Demonstrator in Edinburgh

UE06: £34,610.00 - £39,906.00 Per Annum Pro Rata - with a range of £18.96 - £21.87 plus annual leave allowance.

CAHSS / School of History, Classics and Archaeology

Guaranteed hours: Paid Hourly

Fixed term: 1 or 2 years

The Opportunity:

Where curiosity becomes impact. We offer careers and roles in just about every area you can think of. Whether you’re looking to take the next step in your current specialism, explore a new challenge, or broaden your experience, we offer opportunities where you can flourish and make a real difference. Our people come from a wide range of backgrounds, each bringing their abilities and experiences to our organisation, helping us thrive and innovate together. The University of Edinburgh is a world-class organisation. We look for the best in the field across all disciplines and provide a working environment where academics can develop their careers and passion for their chosen subject area. We offer the full range of academic roles and have a genuine focus on our student’s performance and wellbeing.

We are looking for Guaranteed Hours Demonstrators to support Archaeology teaching through demonstration of the use of practical equipment, experiments, exercises and/or processes that usually form an element of postgraduate and some undergraduate courses and are in line with specific learning objectives, set by others. They will oversee students carrying out such exercises etc., and offer assistance as appropriate, including the provision of detailed explanation of how the activity relates to the wider area of study.

This post is primarily aimed at History, Classics and Archaeology PhD students or PhD students registered on a related programme from another school.

Your skills and attributes for success:

• Degree relevant to teaching area.
• Ability to assemble and use relevant lab/computer equipment relevant to the experiments, exercises and/or processes.
• Sufficient knowledge and skills to adequately explain clearly the item/issue being demonstrated matching that to the needs of the specific group.
• Provision of more detailed explanation of how the activity relates to the wider area of study/underlying theory or understanding of relevant principles and techniques along with the ability to guide students in their areas.

People have always been at the heart of our work. Our people are at the centre of the University community and everything we do. We value colleagues with drive, determination and a passion for what they do. We are a place where everyone is welcome and offer a range of policies and benefits designed to support you in building the right meaningful flexibility that works for you. A career with us has a range of other benefits that can be tailored to your lifestyle:

• Opportunities to develop new skills and broaden your experience
• Working within one of the world’s leading universities
• Contributing to the work and purpose of the University

How to apply:

Before submitting an application, applicants must discuss any proposed employment with their principal supervisor. Demonstrators who are currently under contract with HCA, with an end date of 31/08/2026 or later, can re-apply for work for 2026/2027 using the link below and filling out the ‘Availability Form’ (you do not need to apply via this advert):

Please include the following documents in your application:

• CVCover letter

Once your application has been checked we will send you a link to the availability form, please complete as soon as possible. This will help the school to match you with the appropriate Teaching Support positions as they become available. It is also an opportunity for you to let us know the courses and areas you would be interested in to further develop your teaching skills. Please make sure you clearly state the course title, the type of work you wish to undertake (tutor or demonstrator) and the number of hours you wish to be considered for.

HCA’s Tutor and Demonstrator pool is comprised of colleagues on a variety of contractual arrangements, including colleagues on open-ended contracts with the school and current PhD students with an existing contract. When considering the work available, the school is required to ensure that our employment obligations to these continuing demonstrators are met first and they will be considered first when offering and allocating hours. Once work has been provisionally allocated to our continuing demonstrators, we then consider new applications received from potential demonstrators. All allocations need to take into account any restrictions on working hours such as visa restrictions and the limit of an average of 9 hours per week across the academic year for full-time postgraduate research students. They will also take into consideration the preferences indicated on the Availability Form.

As a valued member of our team, you can expect:

• A competitive salary.
• An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, including generous annual leave entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, a wide range of staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, and flexible work options.

Championing equality, diversity, and inclusion:

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter, and we are also a Stonewall Proud Employer, actively promoting LGBTQ+ equality. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates.

Prior to any employment commencing with the University, you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages. The University is unable to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role. International applicants will therefore be unable to apply for and secure a Skilled Worker visa. They will only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

Key dates to note:

The closing date for applications is 8th June 2026. Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm UK time. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browser's local time zone. Interviews will be held shortly after the application closing date.