Location: Venue-based – Most of your time will be spent in our venue on Bristol Harbourside interacting directly with clients.
Department: Operations
Salary: £27,089 per annum, (£21,672 pro-rata)
Contract: Permanent
Working hours: Part-time, 30 hours a week (0.8 FTE)
About We The Curious
We The Curious is an educational charity and one of the UK's leading science centres.
We produce experiences that bring people together to play, get creative with science and explore different ideas.
We work with partners, locally and nationally, supporting people to be inquisitive, develop new skills and improve their wellbeing.
We are progressive, inquisitive, collaborative, playful and creative.
Our Why, What & How
Our vision
What if everyone is included, curious and inspired by science to build a better world together?
Our mission
To connect and empower people through sharing creative experiences which celebrate unknowns in science.
Our pledges
_Cultivate Curiosity
_Strive for Sustainable Futures
_Include Everyone
_Build Resilience
_Open Up Science
You can find out more about these in our Manifesto.
Our Values
_Inquisitive - Asking questions
_Progressive - Thinking about what's next
_Playful - Embracing the unexpected with a sense of fun
_Creative - Generating and testing new ideas
_Collaborative - Being inclusive, connecting and valuing
Our Strategic Priorities
/ SP1 - We will deliver collaborative, curiosity-led learning projects to reduce inequality and improve life chances.
/ SP2 - Our team and those we work with will reflect the diversity of our city, delivering a more inclusive experience.
/ SP3 -We commit to being a carbon net zero organisation by 2030 and will inspire audiences to take positive action for our planet
/ SP4 - To deliver our charitable mission, we will strengthen existing income sources and seek new opportunities to deliver long-term financial security.
/ SP5 - We will provide opportunities for people to explore new ideas, develop skills and influence scientific research.
About the role
This role combines the sales and administration of event bookings as well as the managing of live events.
You will be liaising with clients to help plan in the lead up to their booking, as well as supporting them on the day to deliver a successful event.
You will also handle incoming enquires for our event spaces, providing administration for bookings including responding to phone and email enquiries and contracting and invoicing confirmed events.
This is a busy, fast paced role and requires flexibility to pick up live event management hours both within and above your contracted hours.
About the team
With a wide range of venues and spaces including the Rosalind Franklin Room on the top floor with terraces overlooking the city, a Planetarium, two floors of exhibition spaces and Millennium Square, we can host a huge variety of events including conferences, drinks receptions, parties, weddings, festivals, educational talks, private shows and awards ceremonies.
The Venue Hire team manage all external event bookings in We The Curious working closely with other teams to ensure the smooth coordination and delivery of live events across the site.
Income from event bookings is one of the ways we raise income as a charity.
What will you do in this role?
_Delivering events with the flexibility to work early mornings, late evenings and weekends, taking responsibility for operations of the building outside of normal operating hours (managing fire evacuation, Health and Safety procedure, safeguarding and liaising with emergency services when required).
_Liaising with clients frequently in the lead up to their events to provide advice and to ensure that all requirements are understood and documented.
_Ensuring that event spaces are set-up, clean and tidy with an eye for detail with a hands-on approach to any physical tasks.
_Providing excellent customer service, empathising with client’s frustrations solving problems effectively and keeping calm under pressure.
_Collaborating and communicating effectively with other teams & suppliers to ensure that each event is smooth running from start to finish.
_Managing and co-ordinating event support staff during live events, set ups and breakdowns.
_Anticipate and support the operational needs of the department, ensuring that we have the resources available to deliver high quality events.
_Collate client feedback and debrief with the team to enhance the offer and understand guests needs.
_Providing excellent customer service when responding to venue hire enquiries and bookings ensuring that they are fielded professionally and efficiently.
_Conducting site tours of the venue to promote and sell the facilities and impress prospective clients.
_Providing accurate and thorough information to clients regarding venue hire at We The Curious, effectively identifying their needs and recommending inspiring options. Liaising with clients frequently in the lead up to their events to provide advice and to ensure that all requirements are understood and documented.
_Keeping accurate and up to date client records using our current event booking database.
_Issue contracts, invoices and other documents to ensure that the administration for each event is completed accurately and efficiently and ensure that deposits and payments are received in advance of all events and chasing any outstanding accounts.
General responsibilities
_Embody and demonstrate our values; Collaborative, Creative, Inquisitive, Playful, Progressive.
_Responsible for carefully following safeguarding policies and procedures and raising any concerns to manager/Designated Safeguarding Officer.
_Promote charity messaging across your area of work wherever possible, with support from the Development and Marketing teams.
_General responsibility for departmental compliance with GDPR.
_Support the rest of the Operations team with projects when required.
What we're looking for from you
_Experience of working in a fast-moving events environment.
_Experience in a client facing role and passionate about customer service.
_Experience of leading a team and passionate about getting the most out of people.
_You are highly organised and are able to multitask and prioritise in a busy role.
_You have excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills.
_You have the ability to absorb information and pick up systems confidently and quickly.
_Administration experience, ideally in a sales or events environment.
_Ability to think on your feet and provide solutions during live events.
Application process
Deadline for applications: Sunday 16th February 2025 at midnight.
Interview dates and location: Monday 10th or Tuesday 11th March 2025 at We The Curious
Start date: Week commencing 14th April 2025
Application process:
If you would like to apply, please complete the application form. It contains questions designed to assess your interest in and suitability for the role.
Please don't send in CVs or cover letters as we don't review them.
We appreciate interviews can be stressful, so we try to make them more of a conversation and a chance for you to tell us about how your skills and interests make you the right person for the role.
If you are invited for an interview, we'll send you the questions that you'll be asked beforehand so that you have time to prepare.
If you have any particular needs or requirements, please do let us know so that we can make the required adjustments.
If you would like to talk about the role or the application process, please email people@wethecurious.org
Support during the process
We The Curious is a Disability Confident Employer and we welcome applications from candidates who self-assess themselves as having a disability. We will guarantee an interview to applicants who advise that they have a disability and who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy. To help you, under the Equality Act 2010 a person is defined as having a disability if a) they have a physical or mental impairment, and b) the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
We want to work with you to ensure the recruitment process is accessible for you.
If you are disabled, neurodivergent, or if you have a long-term health condition, we’ll be happy to make reasonable adjustments to our processes for you.
You’ll have the opportunity to let us know about any adjustments you may need throughout the application and selection process. We’ll continue this conversation if you join us as a staff member, and we’ll work with you to make sure you have the adjustments you need to succeed in your role.
Examples of adjustments could include:
_providing alternative formats at every stage
_options to apply
_extra time for tasks
_providing some extra information about what to expect
_office orientation before an in-person interview.
Including everyone
We value the positive impact greater representation will have on our organisation, programmes and culture. It’s our goal to become an inclusive place to work and for our teams to better reflect our city and the people who visit us.
We welcome applications from people of all lived experiences and particularly those that are not well represented* in the science centre sector.
*By not well represented we mean people with lived experience including but not limited to:
_Afrcan and African-Caribbean heritage
_South Asian and East Asian heritage
_Global Majority
_Disabled
_Neurodivergent
_Visually Impaired
_Deaf community
_LGBTQIA+ and/or non-binary
_Working class background
_Didn’t go to university or first in your immediate family to attend University
Working with us
We value the people that work with us. Our staff have access to the following:
Wellbeing & support
_Flexible working
_Hybrid working (if suitable and stated for role)
_Cycle to work scheme
_Free yearly flu jabs and eye tests
_Paid sick leave for physical and mental health
_Mental Health First Aiders
_Confidential advice & counselling through the Employee Support Programme
Leave
_25 days in addition to bank holidays (all pro-rata).
_A day of extra holiday for every 5 years' service
_An amount of paid leave for emergency dependent care, domestic emergency leave and compassionate leave
New Parent Policy
We are proud to be a family friendly organisation, which is why we work to develop our people practices in line with that value. We have recently introduced a non-gendered approach to Maternity and Paternity, re-branded as our “New Parent Policy”. There are eligibility criteria and terms and conditions, but the key take away is that anyone who is due to become a new parent, regardless of their gender, can take 1 year off work, and we’ll pay your full salary for the first five months.
Facilities & discounts
_Free entry to the venue at any time with up to four guests, plus 12 additional entry tickets per calendar year to give away.
_20% off in the We The Curious café
_20% off in our shop
_Range of discounts with local businesses and free entry to other local attractions.
_Social events
_Free parking
_Secure cycle storage
Pension
_We offer a pension scheme with 5% company contributions.
Death in service benefit
_Four times your annual salary.
