Heriot-Watt University
Research Futures Community Coordinator
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Research Futures Community Coordinator
Grade and Salary: Grade 7 (£37,694 – £47,389)
Position: Full-time, 35 hours per week, based at Edinburgh Campus
Holiday Entitlement: 33 days’ annual leave plus 9 campus closure days (including Christmas Eve if it falls on a weekday)
Purpose of the Role
You will shape a thriving, inclusive community of Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs) and Early Career Researchers (ECRs) across the University’s global campuses. By fostering a collaborative, partnership-led enhancement approach, this role is central to the University’s Strategy 2035, aimed at delivering an exceptional researcher experience. Your core focus will be:
- Strengthening belonging, peer support, and consistent access to resources across disciplines and campuses.
- Designing meaningful opportunities for networking, story-sharing, and cross-campus connection.
- Ensuring coordinator activities enhance integration between Schools, services, and researcher needs.
Key Priorities: ✔ Belonging & Community – Cultivating stronger connections for a cohesive research culture. ✔ Equity in Experience – Ensuring consistency and support across all campuses and disciplines. ✔ Awareness & Access – Maximising uptake of support services through visibility and clarity.
Your work will bridge researcher support with Marketing, Recruitment, and Communications for external engagement—raising brand visibility and fostering talent pipeline growth.
Key Duties & Responsibilities
1. Researcher Community & Belonging
- Design and deliver a year-round programme of inclusive activities, including:
- Events (face-to-face, virtual, and hybrid)
- Networks and online communities (e.g., Slack, Teams groups)
- Participation initiatives like buddy schemes, peer learning circles, and communities of practice.
- Ensure accessibility for all researchers through "what’s on" communications, onboarding touch points, and clear participation pathways.
- Address structural and cultural barriers to inclusion, prioritising support for disabled researchers, carers, international researchers, and underrepresented groups.
- Identify gaps in engagement and implement solutions to improve reach, accessibility, and retention.
2. Researcher Experience & Engagement
- Chart the researcher lifecycle and co-ordinate targeted interventions (e.g., onboarding packages, milestone celebrations, and transitional support).
- Align activities across Schools, services, and broader}}$ University efforts to avoid duplication and streamline support.
- Collaborate with internal teams to enhance consistency in researcher-facing services, tools, and policies.
- Develop cross-campus initiatives that reinforce peer support and a sense of shared purpose.
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3. Researcher Insight & Feedback
- Establish low-barrier feedback mechanisms (e.g., pulse surveys, testimonial channels, PRES representation when applicable).
- Create systems for co-design, using researcher perspectives to shape community programmes.
- Regularly report on engagement metrics and impact indicators, demonstrating how feedback drives improvements.
- Apply insights from research communities to prioritise resources and activities.
4. Communications & External Engagement
- Partner with Marketing, Admissions, and Student Recruitment to promote researcher events, opportunities, and support networks.
- Develop engaging content for internal and external channels (e.g., email newsletters, websites, social media, Teams forums).
- Showcase researcher stories, experiences, and successes via case studies, videos, presentations, or live Q&A sessions.
- Engage with external audiences by representing researchers in prospective student events and supporting recruitment initiatives.
Essential Criteria
- Proven track record of building and sustaining networks, ide Requiring experience across HE, research communities, or professional training settings.
- Expertise in event planning and programme delivery, including budgeting, coordination, and evaluation.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills adapted for diverse audiences, including technical, public, and interdisciplinary groups.
- A people-centric approach—your strengths lie in building partnerships, human-centred design, and ensuring inclusivity within communities.
- Strong conflict management and diplomacy, particularly when juggling multiple stakeholders with varying priorities.
- Competence in digital tools: Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Teams), online platforms for events, and basic web content technology.
- Proficient in employing data and feedback for decision-making and progress tracking.
- A commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), with real-world experience applying EDI principles.
- Highly organised with strong time management, juggling urgent tasks and long-term strategy.
Desirable Criteria
- Direct experience working with PGRs or ECRs at any level, especially career-focused initiatives.
- Facilitation expertise in leading workshops, peer learning sessions, or community discussions.
- Knowledge of championing systems (e.g., research ambassador networks), or managing volunteer programmes.
- Basic skills in content creation, such as:
- Graphic design or video editing OR basic audio editing.
- Social media strategy.
- Multimedia marketing.
- Hands-on experience with CRM software (e.g., Eventbrite, Salesforce), event apps, or email marketing tools (e.g., Mailchimp).
- Insight into research culture, open research landscapes, career development, and academic credibility.
- Familiarity with evaluation methods like simple logic models, outcome measures, and user journey mapping.
- Experience coordinating hybrid environments, especially with global teams or cross-zone engagements.
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How to Apply
Applications close at 23:55 (UK time) on 2 August 2026.
To apply, submit a covering letter and full CV via the Heriot-Watt recruitment system (instructions).
Note: Flexible working requests (including job sharing or part-time) are welcome.
Heriot-Watt University is dedicated to equality of opportunity and an ethos of inclusion. For more information, see our:
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About Our Team and University
Our Research Engagement Directorate (RED) facilitates advanced support systems for Heriot-Watt researchers from PGR to profesorial levels, ensuring alignment with our themes of Strategy 2025 and Strategy 2035.
Within this restructure, the Research Futures Hub and Graduate School are being launched to redefine researcher support and cross-divisional collaboration. You’ll embed in a dynamic team that drives both individual researcher thriving and overall research excellence.
The wider Heriot-Watt community thrives on diversity and collaborative curiosity. By joining, you’ll contribute to impactful solutions shaping not only research but also society at large. Here, our shared values revolve around inclusivity, well-being, and a holistic, work-life balance approach.
💡 Dream big. Work globally. Live abundantly. 🌍
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