Job Title: Festival Ambassador (British Science Festival) ​

Duration: 7-10 September 2023, plus one training day on Tuesday 5 September 2023. ​

Core Hours: Hours will be assigned between the core hours of 09:00-22:00 and will be confirmed on appointment. ​

Location: University of Exeter and Exeter city centre.​

Rate: £10.90 per hour ​

Download the candidate pack for this role as a pdf.

About the role

The British Science Association is recruiting Festival Ambassadors to work during the British Science Festival 2023. The Festival will be held in Exeter city centre and at the University of Exeter campus from 7-10 September 2023. This role is based in Exeter.​

Festival Ambassadors will work as part of a team of other Festival Ambassadors, providing customer service for festival attendees, members of the public and the speakers/organisers of Festival events. Festival Ambassadors will work across several different events and locations throughout the day. This role will be assisting the public in wayfinding and event booking.​

Also, promoting and acting as an ambassador for the British Science Festival on indoor and outdoor locations across the University campus and Exeter city centre. The majority of this role will be allocated outside.

Job description

Main duties ​

• Deal with queries from members of the public/ attendees. ​
• Act as a representative of the British Science Festival.​
• Control public access and exit to and from areas. ​
• Report to Building Managers and assist with other duties as required. ​
• Assist with the setup and pack down of your allocated position.​
• Keep your area tidy. ​
• Rotate to different festival positions and cover lunch breaks.​
• Actively promoting the festival to the general public.​
• Helping the public in wayfinding and booking events. ​
• Assisting with evaluation of festival events.

About you

Person Specification ​

Essential ​

• Great interpersonal skills ​
• Strong customer service skills​
• Comfortable with approaching members of the public​
• An ability to work independently and as part of a team ​
• Experience, tact and skill in dealing with the public ​
• The ability to stay calm under pressure and show initiative to solve problems ​
• The ability to work flexibly across different roles throughout the day​
• Great level of spoken English ​

Desirable ​

• Knowledge of Exeter​
• Previous experience working and/or volunteering at events ​
• Student at the University of Exeter​
• Based in Exeter​

How to apply

If you are interested in applying, please download and fill in our short application form. Once completed upload it onto the BSA recruitment portal via the following link:

https://recruit.smb.co.uk/vacancy.aspx?id=H2HUF4AtEjMNtFeW​

Download the candidate pack for this role as a pdf.

The closing date for applications is 23.59 on Sunday 18 June 2023.

Please note we will start screening applications and interviewing candidates from the start of advertising. A successful candidate could progress to interview and offer before the advertised closing date. If you are interested in this role, we would encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted as soon as possible after their application to arrange a time for a short interview before a final decision is made.  ​

As part of the British Science Association’s commitment to being a Disability Confident employer, all disabled* applicants who meet the ‘essential criteria’ for this vacancy will be offered an interview under our guaranteed interview scheme. ​

If you wish to apply under the guaranteed interview scheme, you will be asked to indicate this when you submit your application by selecting ‘yes’ in the relevant box when asked during the application process. Applicants do not need to state any further information or declare their disability at the application stage.​

Whether you are applying under the scheme or not, if you are successful in being shortlisted, we will ask candidates with disabilities or long-term health conditions to let us know if they need any adjustments during the recruitment process. If you have further questions or would like this information in a different format, please contact: [email protected]  

Terms and conditions

The Festival Ambassador will be working at the British Science Festival in Exeter between 7-10 September 2023. Please note that the responsibilities of this role are provisional and are subject to change.​

The assignment is offered at a salary of £10.90 per hour. You will be allocated no less than 6 hours per day. Your core hours will be scheduled between 09:00-22:00 at the University of Exeter Campus, for four or five days (including up to a one-hour unpaid lunch/dinner break per day, depending on hours worked). ​

If successful, your hours will be fully outlined in your offer letter. The training day on Tuesday 5 September will be paid at the above rate and the BSA will reimburse reasonable travel costs incurred in attending the training day. The BSA will not be covering travel, accommodation, or subsistence costs for the duration of the Festival, but can provide information about accommodation, if required.​

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A copy of our Privacy Notice is available on the vacancies page of our website. ​
*The Disability Confident scheme’s definition of disability 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 our Disability Confident commitments can be found on the Disability Confident page of our website.

Our commitment to EDI

For the BSA's vision to come to fruition, we need to help science become part of culture, including those who are currently least engaged. We need to be able to engage with people in groups that are poorly represented in science, and that’s why equality, diversity & inclusion (EDI) needs to be central to our activities.​

The BSA has established three objectives for our work on EDI:​

• Develop our staff and internal systems to ensure the BSA reflects the society we want to see, and develops inclusive culture and policies;​
• Change our programmes to increase their relevance to audiences who are traditionally under-represented in science engagement activities, and empower people to run science engagement activities for their networks and communities;​
• Influence other organisations and individuals in the science engagement to sector to develop and improve their EDI practices in capability and audience development to reach new audiences.​

We recognise that in many settings, at the BSA and beyond, EDI can be seen as an add-on or ‘fix’ to the regular work. Our aim is for EDI to be the heart of everything we do.