Two paid roles at the Society

This role is designed for a postgraduate student in French and Francophone Studies. As Conference Assistant, you will work closely with the Conference Officer to organise the Annual Conference of the Society for French Studies.

Work runs between September and early July, and will be busiest around the Call for Papers deadline (late September) and in the lead-up to the Annual Conference (late June). Generally speaking, you may expect to commit 3-4 hours a week to this role, which will involve the following tasks:

1. Regularly checking the conference inbox; responding to email queries; drafting announcement emails to be sent to conference delegates (communicating decisions on abstract/panel proposals; information about conference registration and fees; general reminders and updates);
2. Logging abstract and panel proposal submissions ahead of CfP deadline; organising abstracts and panel proposals for peer review; collating abstract and panel proposals into a coherent programme;
3. Frequent correspondence and meetings with the Conference Officer; completing specific administrative tasks delegated as required by the Conference Officer;
4. Overseeing preparations in the run-up to the Annual Conference (may include corresponding with delegates and/or the host university; preparing materials for printing of conference packs, programmes, name badges; general troubleshooting); helping out during the Annual Conference to ensure smooth running.

Please send all expressions of interest to the Conference Officer, Dr Kate Foster (at k.foster@qmul.ac.uk) by Friday 2nd August, including a short (2 pp) CV, and a brief statement outlining any relevant experience and why you would like the role (c. 250 words).

The society will be moving to a new membership management system as part of the transfer of its journals to Liverpool University Press in late 2024 / early 2025. The assistant’s role will be to help SFS members transfer across to the new system, which is likely to involve multiple mass-mailings using our existing spreadsheet, monitoring an email inbox, and following up with individuals to troubleshoot.

This freelance post is being offered at 2 hours per week from the start of September 2024 to the end of March 2025 (30 weeks).

To apply, please send an expression of interest detailing your relevant experience (250 words max) and CV (2 pages) to the Society's Membership Secretary, John McKeane (j.mckeane@reading.ac.uk), by Friday 2nd August. The person appointed will have high levels of organizational proficiency, familiarity with Microsoft Office, and will be used to interacting with academics.