Job details

We are currently looking to recruit for two practicing scientists to join Council, one from academia and one from industry. 

Job title: Trustee

Salary: This is a volunteer (pro bono) role and there is no salary. Reasonable out of pocket expenses may be claimed on submission of appropriate documentation. ​

Based: Our Head Office is based in London, but we have an agile working policy enabling people to work at another UK location up to 4 days/week. Permanent remote working in the UK is possible and we welcome applications from people based in other parts of the UK. 

Download the candidate pack for this role as a pdf

Role overview

Key responsibilities

The main responsibilities of this role are:

• Communication skills both externally and with team colleagues, and the ability to listen to others, to challenge constructively, and to compromise​

• The ability to be a team player and be comfortable with collective leadership​

• Understanding of charity governance and scrutiny of performance​

• A commitment to the Vision and Mission of the BSA, in particular, our belief that all of society should be included in science​

• An understanding of the audiences we serve

In addition, In addition to experience of science engagement, we are looking for Trustees who can demonstrate one or more of the following:​ 

• Good networks in the science community and/or in government and/or the science education community​

• An understanding of new developments in the field of data science and digital processing technologies​

• On the ground experience of working with schools and/or grassroot community groups​

To apply

Please send:

•  A comprehensive CV, including your recent achievements, and the details of two referees 

• A supporting statement, addressing your motivations for applying. This should be no longer than two sides of A4.​

Applications should be made via this link: https://recruit.smb.co.uk/vacancy.aspx?id=ZzdEMNdkwfzTk5rJ

The closing date for applications is 23.59 on Sunday 1st December 2024.

First interviews are due to take place in mid-January, dates TBC.

Download the candidate pack for this role as a pdf.

You can also view a text-only version of the remaining pages of the recruitment pack here.

As part of the British Science Association’s commitment to being a Disability Confident employer, all disabled* applicants who meet the ‘essential criteria’ for this vacancy will be offered an interview under our guaranteed interview scheme.

If you wish to apply under the guaranteed interview scheme, you will be asked to indicate this when you submit your application by selecting ‘yes’ in the relevant box when asked during the application process. Applicants do not need to state any further information or declare their disability at the application stage.

The BSA follows government advice in that it is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people that meet the minimum criteria for the job. For example, in certain recruitment situations (such as a high number of applications), we may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people.

In these circumstances, we could select the disabled candidates who best meet the minimum criteria for the job rather than all of those that meet the minimum criteria, as we would do for non-disabled applicants.

Whether you are applying under the scheme or not, if you are successful in being shortlisted, we will ask candidates with disabilities or long-term health conditions to let us know if they need any adjustments during the recruitment process.

If you have further questions or would like this information in a different format, please contact: [email protected]  

Terms & conditions

• As part of the British Science Association’s commitment to being a Disability Confident organisation, all disabled* applicants who meet the ‘essential criteria’ for this vacancy will be offered an interview under our guaranteed interview scheme. ​

• If you wish to apply under the guaranteed interview scheme, you will be asked to indicate this when you submit your application by selecting ‘yes’ in the relevant box when asked during the application process. Applicants do not need to state any further information or declare their disability at the application stage.​

• Whether you are applying under the scheme or not, if you are successful in being shortlisted, we will ask candidates with disabilities or long-term health conditions to let us know if they need any adjustments during the recruitment process. 

*The Disability Confident scheme’s definition of disability is in line with the Equalities Act 2010: “a physical or mental condition which has a long-term and substantial effect on your daily life”.

Further information about our Disability Confident commitments can be found on the Disability Confident page of our website.

Our commitment to EDI

For the BSA's vision to come to fruition, we need to help science become part of culture, including those who are currently least engaged. We need to be able to engage with people in groups that are poorly represented in science, and that’s why equality, diversity & inclusion (EDI) needs to be central to our activities.​

The BSA has established three objectives for our work with EDI:​

• Develop our staff and internal systems to ensure the BSA reflects the society we want to see, and develops inclusive culture and policies;​
• Change our programmes to increase their relevance to audiences who are traditionally under-represented in science engagement activities, and empower people to run science engagement activities for their networks and communities;​
• Influence other organisations and individuals in the science engagement to sector to develop and improve their EDI practices in capability and audience development to reach new audiences.​

We recognise that in many settings, at the BSA and beyond, EDI can be seen as an add-on or ‘fix’ to the regular work. Our aim is for EDI to be the heart of everything we do.