As our Public Engagement Officer you will help create meaningful connections, support research with people, help build better futures.
We're looking for someone to join the team as our new Public Engagement Officer and play a vital role in helping deliver the Public Engagement Unit’s work. Could it be you?
About you
If you’re energised by bringing people together, curious about how research can change the world, and excited by the idea of helping a university connect more deeply with society, you’ll thrive here. We’re looking for someone who wants to grow, experiment, and make a real difference in a role where your ideas genuinely matter.
About the role
As our Public Engagement Officer, you’ll be at the heart of a team that champions engaged, responsible and socially connected research across the University of Bath. You’ll support researchers to build meaningful relationships with the public, amplify stories of excellent engagement, and support programmes that inspire dialogue, collaboration, and change.
You’ll play a key role in delivering our communications, increasing our digital presence, supporting events and grant schemes, and ensuring our programmes run smoothly. One day you might be producing content that celebrates engaged research, the next supporting a festival event, or helping academics shape ideas with communities through upstream engagement and responsible research and innovation.
Further information
This is a part-time role, working 0.8 fte (29.2 hours per week).
If you're excited by the idea of helping shape the future of public engagement with research and want to grow your own expertise along the way - we’d love to hear from you.
For an informal discussion about the role please contact Bentley Crudgington, Deputy Head of Public Engagement (bsc50@bath.ac.uk) or Helen Featherstone, Head of Public Engagement (hf362@bath.ac.uk)
About the Public Engagement Unit
Established in 2012, the Public Engagement Unit has been at the forefront of advancing the practice and thinking around public engagement with research at the University of Bath and across the wider higher education sector.
We manage several schemes that support colleagues to build their skills and expertise in public involvement and engagement with research. This includes managing several engagement opportunities such as the FUTURES Festival, Festival of Social Science, Festival of Nature, plus many local community run festivals, running the annual Engage & Involve Grants, Minevra public discussions, offering help, advice and guidance on research grant proposals, and hosting various training workshops and professional development opportunities.
In addition to this work, the Public Engagement Unit also leads several externally funded cross-institution projects, most recently the Research England-funded ParticipatoryResearch@Bath project and the Natural Environment Research Council-funded Inclusive Leadership for Public Engagement short training course.
We are currently expanding our sector leading work on Relational Practice and developing our capacity for Upstream Engagement. This is an exciting time to join the Public Engagement Unit.
How to apply
Applications for this post are via the University of Bath Recruitment Portal
The process involves registering with the portal, entering your personal details, providing details of your education and employment history, submitting contact details of two referees and answering some questions.
We want everyone who believes they meet the person specification to feel comfortable and confident applying for it. It is our responsibility to make the application process accessible - if you require the job description, person specification or job pack that will support you applying in a different format or would like to apply in a different way, please email the Public Engagement Unit at public-engagement@bath.ac.uk.
Interviews
We want our interview process to be rigorous, open and friendly. We will send interviewees our questions and the names of the panel members in advance of the interview. If you have any access needs for the interview, we will meet them.
Closing date
Monday 08 June 2026
Interview date
Monday 22 June 2026
Reference
CC13628
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