Job Description

Ref Number

B04-06975

Professional Expertise

Administration and Business Support

Department

UCL BEAMS (B04)

Location

London

Working Pattern

Part time

Salary

43,981-52,586

Contract Type

Fixed-term

Working Type

Hybrid

Available for Secondment

No

Closing Date

07-Jan-2026

About us

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UCL is one of the world's top universities based in the heart of London. It is a modern, outward-looking institution. UCL's staff and former students have included 32 Nobel prizewinners. It is a truly international community: more than one-third of our student body - more than 50,000 strong - come from 150 countries and nearly one-third of staff are from outside the UK.



UCL academics within the Department of Physics & Astronomy founded the now multi-award-winning Orbyts programme. Orbyts creates inspirational, high-impact research partnerships between university researchers and school students, enabling young people, particularly those historically excluded from STEM & HE, to engage with cutting-edge, authentic science research. To ensure this opportunity prioritises those traditionally excluded from physics, each school group involved in the programme is required to be at least 50% pupil premium and 50% girls.



Orbyts has grown substantially and now typically partners ~60-75 researchers per year with secondary schools, and includes partnerships with many other Universities and professional bodies. UCL will continue to support and lead this now national programme, which is a flagship science inclusivity programme for the University and a leader in best practice globally.

About the role

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Orbyts will create and deliver 40-50 research-with-schools partnerships in 2026 and 50-60 in 2027. The role of national coordinator will recruit and manage these partnerships nationally, ensuring strong relationships with schools and be custodian of the high quality nature of every research project. This will be done through robust evaluation and continuous development and adaptation of the post-graduate training programme.


The role will also involve collation of best practice to be shared both internally and externally (e.g. through publications in education journals and through co-leadership of Gender Pathways work for the Engineering UK collaboration). Finally, the role will also support promotion of the many successes of each research-with-schools partnership (e.g. 300 school students have authored scientific publications through the programme so far - this a unique attribute of the programme that should have more widespread recognition).


The role will require a deep understanding of the secondary school and higher education sectors and the challenges and pressures faced by teachers and researchers alike. This depth of knowledge will extend to evaluation of successes in both these very different domains.



For further details, please contact Dr. William Dunn - w.dunn@ucl.ac.uk

About you

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You will be a highly motivated and accomplished professional, with a Degree in a science-related discipline and experience in administration within higher or further education.


In order to be closely familiar with the rigours and demands of the researchers and the teachers that you partner, you will have teaching experience at both secondary and higher education levels.


The role requires experience managing the national programme of researcher partnerships, coupled with the ability to prioritise and organise your own workload and that of your direct line reports. This requires excellent organisational and time-management skills to effectively manage high volumes of processing and meet time-critical schedules, to ensure the national Orbyts programme is delivered effectively and to the high standard it is recognised for.



You must also have experience with financial oversight, accounting, and budget management to ensure that it is delivered within the confines of the grants that enable it. To effectively deliver the annual school student conferences, you will also have experience with event planning and management.



The role requires excellent oral and written communication skills to effectively liaise and interact with a variety of people across all levels of the university, as well as school teachers and partners from other professional organisations, such as Engineering UK. You must have a proven ability to develop and sustain effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, underpinned by excellent networking and negotiating skills.



Finally, you will be expected to have fluency with the Microsoft suite of software (Word, Email, Outlook, and the internet) and to carry out any other duties within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job as requested by the line manager.

What we offer

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As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:


41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days) Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE) Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan Immigration loan Relocation scheme for certain posts On-Site nursery On-site gym Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service Discounted medical insurance

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

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As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.


You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/