This role will primarily sit within our Capacity Building and Standards (CB&S) function but will work closely with our Innovation and Practice (I&P) and Advocacy and Communications (A&C) functions.

The CB&S function aims to build capacity both inside and outside of public institutions to embed the processes, skills, structures and cultures needed for effective public participation in decision-making. The I&P function is responsible for the deliberative, dialogic and participatory projects and processes that we run. The A&C function aims to build political and public understanding of and support for making participation and deliberation an everyday, integral part of our democracy.

This role will have a thematic focus on public engagement in decision-making within the science, technology and data sectors. Candidates do not need an educational or work background in this sector, although it would be useful, but we would expect the successful candidate to take a keen interest in these topics.

Involve achieves its impacts by growing expertise in sector-specific areas where public engagement is important. Science and tech represent policy areas where citizen engagement on both principles and practice is vital and where public engagement can also open the door to broader deliberative democratic interventions and feedback loops.

Technological advancement, including AI, presents risks and opportunities and will be an ongoing priority for government with five critical technologies likely to be central to UK policy for at least the next Government.

Involve has a significant pedigree and is well networked in the area of public engagement in science. Over the last 20 years we have been thought leaders in this space, in particular running the government’s science and tech engagement programme, Sciencewise. We have developed a reputation for best practice public dialogue, deliberation and capacity building.

Given the opportunity to grow this area, our reputation, and the important democratic need, we don’t want to stand still.

As Engagement Lead you will play a central role in leading Involve’s work, and building out our strategy, on public engagement in the science, technology and data field. The job will involve leading on our Sciencewise programme of public dialogue as well as supporting, growing and communicating our science and tech public engagement in general. You will be a proven project leader and strategic thinker looking to make your next move and develop your leadership and profile in this interesting and important area of public engagement in decision-making.

We're looking for a Senior Project Officer, to work in our Innovation and Practice team and support exemplary, agile project management across Involve.

This is an exciting time to join the Involve team. Alongside increasing public and political interest in our approaches, we are increasing the size and impact of our project work. We have a couple of new multifaceted projects which need really effective and agile project management. As a Senior Project Officer you will contribute to all aspects of our delivery, with a particular focus on project and programme management of larger projects. Your main focus will be on:

• Project management and delivery - core project management and logistics, running onboarding for participants, event management, analysis and reporting, and facilitation
• Building our project management approach further - supporting Involve to build our project management capacity and resources that are appropriate for our creative, inclusive processes and culture
• Project and programme design - working with project teams to design entire projects and processes which use deliberative, qualitative and participatory methods
• Project impact - recording and monitoring how our projects work, the kinds of impacts they have, and the ways they contribute to Involve’s mission.

This Senior Project Officer role sits in our Innovation and Practice Function. Our team’s daily work includes setting up, managing, designing, delivering and reporting on a wide range of participatory and deliberative processes, ranging from small scale, hyper-local community engagements to large, national, multi-event Citizens’ Assemblies and longer term projects. Our processes can be face to face, hybrid, or online, and often involve bringing together different groups from within the public with interested parties and experts from across government, business , academia and civil society.

In addition, you would work closely with our Capacity Building and Standards team to support their work helping others to deliver these approaches and contribute to our communications and advocacy work. You will also support fundraising for grants and projects, responding to tenders and writing proposals and building relationships with our funders, collaborators and clients.

We are looking for an excellent project manager, able to manage fairly large projects and task manage others at all levels to ensure smooth delivery. You will be great at managing relationships at all levels and working with others to get things done. Given the nature of our work we are also looking for public participation skills, or relevant or transferable expertise and an understanding of deliberative practice. That will enable you to design and deliver project management, and support facilitation that fits our work and enables you to contribute to advising our clients on designing and delivering effective engagement. It is critical that you are open to new ideas, a good team player, committed to shifting power and addressing inequities in our society and that you are passionate about furthering our vision. Experience of building project management capacity, fundraising and staff management is desirable.

We're recruiting for an Engagement Lead, to work in our Capacity Building and Standards team.

As Engagement Lead you will play a central role in our Capacity Building and Standards (CB&S) team, which includes supporting institutions to embed public participation in their decision-making. On a practical level this will include developing and delivering training courses and mentoring programmes; setting up and supporting networks; authoring good practice guides and thought leadership pieces; and other programme and project management that supports the embedding of public participation and engagement in the UK.

You will be a proven project leader looking to make your next move and develop your leadership and profile in this interesting and important area of public participation work. You will enjoy supporting others to develop and embed public participation in decision-making, drawing on your own significant experience, for example in delivering deliberative and participatory processes. You will need to be able to advocate well for the benefits of public participation and engagement in decision-making.

You will have an appetite to learn, with strong budget and project management skills. You will have the ability to build and maintain good relationships with a wide variety of people, including senior stakeholders, project partners, internal staff and people in our wider networks. You will be a strategic thinker, able to develop new areas of work, ideas and fundable projects that will help the CB&S function to deliver its aims.

Salary band: £44,353 - £50,247

Location: Flexible. Must be comfortable with regular travel both for project work and Involve team activities. Must be able to travel across the UK.

Hours: Full time, 35 hours a week with flexible or part time considered

Download the job description to read more about the role, its responsibilities, and the competencies we're looking for. You'll find the job description at the bottom of this page.

We're recruiting for an Engagement Lead, to work in our Capacity Building & Standards team.

As Engagement Lead you will play a central role in our team, with particular responsibility for developing, managing and, in part, delivering Involve’s training offer. This includes our proactive training offer; in other words, sessions and courses that we schedule and advertise. It also includes our reactive training work, where we respond to incoming requests to run training for specific organisations. You will build on the training Involve has already run and our in-house expertise, but go well beyond what Involve currently offers. Involve does not currently have a proactive training offer and this is an exciting opportunity for a strategic, driven, and creative individual to shape this key emerging area of our work.

Beyond a focus on our training offer, you will also contribute to the wider work of the CB&S function - developing and delivering mentoring programmes for public servants, practitioners and others; setting up and supporting networks (e.g. peer learning networks, communities of practice); authoring good practice guides; and supporting institutions to embed public participation in their decision-making.

You will be a proven project leader looking to make your next move and develop your leadership and business development skills in this interesting and important area of public participation work. You will have a passion for training and supporting others to develop and embed public participation in decision-making, drawing on your own significant experience, for example of delivering deliberative and participatory processes. You will have an appetite to learn, with strong budget- and relationship- management skills, and the ability to build and maintain good relationships with a wide variety of people, including senior stakeholders, project partners, internal staff and people in our wider networks. You will be a strategic thinker, able to develop a new business area, ideas and fundable projects that will help the CB&S function to deliver its aims.

Download the job description to read more about the role, its responsibilities, and the competencies we're looking for. You'll find the job description at the bottom of this page.