So1 Youth And Diversity

A vacancy has arisen for a Wing Commander Any Profession to serve as SO1 Youth and Diversity at RAF Cranwell on Full Time Reserve Service (Limited Commitment) Terms and Conditions of Service (TCoS) with an initial proposed start date of 01 June 2026.

Position is subject to establishment change (under ECR 95978) to provide funding for a 01 June 2026 start date. Otherwise position will be available from 03 December 2026.

As a highly technical Service the RAF continues to recognise the importance of high-quality Youth STEM engagement. Raising awareness of the value of STEM subjects and their links to future career opportunities is essential for an RAF workforce that comprises more than 50% engineers and engineer technicians. Underpinning intent is to deliver a future talent pool with the right skills and motivation that is more reflective of the society we serve and that will ensure a sustainable RAF workforce. It is RAF policy that Youth STEM engagement is completely distinct from recruiting. The legitimate link between youth engagement and recruiting is the promotion of STEM skills across a wider population that would inevitably impact on careers awareness and opportunities. Consequently our intent is to inform inspire and enable young people to study STEM subjects through the delivery of a free curriculum mapped STEM engagement programme. Coupled with this is the promotion of careers awareness to help young people start to understand the breadth of opportunities available to them if they study STEM subjects including those in the RAF.

SO1 Youth STEM responsibilities include;

• Lead the RAF Youth STEM Programme engaging a minimum of 1.5M students each year.
• Owner of RAF Youth STEM Policy and Engagement STEM in the early years and Diversity and Inclusion in the Youth space. Issue and maintain the RAF Youth STEM Strategy.
• Develop and guide the Youth Engagement plan the RAF.
• Develop and deliver a pan-UK Youth STEM programme iaw Defence Youth STEM and RAF STEM Strategies.
• Develop and build long-term sustainable relationships with key external organisations including Professional Engineering Institutions academic and educational institutions charities industry and benchmarking and research organisations.
• direction and oversight for STEM engagement events with external agencies education and delivery partners.
• Manage the Youth STEM budget (circa 1.6M) to ensure appropriate allocation of funding in support of the RAF Youth STEM Strategy and engagement objectives.
• Undertake research to maintain currency of RAF position in STEM and Diversity spaces in UK society.
• Support improved participation by girls students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and ethnic minorities in STEM engagement and engineering focussed activity.
• Mentor and develop young people Yr 9-10 from schools cadets and other youth organisations who attend work placement initiatives with the RAF.
• Oversight of RAF STEM Ambassador engagement nationally. Support professional development of RAF STEM Ambassadors and Station STEM Teams.
• Raise the awareness of the RAF as an employer of women and ethnic minority engineers and technicians through the use of research STEM Resources and educational business relationships.

Other relevant administrative tasks commensurate with the grade as requested on an ad hoc basis