We're looking to growing the DSxHE volunteer organising team and we want you to get involved!
We have 6 roles available (more details below):
Theme Coordination
Community Engagement & Events
Partnerships
Impact & Evaluation
Funding & Sustainability
Governance & Decision-making
All roles come in at least a pair, to make it more fun and provide some resilience when life sometimes gets in the way, as it does when you volunteer.
In becoming a DSxHE organiser you commit to:
Contribute on average 2-3 hours a week
Attend a monthly organisers' meeting
Be active on the DSxHE Slack (our mode of communication)
Keep your notes and documentation organised, up-to-date and clear on Notion (where we organise our work) so we can work as asynchronously as possible
We hope all organisers have a lot of fun, get to work with a global group of quite frankly spectacular people, learn lots about data science/health equity and community management, and truly feel a sense of ownership, autonomy and space for creativity, to lead DSxHE onto great things.
The following roles are available:
Theme coordination (2 roles)
Develop the “support offer” for Theme Leads
Oversee all the DSxHE themes to ensure they work effectively together and are greater than the sum of their parts
Be the point of contact for Theme Leads for any connecting, unblocking or support
Organise, coordinate and chair regular touch points between Theme Leads
Help source and onboard new themes/Theme Leads
Ensure Themes are linked up to other parts of DSxHE
Facilitate the interaction of the Themes with the community
Communicate and ‘monitor’ the community’s expectations from Themes
Community Engagement & Events (4 roles)
Design a regular and engaging programme of regular opportunities for the community to come together
Enlist volunteers to deliver these activities which offers flexible and specific roles/volunteer projects
Strive to support global virtual and in-person events (outside of Themes), both directly and via a group of Community Engagement & Event volunteers
Ensure the DSxHE Download events have speakers and are being promoted through all DSxHE channels
Work with the Community Manager to ensure DSxHE’s social media presence reflects the community’s tone of voice, brand and key messages, including the design and content of the monthly newsletter
Facilitate introductions between partners (e.g Conferences looking for DSxHE speakers) and members of the community.
Partnerships (2 roles)
Design and define how DSxHE could/should work with partners (we now have a template for 4 categories: core, theme, event, and strategic media partners)
Work out strategy for approaching potential partners in each category, and the ask(s) and what we can provide in each case
Define processes (including red lines, etc.) for working with partners, once established
Manage ‘day-to-day’ partner relationships
Reach out to new partners
Work with funding organisers re £ partners
Impact & Evaluation (2 roles)
Finalise the impact evaluation framework
Create the operating model for how impact evaluation and measurement happens
Provide quarterly updates to organisers and wider community on impact
Support (with data, logic and evidence) a reflective and open culture, which learns from mistakes and successes
For each DSxHE project/initiative, support volunteers with practical guidance on how to assess resource requirements, any potential liabilities for linking up, risk exposure of project and risk of failure (work with Sustainability volunteers)
Share our learning to relevant stakeholders
Coordinate the creation of an impact report
Recommend changes to impact evaluation & monitoring and work plans
Funding & Sustainability (2 roles)
Design a sustainability and funding model for DSxHE that is realistic and reflects the community’s values
For each DSxHE project/initiative, assess resource requirements, any potential liabilities for linking up, risk exposure of project and risk of failure (work with Impact volunteers)
Regularly look for funding opportunities, particularly grants, and enlist support from other volunteers to submit to funding opportunities
Work with funders (commercial, academic and philanthropic) to convert partnerships into funding opportunities)
Monitor the DSxHE accounts and ensure everything is tip top and water tight
Governance & Decision-making (2 roles)
Design the decision-making models for all levels of the community
Create an the advisory environment for the community (both public and professional)
Define the roles and responsibilities of different member types (e.g. organiser, theme lead, member, treasurer etc.)
Design an approach to managing risk and common asks e.g. expense sign-offs (with Impact and Funding volunteers)
Design and support in the implementation of appropriate reflection and learning processes within the community
Ensure the “health” of the community is maintained and measured (work with the Impact volunteer)
Be the go-to person for “red button” decisions
Design and decide how often organising volunteers meet, their role and how they work effectively together)
How to get involved
Email Brieuc (b.lehmann@ucl.ac.uk) and Maxine (maxine.mackintosh@gmail.com) expressing your interest by the 1st July 2022.
Please include in your email:
Which role(s) you are interested in
A few sentences as to why/what experience you have (no experience is needed, it just helps provide a bit more context!)
What country you are largely based out of (for thinking about time-zones and meetings)
Any more questions?
We'll be hosting an organisers' briefing meeting on 20th June at 18:15 BST to give an overview of being an organiser, what it means and also answer any of your questions. We recommend anyone attend this if they are interested in joining the DSxHE team. If you cannot make this time, never fear, it will be recorded and we are always happy to answer further questions.