Head of Workshops, Institute of Making in London

About us

University College London (UCL)

UCL is a multi-disciplinary university with a population of over 18,000 staff and 51,000 students from 150 different countries. Degree programmes are provided in Arts and Humanities, Built Environment, Brain Sciences, Engineering Sciences, Education, Laws, Life Sciences, Mathematical & Physical Sciences, Medical Sciences, Population Health Sciences and Social and Historical Sciences.
For more information see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/about

The Institute of Making

The Institute of Making is a unique organisation that explores, celebrates, and investigates materials and processes through a wide range of activities. From large-scale public events to ground-breaking academic research projects, our diverse outputs and many audiences are united by a shared passion for materials and making. On a day-to-day basis, we bring together students and staff from across UCL to provide a creative home in which to collaborate, innovate, contemplate and experience making from a wide range of disciplines. At the heart of the Institute of Making are our open-access facilities, which include multi-material workshops and the Materials Library.

The Institute of Making opened in Bloomsbury in 2013 with a workshop offering a broad range of tools and machinery for inducted members to use. The Materials Library is an ever-expanding repository of some of the most extraordinary materials on earth, including shape memory alloys and self-healing materials, as well as some of the more ordinary materials that have also changed the world, like paper, beeswax, and copper. The Workshop and our Materials Library sit side-by-side, enabling users to experience first-hand the relationships between materials and tools that constitute processes of making. The space is also a stage for our expansive events programme and home to a multitude of research projects.

In the autumn of 2023, we opened a second Institute of Making space on the Olympic Park in Stratford. Ten times larger than the Institute of Making Bloomsbury, the Stratford site has its own Materials Library and a suite of workshop facilities, including a large open-plan studio and multi-materials workshop. There is also a number of specialist rooms offering ceramics, CNCing, electronics, 3D printing and plastic processing, laser cutters, metalwork, textiles, and an experimental kitchen.

The Institute of Making workshop team is responsible for establishing the safe and sustainable operation of the workshops and supporting our members in using the equipment and facilities across both the Bloomsbury and Stratford sites. The team’s main duties include supervising members’ access to the space, inducting new members, conducting tool training, advising members on design, materials, and processes, supporting the delivery of events, and contributing to the friendly, welcoming, imaginative, and open-minded atmosphere of the Institute of Making.

About the role

Please note, this role is open to UCL internal applicants only.

The post holder will oversee the portfolio of workshop-based activities across the entirety of the Institute of Making. They will lead a growing workshop team, including a Workshop Manager and several Workshop Technicians and Assistant Technicians, working across our Bloomsbury and Stratford sites. They will be responsible for the overall health and safety of the workshops in relation to equipment, staff, members, protocols, and training. They will also work closely with the Head of Events & Communications to ensure the safety of any visitor or participant in any workshop-based events.

The post-holder will be collaborating internally with other area leads, managing the workshop team, and overseeing communications with members and potential members, as well as other UCL departments such as Estates, to ensure the smooth running of the facility. They will also answer any workshop or make related queries from externals such as other workshops, universities, makers, schools, researchers, or businesses and develop partnerships where appropriate.

More generally, the Head of Workshops will be responsible for planning, implementing, and reviewing the strategy of the workshops and ensuring the overall alignment of the facilities with the work, ambitions, and ethos of the Institute of Making.

About you

The successful internal candidate will need to demonstrate the following criteria:

Provide strategic oversight of workshop activities, resources, staffing and budgets across both sites, ensuring operations remain responsive, effective and aligned with Institute priorities.

Build strong relationships across the Institute, UCL and external partners, representing the workshop team and supporting collaborative projects, events and member engagement activities.

Lead and support the workshop team, managing staffing, performance, training and resource allocation to ensure the effective delivery of services, projects and events.

Oversee member communications, inductions and training, while promoting an inclusive workshop culture and supporting the growth and development of the membership community.

Manage the day-to-day operation of both workshops, including administration, scheduling, maintenance, procurement and the effective use of facilities and resources.

Ensure a safe and compliant workshop environment through effective health and safety leadership, staff training, risk management and adherence to UCL policies and procedures.

Manage workshop budgets responsibly, identify funding opportunities and support income-generating activities that enhance workshop services and resources.

Monitor and report on workshop performance, membership activity and operational outcomes, contributing to the Institute's annual reporting processes.

Promote UCL policies, accessibility and inclusive practice, undertake required operational responsibilities, support occasional out-of-hours activities, and carry out other duties appropriate to the role.

See the attached job description and person specification for full details. Please also read the attached Candidate Guidance document. When completing your supporting statement, please tell us, using examples, how you meet the essential criteria listed in the job description.

This role meets the eligibility requirements for a skilled worker certificate of sponsorship or a global talent visa under UK Visas and Immigration legislation. Therefore, UCL welcomes applications from international applicants who require a visa.

This appointment is subject to UCL Terms and Conditions of Service for Research and Professional Services Staff. Please visit www.ucl.ac.uk/human-resources/conditions-service-research-teaching-and-professional-services-staff for more information.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer great benefits some of which are listed below:

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
• Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Immigration loan
• Relocation scheme for certain posts
• On-Site nursery
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce.

These include people from Black, Asian, and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.