Technical Knowledge & Policy Intern

About Us

The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is the leading professional qualifying body for chemical, biochemical and process engineers, with over 30,000 members in more than 100 countries. 

As a qualifying body, we are the only organisation to award Chartered Chemical Engineer and Professional Process Safety Engineer status, whose standards underpin competence frameworks for a wide range of employers. 
 
We are looking for a recent graduate to work on a 12-month fixed term placement as part of our Learned Society team. You will work closely with scientists and engineers, academics and industrialists, government and other institutions on a broad range of topics related to chemical and process engineering. You will work directly with our network of expert members to develop tools to disseminate knowledge and good practice both to members and non-members. 
 
You will have recently graduated in chemical engineering or another relevant science or engineering discipline. You will be well-organised, have excellent written and spoken communication skills and be able to work as part of a team. You will need a firm grasp of how chemical engineering can help solve the big challenges facing society and have a passion to really make a difference. 

The role is to support colleagues in the Learned Society directorate and member volunteers engaging with the learned society function through Special Interest Groups or projects. The role holder will work closely with engineers and scientists, academics and industrialists, government and other institutions on a broad range of topics related to chemical and process engineering. The role involves working directly with IChemE’s network of expert members to develop tools to disseminate knowledge and good practice both to members and non-members.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

Engaging with members to support volunteer effort [60%]

• Support IChemE’s Special Interest Groups and Communities of Practice in developing content for IChemE members and engaging new volunteers
• Support members in developing relevant resources for other members and external customers

Using members’ knowledge to influence others [20%]

• Build relationships, including with members from across IChemE’s international membership and with external partners and stakeholders including Government
• Assist the Learned Society team and members to develop clear and compelling policy positions
• Assist the Learned Society team in providing technical guidance for external enquiries and to
  support internal enquiries from colleagues.
• Support the review of our technical roadmap Chemical Engineering Matters

Supporting the Learned Society structure [20%]

• Support the work of the Learned Society Committee including the Priority Topics
• Work with members to deliver the aims of IChemE’s Strategy 2024
• Support the work to deliver the Learned Society programme of medals, prizes and opportunities including the Andrew Legacy and Ashok Kumar Fellowship
• Support the set up and delivery of work programmes for technical advisory groups (TAGs) on relevant topics including Digitalisation and Responsible Production

In addition to duties and responsibilities listed above, the employee may be required to perform other duties assigned by their line manager from time to time.

IChemE is an international membership organisation and activities often take place outside of normal working hours. The job holder must be willing to attend and participate in such activities and associated travel. Additionally, the job holder will be required to liaise with colleagues located in different time zones on an adhoc basis to meet the needs of the business.

The role has no budgetary or line management responsibilities and no targets for income generation or membership retention. The role is vital to supporting members that wish to engage with IChemE’s role as a learned society and will particularly in the early stages play a key role in discovering, cataloguing and preparing existing knowledge that can be shared with members as part of IChemE’s role as a learned society. It will also play a key role in supporting the work of the Learned Society Committee and helping members interface with the committee. Current focus includes support for the review and update of Chemical Engineering Matters and delivery of actions from the climate change action plans.

Person Specification:

Education/Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in chemical engineering or a closely related relevant discipline

Knowledge and experience:

• No previous professional experience required
• Broad knowledge of chemical engineering and the types of resources and information that would be of interest to chemical engineers
• Experience of using Microsoft Office applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint is essential, experience with Visio is desirable

Specific skills and personal attributes:

• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with an ability to write clearly and concisely, and ability to tailor communication for a wide variety of audiences
• Strong attention to detail, with an excellent level of accuracy
• Ability to plan and prioritise workloads, and meet exacting deadlines
• Excellent customer service skills, with ability to build relationships at all levels
• Good planning and organisational skills, with the ability to work unsupervised
• Self-starter, self-motivated, proactive, highly responsive with initiative and a positive can-do attitude
• Ability to work successfully as part of a team, as well as individually
• Ability to secure the confidence of senior members and provide authoritative advice on learned society matters
• Ability to perform basic data analysis

The full-time annual salary will be circa £19,000 per annum (depending on experience) plus benefits which includes an excellent pension scheme. Should the successful candidate be based in London then London Weighting will also be applied. 

Employee benefits

• competitive salaries
• competitive annual holiday
• health cash plan
• BUPA health screening
• health insurance
• employee assistance programme
• company contributory pension scheme (includes life assurance)
• sports and social club
• private health scheme for senior staff
• 37.5 hour week Monday to Friday
• free car parking for staff at our Rugby office
• paid monthly with salaries reviewed annually

Work Pattern and any other specifics:

Full Time - 37.5 Hours per week (Monday – Friday)

This position is based in the UK and will be a hybrid role with the expectation of it being part office based (London and Rugby) and part home working. The successful candidate will be required to establish a London presence working from our London office and working collaboratively with stakeholders in that area. Some business travel will be required and there will also be a requirement to regularly attend our Rugby office for training and team meetings etc.

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