Student and Early Career Engagement Officer

Are you passionate about creating opportunities for the next generation of physicists? Join us to design innovative engagement programmes, empower student leaders, and make physics accessible and inspiring for all.

We are looking for a Student and Early Career Engagement Officer on a permanent basis to support us in our mission through the delivery of flagship events like PLANCKS and CAPS, building strong partnerships with physics societies at universities, and create experiences that help students see IOP as their professional home from day one.

What is it like working at the IOP?

The IOP is a friendly and ambitious organisation. Inclusion and diversity are central to our work and we have a work anywhere policy to make working at the IOP as flexible as possible. Looking after our colleagues and supporting them in life and work is our priority, ensuring they can live their best lives, with competitive salaries, professional development opportunities and generous benefits.

Our comprehensive benefits package including:

• An excellent pension scheme - (up to 12% company contribution)
• Private medical insurance, life assurance, dental insurance, health care cash plan (via salary sacrifice) eye care vouchers, annual flu vaccinations, long service awards, employee assistance programme
• Floating bank holidays (choose where to take your bank holidays throughout the year)
• Generous annual leave (25 days starting as a standard)
• Flexible working and much more

The Role

What will I be doing?

• Champion student engagement: Build strong relationships with university physics societies across the UK and ROI, supporting impactful activities aligned with IOP strategy.
• Lead engagement programmes: Deliver events like PLANCKS preliminaries, FUSE, and the Conference of Astronomy and Physics Students (CAPS), plus project-manage our inaugural Careers Fair in 2026.
• Empower ambassadors: Recruit and train campus ambassadors, ensuring coverage at 85% of target institutions.
• Drive recruitment and retention: Co-design campaigns that convert Associate Members to full Members and strengthen loyalty.
• Collaborate and innovate: Work with colleagues across Membership, Communications, EDI, and Education to deliver inclusive, future-focused engagement.

Projects you work on may include:

• Deliver flagship student events such as PLANCKS preliminaries, FUSE, and the Conference of Astronomy and Physics Students (CAPS).
• Project manage the inaugural IOP Careers Fair (2026) and future careers events, embedding EDI and accessibility standards.
• Develop toolkits and grant schemes for physics societies to innovate and increase participation.
• Lead ambassador and student panel programmes, ensuring strong campus presence and engagement.
• Strengthen partnerships with international student bodies (e.g., IAPS, EPS Young Minds) and UK/ROI societies.

Who will I work with?

• Member Community and Engagement Manager (your line manager).
• Colleagues across Membership & Inclusion, Communications, Marketing, and Education, Workforce & HE teams.
• Volunteer student ambassadors, student panel members, and physics society leaders.
• External partners including universities, professional bodies, and international networks.

Ideally, we hope you ll apply if your skills include:

You ll thrive in this role if you:

• Build strong relationships with students, apprentices, and volunteers
• Communicate clearly and persuasively across diverse audiences
• Deliver results in a fast-paced environment, balancing priorities with confidence
• Champion inclusivity and create experiences that make members feel valued

Essential Criteria

• Experience engaging students or early careers in outreach or membership contexts
• Proven ability to deliver events and programmes from planning to evaluation
• Skilled at building partnerships with universities and societies
• Working with volunteers or committees

Nice to have

• Experience in a membership organisation or charity

This is your chance to shape the future of physics engagement, develop leadership skills, and work on projects that make a real difference.

The Institute of Physics is an open and inclusive organisation that welcomes and celebrates diversity. We know that not every candidate fits into a neat little box, and that's okay! So, even if your experience looks a little different from what we ve identified but you believe you d bring passion, creativity, and a willingness to learn, we d love to learn more about you!

Application

Alongside your CV, please ensure you include a cover letter stating how you meet the person specification.

How will I be working?

The Institute of Physics is an inclusive employer and our people are at the heart of our approach to delivery. We have developed a innovative and exciting trust-based model of flexible working called How We Work. This empowers our staff to choose both individually and as a team how, when and where they work to deliver the goals of the organisation, acknowledging that there will be occasions where in-person meetings, collaborations and events will help generate greater impact. The How We Work initiative is based on the principles of collaboration, trust, flexibility and agility. You will be allocated a base office which can also be a chosen place of work.

Why should I want to work for the IOP?

The Institute of Physics (IOP) is the professional body and learned society for physics in the UK and Ireland - we seek to raise public awareness and understanding of physics and support the development of a diverse and inclusive physics community. As a charity, we re here to ensure that physics delivers on its exceptional potential to benefit society. There s never been a more exciting time to join the IOP - watch our film to find out more about our work.

Apply now and help us build a thriving physics community.

The IOP is committed to promoting a culture that is inclusive and welcoming to all individuals whilst celebrating diversity.

We recognise personal unique characteristics, should you require any reasonable adjustments to support you in your application and/or throughout the recruitment process please do not hesitate to reach out to us for support.

The Institute of Physics is an open and inclusive organisation that welcomes and celebrates diversity.