Senior Inclusion Officer (STEM Partnerships)

The Royal Society's mission is to promote excellence in science and the application of science for the benefit of humanity. A diverse and inclusive scientific workforce is central to the achievement of the Society's mission - bringing together the widest range of talents, backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences to maximise scientific innovation and creativity. The Royal Society recognises the importance of diversity and inclusion in driving scientific excellence, innovation and societal impact. Our EDI strategy is designed to ensure that all individuals regardless of their background, identity or circumstances have equitable opportunities to thrive.

The Diversity & Inclusion Team supports the Royal Society to embed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) into all its activities, produce data and insight to understand impact and progress on DEI and engage with internal and external stakeholders to promote awareness and understanding of DEI in STEM. The team works closely with the Royal Society Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which oversees a programme of activities designed to achieve these objectives. This role has been created to ensure that the Society does all it can to embed DEI into its engagement activities, to develop external partnerships that support engagement with diverse or under-represented groups in STEM and to develop projects or research to reduce barriers to these groups.

The main purpose of the role is to:

• Build knowledge, awareness and understanding of DEI with the Society's external engagement teams to ensure DEI is a golden thread throughout their activities.
• Promote DEI to our STEM communities to ensure the Royal Society is seen as a champion of inclusion and to encourage engagement from people from diverse or underrepresented groups.
• Improve knowledge and awareness of DEI across STEM more widely.

The role requires a thorough understanding of current issues relating to DEI in the STEM environment, proven experience of building successful networks and partnerships both internally and externally and experience of communicating and influencing different and diverse audiences. The successful candidate will be able to recognise, understand and respond to the needs of both internal and external stakeholders and bring balance to competing priorities. They will be a strong advocate for inclusion with a background in stakeholder engagement and project management, an excellent team player with strong communication and influencing skills and a deep understanding of systemic barriers within STEM fields.

Please note that we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Reports to: Head of Diversity and Inclusion

Line manages: Inclusion Officer (Partnerships)

Pay band: D

Salary: £40,000 to £47,000 per annum

Contract type: Permanent

Hours: 35 hours per week

Location: Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG plus the option for some hybrid remote working

Closing date for applications: 17 April 2026 at 23:59pm

Interviews will be held: 6 May 2026

Key Responsibilities And Tasks:

• To work closely with the Society's external engagement teams (schools, public and industry engagement, International, Policy and Public Affairs) to build engagement with DEI and ensure their activities are inclusive and accessible.
• To develop and implement stakeholder engagement strategies and frameworks to broaden support for DEI initiatives and build networks that identify, cultivate, and support DEI initiatives across STEM ecosystems.
• To develop evidence-based research and projects to address identified barriers to STEM and to improve knowledge and awareness of EDI across STEM more widely.
• To support sponsorship for STEM partners and projects, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities, to negotiate partnership agreements, MOUs, and collaborative programs and to track progress towards agreed goals and outcomes.
• To facilitate cross-sector collaborations between academia, industry, government, and community organisations.
• To create clear, compelling communication materials and reports for stakeholders, including reports, presentations, newsletters, and briefing documents.
• To work closely with the Senior Inclusion Officer (Research Leadership) to develop joint DEI initiatives, projects and to promote organisational development on DEI, engaging internal stakeholders to ensure cohesion across our DEI goals and program priorities.
• To act as a subject matter expert in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, staying up to date with best practice and wider research and ensure that this knowledge is shared and applied to maximum effect within the Society and the STEM community.
• To manage the D&I Partnerships officer, ensuring that they are supported to thrive in their roles and have the development they need to succeed.
• To manage aspects of the D&I budget relating to STEM engagement and partnerships.
• To represent the organisation at meetings, interest groups and events, including giving presentations and providing briefings as required.

Qualifications/Knowledge/Skills:

• A good standard of education - Essential
• Evidence of continuing professional development in DEI and willingness to stay informed about D&I best practices and social justice issues - Essential
• Deep understanding and knowledge of DEI legislation, good practice and principles, with the ability to apply them in practice - Essential
• Excellent communication and influencing skills with the ability to negotiate strong partnerships with mutually agreed outcomes - Essential
• Strong project management and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines to time and anticipate future demands - Essential
• Strong evidence of addressing diversity, equity and inclusion challenges within the STEM education, policy or research landscapes - Essential
• Developing impactful positive and collaborative working relationships with external stakeholders at all levels, promoting trust, respect, and effective communication - Essential
• Experience of creating and managing strategic partnerships that deliver measurable outcomes and mutual value - Essential
• Building trusted networks internally and externally to support engagement with DEI initiatives to enable long-term buy-in and culture change - Essential
• Developing data collection and evaluation activities to measure partnership progress and impact - Essential
• Recruitment and line management activities, providing support to other colleagues and managing staff development - Desirable
• Able to be flexible about working hours, including working evenings and weekends, and to travel on occasion - Desirable

Competencies:

• At Band D you will hold a role as a Specialist or Professional in your field or be working towards that.
• Decision-making - You organise and undertake a range of specialist tasks. You take action, make decisions or recommendations within established policies or guidelines which are standard for your area of work. You seek guidance on complex or unfamiliar matters.
• Thinking challenges - You undertake the analysis needed to find the best solution to unusual situations or issues where the answer is not available through existing policies, standards or procedures.
• Communicating - You share and present information or ideas to others, tailoring your language, style and media used to meet the needs of varied situations and responds to specialist queries.
• Developing people - You are likely to have direct line responsibility for one or more staff members in a narrow field of work.
• Managing Resources - You are likely to have delegated responsibility for allocating resources, for reconciling financial information or for monitoring and recording use of a delegated budget.
• Applying knowledge & expertise - You apply your specialist or technical skills in a specific area of expertise that requires theoretical understanding gained through vocational or professional qualification, practical knowledge and skill, or equivalent level of expertise obtained through relevant specialist experience.

The competency levels for a pay Band D role are described below.

• Self-management - Works unsupervised and can motivate self; produces results under pressure; can manage in stressful situations; pushes for the best results for self and team.
• Working With Others - Contributes ideas and identifies opportunities to work with others both within the team and across the organisation.
• Resource management - Makes the best of internal/external resources and coordinates well with external partners to best meet the needs of the Society.
• Critical thinking - Determines and clarifies the requirements of any situation; checks information for accuracy and raises concerns if information is inaccurate.
• Adaptability - Overcomes obstacles and is not deterred by setbacks; reacts proactively to new challenges and works in a flexible manner to produce solutions.
• Managing people and relationships - Delegates effectively, setting clear expectations and authority; monitors results and feedback to team on a regular basis.