Science Communications Officer at The Company of Biologists

We are currently recruiting for an exciting Science Communications role to enhance the community content on our journal websites and grow our social media presence in China through our WeChat channel.

We publish five important journals and host three community websites that serve the wider biological research community. All have effective marketing and a good social media presence. As the Science Communications Officer, your remit is to extend our community engagement, increase awareness of our charitable activities and build on our connections with early-career researchers.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated team player to support us in this initiative. You will be part of a dynamic and supportive marketing team and get involved in a wide variety of projects. Working together with experienced editorial teams, you will be responsible for accurate and engaging short-form content for the journal websites, generating WeChat content for our growing China-based audience, and writing stories about our grant recipients. There may also be opportunities to become involved with other activities, such as writing press releases or research highlights for our journals. We are open to new creative ideas and several interesting initiatives are on the horizon, including the Company’s centenary in 2025. There is also a close link to the Company’s community managers.

Core responsibilities include:
• engaging the scientific community through the journal websites and social media channels
• generating dynamic content ‘snippets’ to promote charitable activities, drawing in readers on the journal websites
• developing our WeChat channel to engage China-based researchers
• measuring usage and online behaviours to assess and guide strategies
• working with the marketing and editorial teams on other community engagement content such as video interviews and educational materials
• writing engaging stories about Company activities

The successful applicant will have:
• a science degree, ideally in a field relevant to one or more of our journals (research experience or a PhD is beneficial but not required)
• experience with scientific communications such as social media, marketing or outreach
• the ability to write accurate and engaging summaries for the non-specialist
• experience with a web content management system to create and publish web content
• experience with metrics (such as Google Analytics)
• excellent written and verbal communication skills
• confident networking abilities and strong interpersonal skills

Experience with audio-visual editing tools would be beneficial, but not required.

This is an exciting opportunity within a well-established publishing company. It is a permanent, full-time position and is based in The Company of Biologists’ attractive modern offices on the outskirts of Cambridge, UK, with the possibility of up to 50% remote working.

The Company of Biologists (biologists.com) exists to support biologists and inspire advances in biology. At the heart of what we do are our five specialist journals – Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open – two of them fully open access. All are edited by expert researchers in the field, and all articles are subjected to rigorous peer review. We take great pride in the experience of our editorial team and the quality of the work we publish. We believe that the profits from publishing the hard work of biologists should support scientific discovery and help develop future scientists. Our grants help support societies, meetings and individuals. Our workshops and meetings give the opportunity to network and collaborate. As the Company approaches its centenary in 2025, this is an exciting time to join us as we plan our celebrations.

The Company of Biologists is proud of its inclusive culture and we believe that everyone has a contribution to make. We want all our employees to feel included, valued and appreciated. We believe in equality of opportunity for all staff and encourage applications from all individuals regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,
religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, disability status and citizenship.

To apply, please email recruitment@biologists.com with your CV along with a covering letter that summarises your relevant experience (including, if possible, links to online activities and/or samples of science writing), why you are enthusiastic about this opportunity, and your current salary level. For any informal enquiries, please contact the
Marketing Manager, Jitske de Vries (jitske.devries@biologists.com).

The closing date for applications is 15 January 2024, but we will consider applications on a rolling basis so encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Interviews will take place in the second half of January.