Location: Venue based – most of your time will be spent in our venue on Bristol Harbourside interacting directly with our clients.
Department: Venue Hire
Report to: Events Operations Manager and Event Co-ordinators
Responsible for: N/A
Salary: £12 per hour entry rate, increasing to £12.22 per hour after an entry period. This salary will increase from 1st April 2025 to keep in line with Real Living Wage.
Contract: Permanent
Working hours: Part-time, 15 hours per week (0.4 FTE).
60 hours guaranteed per month, with opportunities for overtime. We will expect some flexibility with your working hours to fit the nature of events. This can include late nights and weekend work as well as daytime shifts and occasional long hours. Please note - if you have an amount of hours in mind that work for you please do let us know.
About We The Curious
We The Curious is an educational charity and one of the UK's leading science centres.
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 Why, What & How
Our vision
What if everyone is included, curious and inspired by science to build a better world together?
Our mission
To connect and empower people through sharing creative experiences which celebrate unknowns in science.
Our pledges
_Cultivate Curiosity
_Strive for Sustainable Futures
_Include Everyone
_Build Resilience
_Open Up Science
You can find out more about these in our Manifesto.
Our values
_Inquisitive - Asking questions
_Progressive - Thinking about what's next
_Playful - Embracing the unexpected with a sense of fun
_Creative - Generating and testing new ideas
_Collaborative - Being inclusive, connecting and valuing
Our Strategic Priorities
/ SP1 - We will deliver collaborative, curiosity-led learning projects to reduce inequality and improve life chances.
/ SP2 - Our team and those we work with will reflect the diversity of our city, delivering a more inclusive experience.
/ SP3 -We commit to being a carbon net zero organisation by 2030 and will inspire audiences to take positive action for our planet
/ SP4 - To deliver our charitable mission, we will strengthen existing income sources and seek new opportunities to deliver long-term financial security.
/ SP5 - We will provide opportunities for people to explore new ideas, develop skills and influence scientific research.
About the role
As key members of the Venue Hire Department, the Event Support Staff will work as a team in assisting with the set-up, delivery and breakdown of We The Curious events and ensuring the smooth operational running of the department.
This role will also support our Visitor Experience and Live Science Teams during quiet times for venue hire events. This will involve similar responsibilities to the Event Support Staff as laid out in the role specific responsibilities. You will receive training on this part of the role.
Reflecting the changeable nature of events, this role is part time, making it flexible enough to fit around other work or commitments. We make progression available for those working towards a career in events.
With a wide range of venues and spaces including the Rosalind Franklin Room on the top floor with terraces overlooking the city, a Planetarium, two floors of exhibition spaces and Millennium Square, We The Curious can host a huge variety of events including conferences, drinks receptions, parties, weddings, festivals, educational talks, private shows and awards ceremonies.
What will you do in this role?
Role specific responsibilities
_You will ensure all our visitors are greeted in a welcoming and inclusive way.
_You will understand the requirements of the event and set up and pack down the event space to the needs of the client. This will involve a degree of manual handling and physicality (required adjustments can be made).
_You will proactively support the client and guests during the live event, offering guidance and information when required. You will respond to potential issues that may arise with a prompt, approachable, and friendly attitude.
_You will communicate clearly with the venue hire team as well as other We The Curious teams and external contractors to ensure the event runs smoothly alongside the rest of the attraction.
_You will be responsible for keeping the event spaces tidy and accessible, using your initiative to undertake general cleaning tasks as needed and reporting and following up on maintenance issues.
_You will ensure that all events run in line with our policies and procedures.
_You will keep up to date with broader We The Curious activities in order to effectively promote We The Curious to Venue Hire clients.
_When there are opportunities to do so, you may also work with other departments to support We The Curious' mission and vision. This can include some meetings and office-based work.
_You will assist Visitor Experience team shifts as required, representing the friendly and informative face of We The Curious. Responsibilities will range from welcoming visitors through the front doors, scanning tickets and delivering excellent customer service in our shop.
_You will assist Live Science team shifts as required. Responsibilities will range from supporting the team by being an information point for guests as well as assisting with any evacuation or safeguarding matters that arise.
General responsibilities
_Embody and demonstrate our values; Collaborative, Creative, Inquisitive, Playful, Progressive.
_Responsible for carefully following safeguarding policies and procedures and raising any concerns to manager/Designated Safeguarding Officer.
_Promote charity messaging across your area of work wherever possible, with support from the Development and Marketing teams.
_General responsibility for departmental compliance with GDPR.
_Embody and demonstrate our values; Collaborative, Creative, Inquisitive, Playful, Progressive.
What we're looking for from you
_You have previous experience in a client or customer service role and are confident working with the public and being in a public facing role.
_Experience of working in a conference or events environment is desirable.
_You are comfortable performing manual handling tasks (required adjustments can be made)
_You have experience of working to deadlines.
_You have excellent communication skills and can engage both individuals and groups of people. You can easily adapt to people of different backgrounds, age and ability to make a variety of audiences feel welcome and supported.
_You can react calmly and decisively to developing and changing situations whilst remaining cool and professional under pressure.
_You can work on your own and as part of a team. As the role consists of both busy and quiet periods you are happy to support other team members, bringing enthusiasm, self-motivation, and a positive outlook.
_You have excellent listening skills, and an understanding of guests needs and expectations and have a positive attitude to solving problems and handling guests' issues.
_You can pick up new skills quickly.
_You can multitask different responsibilities.
Application process
Deadline for applications: Sunday 23rd February at midnight
Interview dates and location: 17th and 18th March 2025 at We The Curious
Start date: 14th April 2025
If you would like to apply, please complete the application form. It contains questions designed to assess your interest in and suitability for the role.
Please don't send in CVs or cover letters as we don't review them.
We appreciate interviews can be stressful, so we try to make them more of a conversation and a chance for you to tell us about how your skills and interests make you the right person for the role.
If you are invited for an interview, we'll send you the questions that you'll be asked beforehand so that you have time to prepare.
If you have any particular needs or requirements, please do let us know so that we can make the required adjustments.
If you would like to talk about the role or the application process, please email people@wethecurious.org
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.
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.
*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
_Global Majority
_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
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
_25 days in addition to bank holidays.
_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 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
_Secure cycle storage
Pension
_We offer a pension scheme with 5% company contributions.
Death in service benefit
_Four times your annual salary.
