Human Cell Atlas Civic Science Engagement Fellow

Do you want to help us improve human health and understand life on Earth? Make your mark by shaping the future to enable or deliver life-changing science to solve some of humanity’s greatest challenges.

Are you passionate about making science accessible and meaningful to communities?

We are looking for Civic Science Engagement Fellow to join our Human Cell Atlas (HCA) team to design and lead a new public engagement programme of work for an 18 month fixed term contract.

About the role:

This role is a unique opportunity to design and lead a collaborative science engagement project that builds meaningful dialogue between researchers and the public about the societal benefits and implications of single-cell genomics.

Key responsibilities of the role:

• Design and deliver an impactful global public engagement programme of work
• Work closely with the HCA scientists to interpret complex scientific outputs from HCA research into accessible material to help increase public awareness appreciation for and trust in international genomics projects.
• Liaise with external partners to facilitate the development of new creative education collaborations and learning opportunities to enable HCA scientists to share their research with a wide variety of groups.
• Build and maintain positive relationships with collaborators that may include HCA scientists, patient advocacy groups, research institutions and funding organisations.
• Work with colleagues to establish achievable objectives, outcomes, evaluation approaches and appropriate data gathering methods, and monitor progress of the project accordingly.
• Monitor developments in genomics, biodata and related societal issues and keep abreast of public attitudes to subjects relevant to HCA, for example, Artificial Intelligence in Science

About Us:

HCA is a global multidisciplinary consortium of more than 4000 members with the mission to create comprehensive reference maps of all human cells—the fundamental units of life—as a basis for both understanding human health and diagnosing, monitoring, and treating disease.

About You:

You have strong experience in designing and delivering impactful public scientific engagement programmes. You have experience working with a broad range of stakeholder groups and the cultural sensitivity to understand that different public audiences can have differing responses to the social, clinical and ethical impact of genomics. You are able to lead the design of a programme of work with the input of relevant stakeholders, and then have the skills to implement and deliver it, again with the input of HCA stakeholders.

Essential Skills:

• Advanced degree in a subject related to the work of in HCA, for instance a STEM area, social science or other discipline linked to public engagement.
• Experience of leading, designing, implementing or contributing to public engagement initiatives.
• Experience of working in research and/or with research organisations.
• Experience communicating complex or sensitive matters with external audiences.
• Excellent prioritisation, organisational and planning skills.
• Demonstrable communication skills, both verbal and written.
• High-level interpersonal skills and ability to work within small and large teams as well as a cross-working environment involving many different people and projects.
• Track record of communicating complex concepts with varied public audiences.
• Commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), ensuring that these principles are incorporated in the design and delivery of public engagement activities
• Experience with basic computer software such as Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, Zoom.
• Good attention to detail and ability to develop risk assessments and contingency plans.
• Experience evaluating activities.
• Experience in thinking creatively and devising innovative approaches to enabling project outputs and outcomes.