Location: Venue-based - most of your time will be spent in our venue on Bristol Harbourside interacting directly with visitors.
Department: Operations
Report to: Live Science Team Leaders and Live Science Team Manager
Responsible for: No direct reports
Salary: £12.00 per hour starting salary, rising to £12.40 per hour after passing probation, and £13.17 per hour upon completion of progression milestones.
Contract: Permanent
Working hours: We have two potential contracts available
32 hours per week, worked over 4 days per week, 9.00am-5.30pm
You would be required to work 3 out of 4 weekends of the month - both Saturday and Sunday
24 hours per week, worked over 3 days per week, 9.00am – 5.30pm
You would be required to work 2 out of 4 weekends of the month - both Saturday and Sunday
Regular shifts are worked Tuesday – Sunday
There will be occasional Monday open days, for School holidays and training days, and rare evening events, including Planetarium night shows
A fixed schedule of shifts can be discussed.
About We The Curious
We The Curious is an educational charity and South West England's leading science centre.
We produce experiences that bring people together to play, get creative with science and explore different ideas.
We work with partners, locally and nationally, supporting people to be inquisitive, develop new skills and improve their wellbeing.
We are progressive, inquisitive, collaborative, playful and creative.
Our mission
Our aim is to connect and empower people through sharing creative experiences which celebrate unknowns in science.
Our work as a charity is driven by five key pledges:
_Cultivate Curiosity
_Include Everyone
_Open Up Science
_Sustainable Futures
_Build Resilience
You can find out more about these in our Manifesto.
About the role
Live Science Team provide creative, playful , inclusive experiences to people who attend our venue. Enabling excellent visitor experience and supporting the other Live Science Team Members will be your priority.
Within our venue you will be presenting shows, facilitating hands-on activities, starting conversations among exhibits and helping people to get involved by sparking curiosity, creating fun and promoting the value of people’s opinions and life experiences.
Live Science team is responsible for the safety of our visitors whilst they are in our venue. To achieve this you will be required to follow our safeguarding and evacuation procedures and adhere to risk assessments for all activities we deliver.
In our ground-breaking Open City Research activities, you will be the link between our research partners and our visitors, explaining the background of real science research and helping them to participate.
Our venue and events are attended by lots of different people and age groups, but our main audience is families, so you should be confident working with children (aged 3-11 years) and young people, as well as being comfortable encouraging adults to get involved in the fun!
What will you do in this role?
Role specific responsibilities
_You will provide playful and inclusive experiences to our visitors. You will present in our programme spaces, such as our kitchen space, the Theatre of Curiosity, the Studio, our 3D Planetarium, and the Open City Lab: a space where visitors can get involved in real research
_In these spaces you will lead story-telling, demonstrations, explanations and hands-on activities. It can include working with simple robots, chemicals, toys, food, plants and bespoke equipment such as smoke machines.
_You will be at hand amongst the exhibits to start conversations and spark curiosity in our visitors. You will use your knowledge and passion for discovery to encourage interactions between yourself and visitors, and get visitors involved with an exhibit or activity. You will adapt to the needs of the diverse range of individuals who visit We The Curious.
_You will take initiative to assist visitors and co-workers whenever they need it.
_You will ensure spaces look welcoming, have the equipment needed and are clean and safe.
_You will keep aware of your surroundings, ensuring that visitors and staff are safe. You will learn and follow safe-working policies, including emergency evacuation procedure and our safeguarding policy.
_You will listen to visitor feedback, remain calm and resolve issues where you are able, working with your colleagues, or escalating, if needed.
_In the venue, you will welcome school groups on school trips, helping to manage their experience of our venue.
_When there are opportunities to do so, you will work with other departments. This can include more meetings and office-based work.
_You will welcome volunteers into We The Curious during holidays and busy periods, being on hand for support and queries throughout the day
_This role requires you to work a flexible shift pattern – You will be working 3 out of 4 weekends of the month, both the Saturday and the Sunday – your other shifts will be spread through the week.
Shared responsibilities across the organisation
_Safeguarding : Be responsible for carefully following safeguarding policies and procedures and raising any concerns to manager/Designated Safeguarding Officer.
_Fundraising: Where possible, include charity messaging in your area of work with support from, and connection with, the Development and Marketing Teams.
_General responsibility for departmental compliance with GDPR.
What we're looking for from you
_You have previous experience in customer service, or working with a public audience, and are confident working with the public and being in a public facing role
_You will have excellent communication skills, and be able to engage both individuals and groups of people
_You feel confident presenting to large groups of people and facilitating activities with diverse audiences
_You have excellent listening skills and an understanding of visitor needs and expectations and have a positive attitude to solving problems and handling customer issues.
_You can find starting points for conversations on a wide variety of topics and adapt to people of different backgrounds, age, ability and interests
_You are confident learning and retaining information; including some simple scientific concepts to present as part of activities or shows
_You are comfortable adapting to quickly changing circumstances
_You can use Microsoft Teams and email to communicate with your colleagues or be happy to learn this as part of your role.
_ You can work on your own and as part of a team. You are happy to support other team members as well as self-motivating whilst presenting activities on your own.
_You are comfortable carrying out basic manual handling tasks, spending a lot of the day walking round our venue, and participating in active tasks – (if this is a barrier for you, we are happy to discuss access requirements)
_You are comfortable working in a large public venue that can get quite loud and busy
_You can learn to, or are already able to, work safely with new technologies and equipment both in front of visitors and behind the scenes
Training
_Training is provided throughout your time at We the Curious, and you can progress through steps of pay as your skills and experience grow.
Application process
Deadline for applications: Wednesday 4th December at midnight
Interview dates and location: Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th December at We the Curious
Start date: Tuesday 21st January 2025
Application process:
If you would like to apply, please complete the application form. It contains questions designed to assess your experience and suitability for the role.
Please do not send in CVs or covering letters as we don’t review them.
The interview process for this role will include a workshop style format, and a chance for you to chat to the panel 1-1. We want this to be a relaxed process, and we want you to feel as welcome and comfortable as possible.
We appreciate interviews can be stressful, so if you are invited for interview, we’ll send you the structure of the workshop and the questions that you’ll be asked beforehand so that you have time to prepare.
If you would like to talk about the role, the application or interview process, please email people@wethecurious.org.
Support during the process
We want to work with you to ensure the recruitment process is accessible for you.
If you are disabled, neurodivergent, or if you have a long-term health condition, we’ll be happy to make reasonable adjustments to our processes for you.
You’ll have the opportunity to let us know about any adjustments you may need throughout the application and selection process. We’ll continue this conversation if you join us as a staff member, and we’ll work with you to make sure you have the adjustments you need to succeed in your role.
Examples of adjustments could include:
_providing alternative formats at every stage
_options to apply
_extra time for tasks
_providing some extra information about what to expect
_office orientation before an in-person interview.
Including everyone
We value the positive impact greater representation will have on our organisation, programmes and culture. It’s our goal to become an inclusive place to work and for our teams to better reflect our city and the people who visit us.
We welcome applications from people of all lived experiences and particularly those that are not well represented* in the science centre sector.
We want to work with you to ensure the recruitment process is accessible for you, please contact us if you have questions about We The Curious, our accessibility or recruitment process at people@wethecurious.org
*By not well represented we mean people with lived experience including but not limited to:
_African and African-Caribbean heritage
_South Asian and East Asian heritage
_Other global majority ethnic groups
_Disabled
_Neurodivergent
_Visually Impaired
_Deaf community
_LGBTQIA+ and/or non-binary
_Working class background
_Didn’t go to university or first in your immediate family to attend University
Support during the process
We The Curious is a Disability Confident Employer and we welcome applications from candidates who self-assess themselves as having a disability. We will guarantee an interview to applicants who advise that they have a disability and who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy. To help you, under the Equality Act 2010 a person is defined as having a disability if a) they have a physical or mental impairment, and b) the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
We want to work with you to ensure the recruitment process is accessible for you.
If you are disabled, neurodivergent, or if you have a long-term health condition, we’ll be happy to make reasonable adjustments to our processes for you.
You’ll have the opportunity to let us know about any adjustments you may need throughout the application and selection process. We’ll continue this conversation if you join us as a staff member, and we’ll work with you to make sure you have the adjustments you need to succeed in your role.
Examples of adjustments could include:
_providing alternative formats at every stage
_options to apply
_extra time for tasks
_providing some extra information about what to expect
_office orientation before an in-person interview.
Working with us
We value the people that work with us. Our staff have access to the following:
Wellbeing & support
_Flexible working
_Hybrid working (if suitable and stated for role)
_Cycle to work scheme
_Free yearly flu jabs and eye tests
_Paid sick leave for physical and mental health
_Mental Health First Aiders
_Confidential advice & counselling through the Employee Support Programme
Leave
_28 days including bank holidays (all pro-rata).
_A day of extra holiday for every 5 years' service
_An amount of paid leave for emergency dependent care, domestic emergency leave and compassionate leave
New Parent Policy
We are proud to be a family friendly organisation, which is why we work to develop our people practices in line with that value. We have recently introduced a non-gendered approach to Maternity and Paternity, re-branded as our “New Parent Policy”. There are eligibility criteria and terms and conditions, but the key take away is that anyone who is due to become a new parent, regardless of their gender, can take 1 year off work, and we’ll pay your full salary for the first five months.
Facilities & discounts
_Free entry to the venue at any time with up to four guests, plus 12 additional entry tickets per calendar year to give away.
_15% off in the We The Curious café
_20% off in our shop
_Range of discounts with local businesses and free entry to other local attractions.
_Social events
_Free parking
_Secure cycle storage
Pension
_We offer a pension scheme with 5% company contributions.
Death in service benefit
_Four times your annual salary.
