Education and Engagement Officer, Wales Gene Park

19918BR

School of Medicine

Managerial, Professional and Specialist Staff – MPSS

Education and Engagement Officer, Wales Gene Park

Division of Cancer & Genetics

School of Medicine

College of Biomedical and Life Sciences

The Wales Gene Park is an established Infrastructure Support Group, funded by the Welsh Government.

Our mission is to promote and facilitate Welsh medical genetic and genomic research and its application to improve health and wealth in Wales. We also engage the public and health professionals to improve understanding of the opportunities and challenges arising through genetics and genomics. New genetic/genomic knowledge has profound implications for healthcare and society at large. Through our education and engagement activities the Wales Gene Park enhances the understanding of genetics/genomics throughout Wales and further afield, making access to information easier and facilitating an informed debate among professionals, young people and the public at large.

We are looking to recruit an Education & Engagement Officer. The successful candidate will become part of the award-winning Wales Gene Park Education & Engagement team, working on the development of initiatives to engage a range of audiences with genetics/genomics and delivering events across Wales.

The post holder will be required to be flexible as some events are held in the evenings and at weekends. The Wales Gene Park programme covers the whole of Wales, so the successful candidate must be willing to travel in order to deliver events. This may involve occasional overnight stays away from Cardiff.

This post is based at Cardiff Edge Business Park, Coryton.

Cardiff University offers many excellent benefits, including 45 days annual leave (incl. bank holidays), local pension scheme, a cycle to work scheme and other travel initiatives, annual increments within the pay scale, and more. It is an exciting and vibrant place to work, with many different challenges and is a proud Living Wage supporter.

The majority of roles at Cardiff University are currently operating under “blended working” arrangements, with staff having the flexibility to work partly from home and partly from the University campus depending on specific business requirements. Discussions around these arrangements can take place after the successful candidate has been appointed.

For informal enquiries, please contact Dr Rhian Morgan, Education and Engagement Manager – e-mail: MorganRR1@cardiff.ac.uk.

This post is full-time (35 hours per week), fixed term until 31 March 2027, and available immediately.

Salary: £33,482 - £36,130 per annum (Grade 5). Appointments to roles at Cardiff University are usually made at bottom of scale unless in exceptional circumstances.

Date advert posted: Thursday, 10 April 2025

Closing date: Thursday, 24 April 2025

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We therefore welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Job Description

Job Purpose

Support the University within Wales Gene Park (WGP) genetics/genomics education & engagement, carrying out supporting work, providing advice, guidance and support, and leading projects within this area.

Duties and Responsibilities

Key Duties

• Provide professional advice and guidance on Wales Gene Park Education & Engagement processes and procedures to internal and external customers, using judgement and creativity to suggest the most appropriate course of action where appropriate, and ensuring complex and conceptual issues are understood.
• Investigate and analyse specific issues within genetics/genomics education & engagement, creating recommendation reports, supported by advances within the field.
• Ensure that the provision of the Wales Gene Park genetics/genomics education & engagement is delivered to the institution, proactively changing the delivery according to customer requirements.
• Collaborate with others in order to make recommendations for developments of established processes and procedures.
• Establish working relationships with key contacts, developing appropriate communication links with the University’s Schools/Directorates and outside bodies as required.
• Create specific working groups from colleagues across the University to achieve Wales Gene Park Education & Engagement objectives.
• Supervise specific project teams on an occasional basis to accomplish key objectives.
• Develop and deliver training within genetics/genomics education & engagement.
• Undertake a variety of administrative duties to support the department.
• Instruct and guide other employees across the University within genetics/genomics education & engagement as required.

Specific Duties

• Work with the Wales Gene Park Education & Engagement staff, clinicians, academics and other professionals in the development of initiatives to engage a range of audiences with genetics/genomics and to deliver the WGP Education & Engagement programme.
• Identify a range of audiences amongst specific professional, educational & patient groups and the wider public and, in conjunction with the WGP Education & Engagement staff, develop and deliver events that promote further engagement with genetics/genomics.
• Identify new and innovative ways of engaging with specific audiences and to assist with applying for funding to run specific projects as required.
• Communicate genetics information effectively and professionally with a wide range of audiences both orally and in writing and to deliver effective presentations.
• Contribute content for reports, newsletters, social media, leaflets and grant applications associated with the WGP Education & Engagement Programme and assist with circulation.
• Assist with maintaining and further developing the WGP communications databases and assist with developing and circulating marketing material via these contacts.
• Assist with the development of web content promoting the education & engagement programme and help ensure that the WGP website is kept up to date.
• Help identify involvement opportunities for patients/public and follow up on these opportunities, feeding this information back for inclusion in WGP reports.
• To deliver and attend events across Wales, some of which will take place in the evenings and at weekends and will require overnight stays away from Cardiff.

General Duties

• Ensure that an understanding of the importance of confidentiality is applied when undertaking all duties.
• Abide by University policies on Health and Safety and Equality and Diversity.
• Perform other duties occasionally which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

Qualifications And Education

• Degree/NVQ 4 or equivalent qualification in Biological Science.

Knowledge, Skills And Experience

• Evidence of strong interpersonal skills, as well as the ability and experience required to deliver engagement activities to, and work with, a wide range of audiences (i.e. health professionals, researchers, schools/colleges, patients and the public).
• Good knowledge and substantial experience of working within science communication and a sound understanding of genetics/genomics with excellent presentation skills and experience of authoring content, ensuring accurate and effective dissemination of this information to all the various target audiences (as above).
• Ability to assist with operational planning and implementation of project activities and events, and to set up standard office systems and procedures; proficiency in common IT packages including all MS Office applications, together with a good understanding of, and ability to use, social media (such as LinkedIn, Instagram) and digital design tools (e.g. Canva).

Customer Service, Communication and Team Working

• Evidence of ability to assimilate, analyse and convey conceptually detailed and complex information in a clear, effective, accurate manner, in both oral and written form, ensuring that content is suitable for the intended target audience (i.e. health professionals, researchers, schools/colleges, patients and the public).
• Excellent organisational ability with a willingness to work flexibly (some events will take place at weekends/in the evening and across Wales) and to fixed deadlines.
• Creative thinker, able to identify opportunities to develop new initiatives to engage various audiences to increase the reach of the Wales Gene Park, and evidence of ability to explore customers’ needs and adapt the service accordingly to ensure a quality service is delivered, reacting to feedback from previous events.

Planning, Analysis and Problem Solving

• Evidence of solving expansive problems using initiative and creativity; ability to identify and propose practical solutions and provide advice and recommendations; experience of producing reports on, and analysing, activities delivered, coupled with experience of supporting grant proposals.
• Evidence of ability to work unsupervised, independently and collaboratively as part of a team, to deadlines and with a close attention to detail; the ability to be proactive, flexible, and adaptable in approach, planning and setting priorities for own work and that of others, while working on different projects simultaneously, and monitoring progress, outcomes and impact.

Desirable Criteria

• Possession of a valid driving licence is required.
• Fluency in Welsh, written and oral.
• Science Communication postgraduate qualification.
• Experience of working in Higher Education and/or Healthcare environment.

Additional Information

The post holder will be required to be flexible as some events are held in the evenings and at weekends. The Wales Gene Park programme covers the whole of Wales, so the successful candidate must be willing to travel in order to deliver events. This may involve occasional overnight stays away from Cardiff.

How we will support you in performing in this role –

Role

There are some things that you must have before you can start this role (see ‘Essential Criteria’), but other things can be developed either through training, or just by general on-the-job experience. We want to support and develop you once you have started in the role using a combination of the following to get the best out of you:

• Regular one-to-ones with your manager.
• An experienced and supportive team around you.
• Supporting you through job-relevant training and development that you may require.
• A mentoring scheme.

IMPORTANT: Evidencing Criteria

It is School of Medicine's policy to use the person specification as a key tool for short-listing. Candidates should evidence that they meet ALL of the essential criteria as well as, where relevant, the desirable. As part of the application process you will be asked to provide this evidence via a supporting statement.

Please ensure when submitting this document / attaching it to your application profile you name it with the vacancy reference number, in this instance for this post, 19918BR.

If candidates do not provide written evidence of meeting all of the essential criteria then their application will not be progressed. The School of Medicine welcome the submission of CVs to accompany evidence of the job-based criteria.

Salary Range Min.

33,482

Salary Range Max.

36,130

Job Category

Education, Management & Executive

Grade

Grade 5