Science and Technology Facilities Council
Salary: £23,493 per annum
Contract Type: Fixed Term – 12 weeks
Hours: Full-time
Location:Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX
Closing date:8th March 2026
Interview: Virtually via Microsoft Teams in April 2026
Start date: June 2026
Are you looking for a summer placement that puts you right at the heart of a world leading science campus? This role offers a unique opportunity to help deliver high profile visits from senior government, industry leaders and key partners, giving you behind the scenes access to some of the UK’s most exciting scientific facilities. You’ll play a hands‑on role in shaping these engagements while building your confidence, organisational skills and insight into how national science strategy is developed and communicated.
Our Strategy, Planning and Communications (SPC) Directorate brings together the essential functions that are needed to help shape, communicate and monitor progress against STFC’s strategic plans. Our role is to enable the organisation to determine its strategic direction and translate this into a coherent set of plans, communicating these across the organisation.
In SPC, open communication and mutual support are encouraged. We are always looking to build positive change in our Directorate: our teams cultivate a safe environment and are ambitious in our actions to challenge inequities when we find them.
This placement will sit within the Partnerships and Insights (P&I) team within SPC. This team focuses on strategic partnership development for STFC, with key partners including those within HM Government, Higher Education Institutions, Public Sector Research Establishments, and the wider UKRI ecosystem. P&I gathers insight on behalf of STFC and ensures that this insight is co‑ordinated across the organisation, to maximise strategic opportunities. The placement student will be supported to work across the team and develop their skills in a range of environments and contexts with a primary focus on delivering on campus engagements with senior stakeholders.
Summer Placements at STFC
STFC’s incredibly diverse range of placements allow you to work alongside world leading engineers, scientists, and technicians in highly collaborative environments. Whichever you choose, you will become a critical member of the team in which you will be exposed to exciting projects and challenges from the start. You will also be supported every step of the way by our dedicated Early Careers Development Team.
Key Duties & Responsibilities
* Supporting the delivery of on‑campus engagements from senior stakeholders and STFC partner organisations including organising scheduling meetings, organising meeting rooms, catering for key strategic engagements and supporting the on‑the‑day engagement delivery.
* Supporting with the development of the P+I portal – the team’s repository of information and insights to support and develop our engagement with our strategic partners. This will include updating key staff members biographies and facility information, for use in strategic engagement briefings.
* Administrative support for members of the P+I team in delivering the wider programme of activities according to current priorities.
* Working collaboratively with other members of the P+I team and SPC, to include attending team and directorate meetings, shadowing members of staff, and observing strategic engagements.
Person Specification
The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).
In order to apply for the role we are looking for the following:
Essential:
* You are in full time education at university, and will be returning to university/your studies to complete your undergraduate degree once the summer placement has concluded (S)
* You have the right to live and work in the UK for the duration of the placement (S)
* Good communication skills, ability to create clear and concise written documents such as emails, reports and memos (S/I)
* Ability to be proactive and make informed decisions, knowing when to seek guidance from others (S/I)
* Able to work collaboratively; committed to working effectively with others towards a shared goal (S/I)
* Good planning, time management, organisational skills with an attention to detail (S/I)
* Strong digital literacy, with experience in using Word, Excel, Outlook and SharePoint (S/I)
* Willingness to lead on work that falls within scope, such as collating and preparing a range of materials (S/I)
Employee Benefits
We are offering a fixed term position with a whole host of benefits including:
* 30 days holiday pro rata
* Flexible working hours.
* Easily accessible public transport links/ free parking.
* Excellent learning and development opportunities.
Link to more benefits: https://stfccareers.co.uk/rewards-and-benefits/
As this job does not fulfil the UK Government minimum criterion for obtaining sponsored migrant worker status, we will be unable to apply for sponsorship for anyone not eligible to work in the UK. At interview, all shortlisted candidates are required to bring with them identification documents and original documents that prove they hold or can obtain the right to work in the UK.
You can check your eligibility here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y
Application Guidance
Please note that we can only accept a maximum of 2 applications per candidate.
Part of our application process involves submitting your CV and a cover letter. Your cover letter should address your suitability for the opportunity based how you meet each essential criteria stated in this advert.
Please note that we hold the right to close this vacancy early if a sufficient number of applications have been received.
We ask some of the biggest questions in the universe, to answer some of the biggest challenges in the world. Together, our scientists, technologists, engineers and business support team explore the unknown across every field you could think of. And they turn what they find into work that changes the world around us.
What could you achieve with the world‑leading facilities and experts of one of Europe's largest research organisations by your side? Join us and discover what's possible!
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