There are several opportunities to take on leadership roles in our Council. No previous experience is required, and anyone with the enthusiasm and ideas to continue to improve the APECS systems is encouraged to apply. We will mentor and train you with all the information and skills you need to fulfill your role in Council leadership. The roles and a short description about them are:
Council Chairs: Council Chair is a shared role between 3 Co-Chairs. You will act as a communication point between the Council and the ExCom and help to encourage new ideas and initiatives. This is a great way to get to know and interact with all the APECS Council members. This role also provides an excellent opportunity to contribute to the day-to-day running of APECS. You will work with your Co-Chairs to organise and chair council meetings (across GMT+ and GMT- time zones) and a Project Group Leader meeting every 2 months. You will also run reporting twice per year for Individual Council Members, including updating the reporting form, summarising reports and answering/disseminating feedback as appropriate. You will develop a range of transferable skills including chairing meetings, summarising minutes and reports, and communication skills.
National Committee Coordinators: Three National Committee (NC) Coordinators serve as the point of contact for NC representatives and supervise their role on the Council. APECS is a large and growing network, and a key task for the NC Coordinators is to act as a communication point between the NCs and APECS Leadership, to keep track of activities and events, and to maintain this network. The NC Coordinators will arrange individual calls with each NC at least once a year, as well as an overall NC calls twice a year. During overall NC calls, the representatives of all NCs can exchange project ideas and discuss relevant topics. You will oversee the drafting and renewal of partnership agreements between NCs and APECS international and will help new NCs to establish themselves. This role provides an excellent opportunity to network and become involved in the wider APECS community, in addition to developing organisational and communication skills.
Social Media Coordinators: APECS is very active in different Social Media (SM) platforms to communicate news and to interact with the international polar community promoting early career researcher opportunities and activities. The SM coordinator’s role is shared between 2 - 3 people who update regularly the APECS SM platforms and work closely with the APECS Secretariat and the APECS leadership to keep our members informed. This role requires engaged, organized and trustworthy people since you will have access to APECS SM accounts and some posting of news will be at your discretion. Also, your input into creative ways to engage our public, or in the use of other novel or alternative communication platforms will be highly appreciated. You will gain a deeper understanding of the daily management of APECS and of the multiple activities that this Association engages in with partner agencies. Candidates applying to this role should be familiar with the use of popular SM.
Project Group Leaders: Council members are involved in a wide variety of projects over the Council Term. Taking on the role of Project Group Leader is an excellent opportunity to learn project management skills such as organising and chairing project group meetings, developing and managing the project timeline, and coordination with members across various time zones. Note that as the project group leader, your responsibility is to manage the project, not deliver it single-handedly, and you need not have particular experience in the subject matter of a given project group to take on its lead. No previous experience in leading a project group is needed as you will be supported in this role with comprehensive guidance documents, an ExCom contact who will support you throughout the project, and regular Project Group Leader calls throughout the Council term.
All Council Chairs, NC Coordinators, Social Media Coordinators are also added to the mailing list of the Executive Committee (ExCom), are invited to ExCom meetings, and to contribute to ExCom discussions. Please indicate in your Council application if you are interested in taking on one of these roles.
