Job Title: Building Manager (British Science Festival).

Duration: 16 - 20 September 2026, plus training days on Sunday 13 and Monday 14 September 2026.

Core Hours: Hours will be assigned between the core hours of 08:00-22:00 and will be confirmed on appointment. 

You will be allocated no less than 35 hours over the course of the festival and may be scheduled for up to 48 hours between 13 and 20 September 2026.

Some roles may involve minimal supervision and could require working late evenings or early mornings.

Location: Southampton 

Rate: £14.45 per hour

Download the candidate pack for this role as a pdf

The British Science Festival is Europe’s longest standing science festival, travelling to a new location in the United Kingdom each year. We programme of free events to the public over five days, bursting with exciting opportunities to get involved in. Will you be a part of it?

About the role

The British Science Association is recruiting Building Managers to work during the British Science Festival 2026. The Festival will be held in Southampton from 16-20 September 2026, hosted by University of Southampton. This role is based in Southampton. 

Building Managers act as the main point of contact between the Festival Assistants, the members of the public, and the BSA Operations Team. You will be responsible for a small team of Festival Assistants and ensuring that all necessary tasks are completed in order to secure a smooth running order of the Festival events in the building/venue you are allocated. 

You will be expected to deal with any issues that may arise within your venue during the Festival and work with other Building Managers across the campus to react to changing situations and delegate emerging tasks. You will also assist with evacuation procedures and access to your venue, tasks for which training will be provided.

This opportunity offers valuable experience in event and temporary staff management as well as developing leadership skills and gaining further insight into how a large event works behind the scenes.

Job description

Main duties​

• Acting as a point of contact and representative for Festival Assistants, members of the public and guest speakers

• Using initiative to solve problems as they arise with assistance from the BSA Operations Team and other Building Managers as required

• Liaising with the BSA Operations Team to escalate problems and complete tasks as required to ensure the smooth running of the Festival

• Managing Festival Assistants within your venue and ensuring that they complete all necessary tasks, including responsibility for assistants schedules

• Assisting Festival Assistants in ensuring events within your venue run smoothly

• Assisting with evacuation and access, in addition to fire-marshalling, as required by your venue (training provided)

About you

Person Specification ​

Essential​

• Confidence in leading a team and delegating tasks

• An ability to stay calm under pressure, showing initiative and solving problems

• Experience, tact and skill working with the public

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

• An ability to work flexibly

• Comfortable with responsibility

• Good level of spoken English ​

Desirable​

• Experience of volunteering at or attending previous science festivals

• Experience of managing temporary staff or volunteers

• Experience of event management

• Knowledge of Southampton
• Student at University of Southampton
• Based in Southampton

How to apply

If you are interested in applying, please apply via the BSA Recruitment Portal using the link below:

https://recruit.smb.co.uk/vacancy.aspx?id=5xuzRssgvyJxWaYQ

As part of the application, you will be asked to watch a short video about the Festival and the roles available. You will then answer a few questions about the video.

You will then be asked to fill in and upload our short application form. Please note you will not be asked to submit a CV or cover letter.

The closing date for applications is Tuesday 9 June 2026 at 10.00am.

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted after the closing date to arrange a short online interview before a final decision is made. Provisional interview dates are Monday 15 June to Friday 19 June 2026.

If you have further questions or would like this information in a different format, please contact: [email protected]

Disability Confident Scheme

As part of the British Science Association’s commitment to being a Disability Confident employer, all disabled* applicants who meet the ‘essential criteria’ for this vacancy will be offered an interview under our guaranteed interview scheme. ​

If you wish to apply under the guaranteed interview scheme, you will be asked to indicate this when you submit your application by selecting ‘yes’ in the relevant box when asked during the application process. Applicants do not need to state any further information or declare their disability at the application stage.​

Whether you are applying under the scheme or not, if you are successful in being shortlisted, we will ask candidates with disabilities or long-term health conditions to let us know if they need any adjustments during the recruitment process. If you have further questions or would like this information in a different format, please contact: [email protected] ​

*The Disability Confident scheme’s definition of disability is in line with the Equalities Act 2010: “a physical or mental condition which has a long-term and substantial effect on your daily life”. Further information about our Disability Confident commitments can be found on the Disability Confident page of our website. ​

Terms and conditions

Building Managers will be working at the British Science Festival in Southampton, during the Festival between 16 - 20 September 2026, plus training days on Sunday 13 and Monday 14 September, where they will receive full training in evacuation and access as required by their venue, as well as an introduction to all festival venues.

Please note that the responsibilities of this role are provisional and are subject to change. 

The assignment is offered at a salary of £14.45 per hour. You will be allocated at least 35 hours, with the possibility of up to 48 hours between 16-20 September, including 6 hours for training on 13-14 September. The roles may involve minimal supervision and could require working late evenings or early mornings.

Your core hours will be scheduled between 08:00-22:00 at venues around Southampton and the University of Southampton, for the five days of the festival itself (including at least a 30-minute unpaid break for every 6 hours of work) . Festival assistants can expect to work every day during the festival, with shift times shared in advance. The roles may involve minimal supervision and could require working late evenings or early mornings.

The training days on Sunday 13th September and Monday 14th September 2026 will be paid at the above rate and are compulsory. The BSA will reimburse reasonable travel costs incurred in attending the training day. The BSA will not be covering travel, accommodation, or subsistence costs for the duration of the Festival

A copy of our Privacy Notice is available on the vacancies page of our website. 

Our commitment to EDI

For the BSA’s vision to come to fruition, we need to make science relevant and welcoming for everyone. That’s why equality, diversity & inclusion (EDI) is central to our strategy and activities.  

Our target audiences are people who say they don't have an active relationship with science or say “science is not for me” - and who are underrepresented in science. This includes people from minoritised ethnic backgrounds, people in faith/religious communities, disabled people, women and non-binary people, and many others.

We work directly with our target audiences and with a wide range of partners, networks and influencers to improve the diversity and inclusion of the BSA and the wider UK science/research sector.