Senior Communications Officer (Science)
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About us
King's College London is amongst the top 40 universities in the world and one of England's oldest and most prestigious universities. King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. Focused on delivering positive change at home in London, across the UK and around the world, King's is building on its history of addressing the world's most urgent challenges head on to accelerate progress, make discoveries and pioneer innovation.
Our vision is to become the UK's leading university for future-facing science education and a global powerhouse in interdisciplinary research that accelerates scientific breakthroughs. With an ambitious vision, effective communications with key audiences, including with the media, is crucial.
As Senior Communications Officer (Science), you will develop and implement proactive communication packages that position King's College London nationally and internationally as a leader in science education and as a global powerhouse in cross-disciplinary scientific research, resulting in positive, engaging and impactful coverage across national, international, online, print and broadcast media.
About the role
As part of the multiple award-winning News and Brand PR team, the senior communications officer will lead on proactive science communications in the national and international media, and on King's digital channels. The appointed individual will have a strong history of communicating complex science research findings to a lay audience.
The role holder will have a demonstrable track record reporting on scientific research responsibly and accurately and has a multitude of tools in their arsenal including, but not limited to, press releases, media pitches, video, infographics and digital content for the national and international media, King's staff and students and the general public.
This is a fantastic opportunity to tell compelling scientific research stories to a lay audience. 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 translating research into a compelling story for video or digital channels and are able to create opportunities for engaging with the media beyond press releases.
The role holder will be a liaison point between journalists, science media and the University, building and maintaining contact lists. As part of the News and Brand PR team, they will also support the two Senior PR and Communications Managers to proactively promote key research and strategic initiatives across faculties and departments.
This is a full-time post (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract. The team follow a hybrid working model, with staff able to work remotely three days a week and the rest of the time spent in our central London office.
About you
To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:
Essential criteria
1. Experience of working with the media either in a science communications role or as a science journalist and with a solid contact list of national media journalists as well as a successful track record in delivering sustained media coverage both and home and internationally.
2. A track record of producing compelling content for digital channels including websites and social media.
3. Experience of managing communications issues and external reputation management.
4. Proven ability to research and identify communications opportunities and experience of developing communications strategies, with effective project management skills to implement them across digital and traditional media as appropriate
5. Excellent editorial skills and attention to detail, with the ability to engage different audiences.
6. An excellent news sense and the ability to successfully brief and pitch into journalists.
7. A collaborative attitude to work, supporting others and with the ability to build effective links and relationships with a range of senior stakeholders.
8. A proactive approach to work, knowing when to work independently and flexibly but also when best to work as part of a team. Enthusiastic self-starter with a positive and determined approach.
9. Experience of using evaluation tools to report on and improve activities.
10. Educated to degree level or equivalent experience.
11. Excellent standard of English.
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 next page after you click "Apply Now". This document will provide information on what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.
Further Information
We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.
We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.
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 advert. 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.
To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ' How we Recruit ' pages.
Interviews are due to be held two weeks after closing date.
We are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK