monitoring, reporting and evaluation of projects.
• Assisting with the day-to-day running of the Partnership Grant scheme and other schools engagement strands of work, as required.
• Contributing to the continual review of procedures and systems and recommending improvements to contribute to the team's efficiency and effectiveness, providing a high-quality service to stakeholders.
• Responding on behalf of the Royal Society to questions and requests for information regarding school engagement.
• Uploading high-quality records to, and maintaining records in, the Royal Society's customer relationship management (CRM) system, Microsoft SharePoint and grant-management systems, using agreed data-quality standards.
• Undertaking such other duties as may be required from time to time, for example, assisting in the organisation of various events, conferences and meetings.
  
  

Key Knowledge And Skills Required

Education / qualifications / knowledge / interests

Ability to build and maintain strong strategic relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including STEM organisations

Essential

Ability to work collaboratively across teams while taking ownership of day-to-day responsibilities

Essential

Ability to write clear guidance, correspondence, briefings, reports and case studies for different audiences

Essential

Strong organisational and prioritisation skills, with the ability to manage a varied workload, deadlines and follow-up actions.

Essential

Sound judgement and attention to detail, including the ability to identify gaps, risks and inconsistencies, and to take appropriate action

Essential

Commitment to inclusive practice and to providing a responsive, high-quality service to grant applicants and recipients

Essential

Interest and knowledge of science, mathematics, technology and their broader social significance and value to young people and society

Highly desirable

Interest in and/or awareness of the key issues in the STEM education sector

Highly desirable

Knowledge or experience of the UK school, further and higher education systems, and the not-for-profit STEM outreach sector

Highly desirable

Experience

Experience of working in a team environment

Essential

Experience of collecting, managing and interpreting project and evaluation data, and data management

Essential

Experience of coordinating grants, programmes or funded partnerships to individuals and/or organisations, including monitoring progress and maintaining accurate records.

Essential

Experience of establishing and maintaining a network of contacts, and communicating confidently with stakeholders at all levels

Essential

Experience of grant management ideally using Flexi-Grant, or a comparable system.

Highly desirable

Understanding of types of evaluation to inform programme development, including experience of case-study development or impact reporting

Highly desirable

Experience of identifying and targeting a variety of audiences for communications.

Highly desirable

Experience of presenting to a variety of audiences (such as STEM professionals, and teachers)

Highly desirable

Experience of STEM education outreach organisations and opportunities

Highly desirable

Experience of managing a budget

Desirable

Experience of producing and managing promotional material for a variety of media

Desirable

Pay Band C - Role Descriptor and Competencies

At Band C you will hold a more specialist role and will have increased responsibility for your area of work and output. Pay Band C roles are described in the following dimensions:

Decision-making - Your work is varied, and you have a range of administrative or technical tasks. You take decisions in line with specific routines, guidelines, or procedures. You plan your own work and coordinate with others on how their work fits into the broader plan of activities. Supervision is available for issues that fall outside of existing operating guidelines or your realm of knowledge

Thinking challenges - The solutions to issues or problems are not always obvious and investigation is needed before choosing a way forward. Your initiative is required to help find ways to improve working practices and procedures in your area of work, in sorting out problems that occur in day-to-day work or improvements to work processes.

Communicating - You maintain relationships which involve liaison or coordinating with a range of internal and/or external contacts on mainly transactional issues and a range of levels

Developing people - You may be responsible for allocating work to, or checking the work of less experienced colleagues, or the supervision of temporary staff.

Managing Resources - You may perform activities such as reconciling information/data or analyses of expenditure or income, adhering to agreed procedures.

Applying knowledge & expertise - You require proficiency in, and keep up to date with, skills required for your area of work or technical skills acquired through relevant work experience and/or vocational qualification.

The competency levels for a pay Band C role are described below.

Self-management

Works unsupervised and can motivate self

Produces results under pressure

Can manage in stressful situations

Pushes for the best results

Working With Others

Contributes ideas and identifies opportunities to work with others both within the team and across the organisation

Willing to provide feedback to sectional colleagues when requested

Produces succinct presentations and papers for senior colleagues

Understands when to seek senior advice on potentially delicate negotiations

Resource management

Makes the best of internal/external resources and coordinates well with external partners to best meet the needs of the Society

Builds contingency into projects taking into account possible outside factors

Sets and monitors performance against quality and results orientated targets.

Focuses on both short and long-term goals

Critical thinking

Determines and clarifies the exact requirements of any situation

Checks information for accuracy and raises concerns if information is inaccurate

Extracts the key points succinctly, clearly and accurately

Puts forward suggestions for improvement concerning current processes or systems

Tries different ways of 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 and participates in discussions surrounding new ideas approaches or projects

Managing people and relationships

Delegates effectively, setting clear expectations and authority

Monitors results and feedback to team on a regular basis

Recognises others' contributions and acknowledges their limits

Helps others to identify ways to improve their performance

Prioritises supervisory responsibilities and carries them out in a timely fashion

Understands and can identify client/stakeholder/staff needs and looks for opportunities to improve their experiences