Role: Research Futures Community Coordinator

Grade and Salary: Grade 7 (£37,694 – £47,389)

FTE and working pattern: Full-time, 35 hours weekly based at Edinburgh Campus

Holiday Entitlement: 33 days annual leave plus 9 buildings closed days (and Christmas Eve when it falls on a weekday)

Purpose of Role

You will build a thriving, welcoming community for our Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs) and Early Career Researchers (ECRs) across our global campuses. We take an enhancement-led approach to experience, built on partnership and collaboration with our PGR and ECR community. This role supports the University’s ambition for an exceptional student experience as part of Strategy 2035, by strengthening belonging, access to support, and consistency across campuses.

You will create regular opportunities for people to connect, share experiences, and feel part of something bigger than their project. You will help deliver an integrated, holistic PGR/ECR experience by coordinating community activity and communications across Schools, services, and campuses.

Your key priorities are simple and important:

• Belonging and community, so researchers feel connected and supported.

• Equity of experience across campuses and Schools.

• Awareness and uptake of support, so people can find help quickly and use it well.

You will run a consistent programme of events and communications that supports the researcher journey from arrival to next steps. You will also collaborate with Marketing, Recruitment, Admissions and Communications on external-facing engagement for both recruitment and reputation. Sometimes you will help deliver external events. Sometimes you will enable them by bringing the right voices, stories, and insight.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

1. Researcher Community & Belonging

Plan and deliver a year-round programme of community activity for PGRs and ECRs, including events, networks, online spaces and campaigns.
Ensure clear and accessible routes into participation, including onboarding touchpoints and “what’s on / how to get involved” information.
Strengthen belonging, peer support and engagement through connection-focused initiatives (e.g. buddy schemes, peer groups, communities of practice).
Enable researchers to build networks, share experiences and develop meaningful connections across Schools, disciplines and campuses.
Identify barriers to engagement and implement practical solutions to improve participation, accessibility and reach.
Actively promote inclusive participation from underrepresented and marginalised groups, and design activity that addresses structural and cultural barriers (e.g. care experienced researchers, carers, disabled researchers, and international researchers)

2. Researcher Experience & Engagement

Map key stages of the researcher journey and coordinate targeted touch points that improve awareness, engagement and access to support.
Work with colleagues across the University to ensure a consistent, equitable, and accessible experience for researchers.
Coordinate activity that supports researchers through key transitions and milestones.
Align activity across Schools and services to reduce duplication and improve coordination of support.

3. Researcher Insight

Put in place accessible, low barrier mechanisms to gather researcher feedback (e.g. pulse surveys, focus groups, representative channels, including PRES where relevant).
Create effective ways to hear and act on the researcher voice, enabling co-design and co-creation of community activity, and clearly demonstrating how feedback has informed decisions and improvements.
Use feedback and data to inform priorities and improve researcher experience activity.
Report on engagement and impact using clear, practical measures.

4. Community Communications & External Engagement

Work with Marketing, Communications and Student Recruitment to promote researcher opportunities, activity and support.
Develop and deliver clear communications across appropriate channels (e.g. email, web, Teams, social).
Create and share content that platforms researcher voices and lived-experience (e.g. case studies, stories, testimonials).
Contribute to applicant-facing activity (e.g. webinars, events, Q&As) where needed.

Essential & Desirable Criteria

Essential

Proven experience building and sustaining networks (in higher education, research, training, membership, or similar settings).
Strong event and programme delivery skills, including planning, coordination, and follow-through.
Excellent communication skills: you write clearly, speak confidently, and tailor messages to different audiences.
A people-first mindset: you build trust, hold inclusive spaces and enable people to connect.
Good judgement and diplomacy, especially when working with multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
Practical digital skills, including common platforms (Microsoft 365 tools, online events tools, web/content updates).
Ability to use insight and data to improve activity and demonstrate impact.
A commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion, with experience applying inclusive approaches in practice.
Strong organisation skills: you manage deadlines, details, and multiple workstreams.
Ability to work collaboratively across teams to deliver joined-up solutions
Understanding of the PGR/ECR context, including common pressures, motivations, and development needs.

Desirable 

Experience working directly with PGRs, ECRs, or researcher development programmes.
Skills in facilitation (workshops, peer learning, community conversations).
Experience running ambassador/champion schemes or volunteer programmes.
Content skills: basic design, video/audio editing, or social media planning.
Experience with CRM or event platforms (e.g., Eventbrite or similar) and mailing lists.
Knowledge of research culture, research integrity, open research, or career development landscapes.
Confidence working with evaluation methods, such as simple logic models, outcome measures, or user journey mapping.
Experience supporting hybrid communities across multiple sites and time zones.

How to Apply

Applications can be submitted up to 23:55 (UK time) on the 2nd of August 2026.

Please submit via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment system (1) Cover letter describing your interest and suitability for the post; (2) Full CV.

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g., part-time working and job share options.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised, and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities.  Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.