Education Officer: Resources

Would you like to work for an organisation that does the following?

• Champions the value of geography in schools, universities, with professional geographers and the public and promotes the value of geography and geographical research to government
• Believes that everyone should have an opportunity to understand the world’s people, places and environments
• Develops knowledge, leadership and global awareness through support for geographical fieldwork and expeditions
• Has a high public profile, with a highly respected independent brand and is a leader among the learned and professional bodies
• Is supported by an active, loyal, and growing membership, currently totalling some 16,000 individual and corporate members

The position

The Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British Geographers) is seeking an experienced colleague to continue the successful production of our educational resources; develop the Society’s growing social media educational presence; and contribute to the general work of the Education and Outdoor Learning Division and wider Society. 

The Society supports geography teachers through the development of resources; provision of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) covering geographical subject knowledge, fieldwork and GIS; running of events and Geography Ambassador presentations to highlight geography’s contribution to further study and careers; annual competitions and awards and the provision of the DfE-supported Geography ITT Scholarship programme. 

The Education Officer: Resources will report to the Society’s Manager: Data Skills and Partnerships. This role is central to the Society’s work to connect expert knowledge created by research geographers in Higher Education with geography teachers and their classrooms. 

The Society’s popular and award-winning resources include online schemes of work, animations, videos, articles, infographics, podcasts, case studies, posters, curated report collections and research papers. The focus of our work is at KS3, GCSE and A Level, though the Society also provides some support for geography in the primary years.  

Resources are produced or commissioned by the Education Officer: Resources, sometimes in partnership with Higher Education Geography departments or recipients of the Society’s research grants. The Society also has educational partnerships with key stakeholders including the British Antarctic Survey, Arctic Office, Ordnance Survey, ERM and Esri UK.

The key responsibilities of the post will be to:

• Build knowledge partnerships across Higher Education and schools 
• Produce educational resources to support geography in the classroom
• Promote the materials and the Society’s wider support for schools, teachers and trainees
• Contribute to the wider work of the team and the Society

Details of the specific responsibilities are provided in the accompanying job description.

You will be joining an organisation that has a successful track record of effective educational engagement. You will need to be able to deliver a programme of high quality work, which meets deadlines and budgets. The Society has relationships - through our School Membership, Fellowship, Chartered Geographer (Teacher) and Young Geographer memberships - with ~1,000 secondary schools, and annually we provide CPD for ~1300 teachers and Ambassadors presentations to ~28,000 pupils. Our online resources receive 1M+ annual views.

The Society

The Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British Geographers) is the learned society and professional body for geography and geographers. It has charitable status.

Established in 1830 to promote 'the advancement of geographical science', today we are a dynamic world centre for geographical learning - supporting research, education, expeditions and fieldwork, as well as promoting and facilitating knowledge exchange, and public engagement and informed enjoyment of our world. It is one of the largest, and recognised as the most active scholarly geographical society in the world. Applicants are strongly recommended to familiarise themselves with the work of the Society at www.rgs.org

The Society is based in a listed building in its own grounds in Kensington opposite Hyde Park, and operates nine regional branches in the UK and two overseas. There are approximately 50 staff, together with part-time, temporary and volunteer staff.

Salary and application details

This is a full-time permanent appointment, subject to successful completion of a probationary period of four months. The post is based at the Society’s Headquarters in London. The post will be salaried up to ~£30,000 per annum, depending on the match of a successful candidate’s experience and qualifications against the full job description. Some out-of-hours working, particularly in the evenings at events, is required by prior arrangement. Annual holidays are 25 days plus the period over which the Society is closed between Christmas and the New Year and on Bank holidays. The Society offers a personal pension scheme to which it currently contributes 7.5% of gross salary. The Society aims to be an equal opportunities employer. 

To apply for the post of Education Officer: Resources, please email Simon Pinfield, Manager: Data Skills and Partnerships s.pinfield@rgs.org with a copy of your CV and covering letter explaining your suitability for the post and how you fulfil the selection criteria.

Application process timetable

Applications must be received by 5pm on Friday 16 August 2019. Interviews will be held at the Society on Tuesday 27 August 2019. We regret that we are unable to respond to all applications. We also regret that we can only notify shortlisted candidates. Applications received after the closing date and time will not be considered.