Senior Communications Officer

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About us

We're looking for a Senior Communications Officer (Science) to support the award-winning External Communications team here at King's College London.

About the role

The role holder will work closely with the Senior PR and Communications Manager (Health) to lead on proactive communication packages that position King's College London globally as a leader in science education and a powerhouse in cross-disciplinary scientific research, resulting in positive and impactful stories, digital content and coverage across online, print and broadcast media.

This is a fantastic opportunity to tell important scientific research stories in an engaging and compelling way. The role holder will be a confident self-starter with curiosity for scientific research and possess excellent storytelling and writing skills. They'll have experience in newsgathering and be able to translate research into a compelling story for media and digital channels, and be able to create opportunities for engaging with the media beyond press releases.

Key responsibilities:

• To work alongside the Senior PR and Communications Manager (Health) to build King's College London reputation in science research, discovery and education.
• To identify and generate news, feature stories and social media content about science research across King's that spotlight interdisciplinary and natural sciences expertise, and create a range of media opportunities including and beyond press releases.
• To create engaging stories and content across website and social platforms, using video, graphics and imagery.
• To create and implement strategic PR campaigns about science discovery that cut across internal and external communication channels and which includes the regular placement of positive news stories in prominent media outlets.
• Be a key liaison point between journalists, the media and the University, maintaining contact lists and ensuring that relationships are enhanced and maintained.
• To support the Senior PR and Communications Manager (Health) to proactively promote key research and strategic initiatives across faculties and departments.
• To utilise all the University's external and internal communications channels, including social media, to amplify and enhance positive news stories in a creative and engaging way that will resonate with key audiences including students and staff.
• Work closely with the King's Interdisciplinary Science working group and communications network across the University to have a keen sense of what content is being produced and when, so that campaigns and media outreach can be planned accordingly.
• To monitor the University's external PR performance, comparison with competitors and keep abreast of the latest trends to ensure best practice.
• Ensure all communications uphold King's brand, tone and messaging standards.

This is a full time (35 hours per week) post, offered on a fixed term contract until 23rd July 2027. This is a hybrid role, whereby you will be required to work 2 days in the office and work from home the rest of the week.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. Strong understanding of how to leverage social media and other digital platforms to amplify PR efforts and enhance global brand reach.

2. Excellent track record of generating and executing successful, proactive PR campaigns that deliver measurable, positive reputation outcomes for an organisation.

3. A collaborative attitude to work, supporting others and with the ability to build effective links and relationships with a range of senior stakeholders.

4. Experience using evaluation tools to measure impact, including the use of insights, analytics and emerging trends to inform content and improve performance.

5. Experience of managing communications issues and external reputation management.

6. Excellent stakeholder-management skills, with a collaborative approach to working across teams, senior stakeholders and external partners.

7. Excellent news sense and the ability to craft, brief and pitch compelling stories to journalists and influencers.

Desirable criteria

1. Knowledge and experience of working in the higher education sector.

2. A professional qualification in journalism, communications or PR.

3. A degree in a science discipline, or certificate in science communications.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

At King's, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King's guidance.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.

We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ' How we Recruit ' pages.