Expeditions Officer

Royal Geographical Society

Hours
35 hours per week

About the Organisation

Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) is a learned society and professional body for geography and geographers. It is also a charity and a membership organisation. The Society was founded in 1830 and has been one of the most active of the learned societies ever since. It was pivotal in establishing geography as a teaching and research discipline in British universities and continues to play a key role in geographical and environmental education.

The Society is a leading world centre for geographical learning, supporting education, teaching, research, professional practice and scientific expeditions, as well as promoting public understanding and enjoyment of geography and providing advice to policymakers. The Society has an international membership of approximately 16,000, 31 specialist research groups, and a programme of activities that extends far beyond its membership to broad engagement with more than three million people per year.

Over 200 lectures, conferences, and other events are organised each year, including a major four-day Annual Conference, a programme of popular lectures, professional development for geographers, and policy-related discussions. The Society also publishes, under contract, scholarly journals and the popular Geographical magazine. It empowers others through a programme of grant-giving in support of research, fieldwork, expeditions, and teaching.

The Society’s information resources include its historic Geographical collections of maps, images, books, manuscript archives, and artefacts. The Society offers professional accreditation to members through Chartered Geographer status. The Society is based in a listed building in its own grounds in Kensington opposite Hyde Park, and operates nine regional branches in the UK and two overseas. There are 57 permanent staff members, as well as temporary and volunteer staff.

About the role

Joining a specialised team at a time of growth, the Expeditions Officer will deploy first-hand exploratory field research experience in providing practical support for practitioners, helping reinforce the Society’s role as an international leader and convening power representing diverse forms of geographical exploration.

This operational role is central to evolving the Society's technical resources, strategic programmes, and flagship events, ensuring our support for both our grant recipients and the wider community of practitioners remains rigorous and impactful.

Responsibilities

Expedition Advisory Support:

• Participate in the provision of advice and support to Society grant recipients and other expedition teams and individuals across their project lifecycles.

Training, Events & Content:

• Work with colleagues and external trainers to develop and organise needs-based training opportunities, primarily for Society grant recipients and other supported individuals and teams, across a range of subjects.
• Support the development of multimedia resources to support Society members and the wider community of field practitioners in undertaking safe, ethical, impactful expeditions.

Governance & Reporting:

• Contribute data and updates for the bi-annual reporting to the Expeditions & Fieldwork
• Committee and quarterly workplan reporting to management and trustees.

Skills, Competencies, Experience & Attributes

Essential:

• Demonstrable experience leading successful exploratory field projects, preferably through overseas, collaborative, impact-driven ventures in remote and challenging contexts.
• Strong understanding of ethical and responsible practices in a field research context, including a working knowledge of relevant legal and good practice frameworks.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to convey advice and information to diverse audiences.
• Experience in the production of technical resources in a variety of media.
• Experience in the delivery of large-scale hybrid events.
• Ability to work collaboratively, effectively and flexibly as part of a small team.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple workstreams.
• Competent in the use of web content management systems (CMS), cloud-based collaboration platforms, and office productivity software.

Desirable:

• Experience of attending the RGS Explore Weekend in any capacity.
• Experience in advisory and helpdesk environments.
• Proven expertise in science, research, and policy communications with demonstrable impact.
• Authorship roles in the peer-reviewed publication of field research findings.
• Experience in producing educational materials for complex, technical subject matter.
• Experience in managing specialist volunteer networks, such as professional working groups
• Comfortable in public speaking and facilitation scenarios.

Required Qualifications

• Educated to Master's degree level or above in geography, earth or environmental sciences, or a related field, coupled with practical experience of field research

Compensation & Benefits

• 25 days annual leave per annum plus public bank holidays for full-time staff, pro rata to 10 days per annum.
• Society closure between Christmas and New Year, in addition to the basic annual leave allowance.
• Pension scheme - 3% employee, 7.5% employer.
• Probationary period of three months.
• Group Life Assurance at four times the basic annual salary.
• Corporate eye care vouchers.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Free 24-hour Employee Assistance helpline with available counselling support.
• Flexible working arrangements with home working possible.

Conditions of employment

• Applicants must have the right to work in the UK. The Society is unable to offer work visa sponsorships.

Working locations

• Kensington, London, United Kingdom

How to apply

• To apply, please email [email protected] with a copy of your CV and a covering letter explaining your suitability for the post and how you fulfil the selection criteria, along with the monitoring form.

Interviews

• We thank, in advance, all candidates for applying and regret we are unable to write separately to those who are not selected for an interview
• Interviews are planned to take place on 20th April 2026.

Policies

The Society aims to be an equal opportunities employer. We strongly encourage applicants from those traditionally underrepresented in the geographical discipline.

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