SCIENCE MEDIA PRESS OFFICER

Reports to: Senior Manager (Science Media)

Location: Stratford, London-based with a maximum of 2 days working from home. Some regional travel required. A flexible working pattern can be discussed.

Salary: Circa £28,000 - £32,000 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent, full-time 35 hours per week

Closing date: Sunday 1st November 2020, 23:55 pm

Interviews: Date TBC - This will consist of 2 stages (competency-based interview including a writing test, and a follow-up). Interviews will take place virtually over video conferencing.

A bit about the role

We have fantastic opportunity to join our fast-paced and exciting press office as part of our Science Media team here at CRUK. We are looking for someone who has experience in a press office and a science background who can bring their own flair and creativity to the role.

As our new press officer, you will be writing press releases, helping with communications plans for media campaigns, pitching stories to journalists, and responding to media requests. You'll also be part of a busy 24-hr news desk, providing journalists with insight and comments on not only CRUK's work, but also on cancer research from around the world.

You'll develop creative ways to publicise the work of CRUK's Commercial Partnerships team, who last year brokered £20million in deals with industry to commercialise exciting new discoveries in the lab, getting them to people with cancer as quick as possible.

And you will be central to promoting CRUK's Clinical Drug Development team, who team up with academic, industry and biotechnology partners across the globe to test drugs in trials, bringing much needed new treatments to people with cancer.

A bit about the team

Our purpose at CRUK is one and the same - we want to speed up our progress towards eradicating cancer. The pioneering work we do around prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives, but we still have a long way to go.

You'll be in the Science Media team who sit within a wider News Team, which consists of the Health Media and Digital teams. Working together, we keep the UK and the world up to date on CRUK's amazing progress and plans, helping the charity's fundraising and philanthropy drives, as well as influencing government and other stakeholders.

What are some of the things you can you expect to be doing?

• Developing and delivering communication campaigns that showcase the latest scientific breakthroughs in cancer research.

• Working with our Commercial Partnerships team you will be promote the charity's multimillion-pound collaborations and developments in new discoveries in cancer research.

• You'll also work with the team from the Centre for Drug Development, who bring life-saving treatments to people with cancer.

• Contributing to the aims and objectives of the charity in line with organisation-wide priorities.

• Working with our funded scientists to turn their research into compelling news stories, features, opinion pieces and other forms of media content.

• Developing communications plans, which include maximising the opportunities of publicising the work of our commercial partnerships team.

• Building relationships with journalists, and develop and pitch stories to relevant media to deadline.

• Being part of a weekly news desk, dealing with reactive media enquiries in a timely way.

• Developing media briefs for leadership and brief spokespeople on media opportunities.

• Working on press conference opportunities with journalists to showcase the latest advances in research.

• Monitoring the performance of media campaigns and feed into media reports.

• Keep abreast of the media in general, spotting trends in changing media consumption, and building relationships with journalists and key opinion leaders.

• Working with colleagues in the Communications Department (Corporate, Consumer, Health, Science, Social, Digital, Regional, Internal Comms) and across the organisation on large-scale, multi-faceted communication campaigns, to maximise the impact of our work.

What skills are we looking for?

• Strong communication skills - written and oral

• Demonstrable experience explaining complex scientific information in a reader-friendly style that translates into media stories

• Experience of working in a press office and in science communication or similar role is essential

• Able to identify and solve problems with guidance

• Can work well under pressure and to deadline

• Uses initiative to prioritise day-to-day tasks and make decisions within established guidelines and policies

• Experience of working independently with minimum supervision to an agreed standard

• Confidence in an provide advice, guidance and support to select internal and external colleagues

• A good knowledge of the media landscape

• A good knowledge of the UK research landscape

• Ability to find creative ways to publicise research initiatives

• Understanding of digital and social media

Closing date: Sunday 1st November 2020, 23:55 pm

Head of Product

£50,000 - 62,000pa

London, and currently remote

The Head of Product is responsible for technology product management processes and practice, and works closely with Comic Relief’s (CR’s) leaders to discover and develop all user facing digital / technology products and the related systems within CR.

Head of Product leads a team of product and delivery managers who service the user needs of three core audiences; external consumers, funded partners and internal teams.

The Head of Product will be the CTO’s deputy and will also have a big part to play in enabling the Digital Transformation of Comic Relief.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Leadership of the Product team  - create a strong team with the confidence to embrace change and foster a culture of partnership, consistent delivery and operational excellence.
• Delivery - hands on product and programme management of cross-technology products such as data infrastructure and payment services.
• Stakeholder management – build strong relationships with all stakeholders and work with them to define and manage the Technology roadmap and initiatives to support overall organisational aims.
• Be the subject matter expert - in product management expand the team’s understanding of best practice, techniques and methodologies, as well as continuous improvement, learning through experimentation and user-centred product design
• Digital Transformation – play a key role in re-imagining Comic Relief’s business processes, culture and user experiences to meet the challenges of the evolving digital landscape and the continued evolution of the charity sector.
• To lead, manage and support line report(s) through regular one-to-one meetings and clear performance objectives and objectives and key results (OKRs).
• Be an ambassador for collaborative cross-functional working both within Technology and across the wider organisation.
• Contribute to the wider charity community through sharing technology and collaboration on shared issues.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES:

• Experience of leading a digital product management team in a challenging business environment, ideally in the not for profit sector
• Good knowledge of the contemporary digital landscape and, ideally, not-for-profit sector digital landscape and strategies
• Strong technical understanding, ability to communicate effectively with engineers.
• Ability to identify opportunity spaces and develop prototypes and proof-of-concepts to validate and progress new products.
• Able to apply systems thinking across organisational needs to simplify CR operations.
• Outstanding solid product management and delivery skills – the ability to engage, motivate and deliver organisational change to create a user-centric and evidence driven product management function.
• Curious and creative thinker – to create a learning organisation committed to continuous improvement and always striving to do things better.

To apply please visit our website via the link and apply online.

Role closes - 12:00pm, 28th Oct 2020 GMT (Europe/London)

Inclusivity at Comic Relief

We recognise diversity and inclusion are a source of strength in achieving our mission. We therefore welcome everyone, trusting what makes us different brings creativity, styles and experiences to help us collectively do our best work. That’s regardless of your gender, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, and cultural identity. We especially welcome those from under-represented groups in modern grant-making and fundraising. We are on a journey, but if you join our team you will be part of a community that is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment where we want you to:

• Be valued for being yourself
• Do your best work, and be supported to break down barriers so you can succeed
• Be heard, respected, and treated as an equal, whatever your level, experience or background
• Be part of a team that is committed to making this happen – with our colleagues, partners, and contributors.

Comic Relief is committed to preventing and protecting all people from harm in their interactions with us. We expect all those that act in our name to uphold our approach to doing no harm.

Are you looking for a strategic and progressive role within the non-for-profit sector that offers substantial scope to make an impact?

At Brooke, we are going through a very exciting digital change process across our Fundraising and Communication Directorate. You will be leading a brand new team that has been shaped around the audience engagement funnel with each team set up to play a crucial role in engaging audiences and supporters - from the point of awareness, to interest, to engagement through to supporter loyalty.

As a member of the Senior Leadership team in the Fundraising and Communications department, you will play a significant role in devising strategies with that bring this new vision, along with ambitious income, growth and engagement targets to life.

You will manage three skilled teams - First Engagement, Supporter Engagement & Development and Journey Optimisation - to deliver planned and tactical campaigns that reach new and existing audiences in a UK and internationally, through digital and traditional channels.

Your team will also be key to ensuring that that insights and optimisation are an integral part of delivering deeper engagement and achieving greater financial and non-financial impact, throughout the whole department.

Skills and Experience required 

We’re looking for a highly experienced marketeer or fundraiser, analytical thinker and people person, who can bring strategic leadership to develop our insights and data function, and to oversee the creation of first class and seamless supporter journeys, that drive greater impact for the organisation.

You may currently be operating in the charity or private sector but, regardless of background, you will bring an outstanding track record in consumer marketing and strategies for growth in audiences and income, with the ability to communicate and influence stakeholders and operate in a context that is both responding to opportunities and seeking to affect longer term change.

If you feel like this could be just the right challenge for you, we’d love to hear from you.

Interview date to be confirmed