Marketing and Communications Officer

The British Society for Immunology (BSI) is recruiting a Marketing & Communications Officer to deliver engaging communications to a variety of audiences to drive the reach and influence of the Society’s work.

This role is split equally between supporting activities of the BSI and those of our publishing portfolio. On the BSI side, you will support in the development and delivery our marketing and communications activity through a variety of channels. Activities can include promoting our membership offering to immunologists working in academia, industry and the clinical sector, promoting key activities such as our events or training offerings, and supporting initiatives to raise the importance and influence of immunology. On publishing, marketing activities will be focused on increasing submissions and readership of our official journals, Clinical & Experimental Immunology, Immunotherapy Advances and Discovery Immunology, in particular building the reputation of our newer Open Access journals.

Driven by our values and behaviours, we are a high-performing, ambitious and forward-thinking organisation, who value teamwork and collaboration. We encourage applications from individuals from all backgrounds who are inspired by our values and behaviours.

Scope and purpose of the role

The BSI is an influential and authoritative voice for immunology, a key scientific and health field that plays a central role in many of the most pressing global health challenges we face. As Marketing & Communications Officer, you get to work at the heart of this exciting discipline, using your knowledge and skills to deliver engaging communications to a variety of audiences to drive the reach and influence of the Society’s work.

This role is split equally between supporting activities of the BSI and those of our publishing portfolio. On the BSI side, you will be responsible for developing and delivering our marketing and communications activity through a variety of channels. Activities can include promoting our membership offering to immunologists working in academia, industry and the clinical sector, promoting key activities such as our events or training offerings, and supporting initiatives to raise the importance and influence of immunology. On publishing, you will be responsible for developing and delivering impactful marketing activities to increase submissions and readership of our official journals, Clinical & Experimental Immunology, Immunotherapy Advances and Discovery Immunology, in particular building the reputation of our newer Open Access journals.

This creative role is a fantastic opportunity for someone with excellent communication skills and a passion for science, who is looking to build their expertise and experience working on impactful marketing and communications projects in an innovative charity.

Responsibilities

BSI marketing and communications (50% of time)

Content planning, creation and distribution

·      Deliver engaging multi-channel marketing and communications plans and campaigns to raise the profile, reach and impact of the organisation and specific initiatives

·      Contribute to the BSI communications plan, with a focus on forward-planning, integrating all BSI activities and driving the strategic objectives of the Society

·      Write accurate, engaging and targeted copy for a range of audiences across a range of channels

·      Contribute to the BSI website including creating, reviewing and regularly updating website with timely and interesting content, in collaboration with key team members

·      Develop and execute tailored emails to segmented audiences for specific activities, including copywriting and design and supporting the delivery of e-newsletters

·      Contribute to the BSI social media channels by creating bespoke content including engaging copy and graphics/videos to build engagement and reach across a range of audiences and activities

·      Design and produce marketing and communications materials (e.g. leaflets and reports), both in house and working with agencies, ensuring consistent house style, branding and layout

Membership engagement and stakeholder communications

·      Develop and leverage an understanding of the BSI’s activities, its membership base and the wider learned society/charity sector

·      Plan and carry out day-to-day communications activity for the BSI membership offering and activities, with an emphasis on member engagement, retention and recruitment

Monitoring and evaluation

·      Develop evaluation frameworks for specific campaigns, recording and reporting on key analytics to internal and external stakeholders to demonstrate impact

·      Regularly monitor and review the performance of the Society’s communications activities, suggesting optimisations and testing strategies

·      Use insights from website, newsletter and social analytics and wider sector trends to suggest opportunities to optimise our digital communications and build audience engagement

Operational support

·      Support the production of the Society’s magazine, Immunology News, including contributing with content, and liaising with corporate members on advertisements and distribution and promotion

·      Contribute to internal and external meetings on knowledge of communications and BSI activities, providing accurate and timely notes when needed

Publishing marketing (50% of time)

·      Contribute to the planning and and implementation of a wide range of effective marketing communications campaigns in collaboration with the BSI’s publisher Oxford University Press (OUP), and the BSI Journals Manager

·      Work with the Marketing & Communications Manager, the Journals Manager and the Marketing Team at OUP to implement impactful marketing strategies for our journals to drive the editorial objectives

·      Run the social media accounts of the three BSI journals, leading on the development and delivery of engaging daily content to promote readership and authorship

·      Liaise with the Journals team, OUP and Editors to deliver planned campaigns and begin to identify cross-promotional activities across the journals

·      Contribute to the development and delivery of marketing collateral including writing copy, designing digital graphics, leaflets and presentations

·      Work with the Marketing and Communications Manager to align publishing activities and wider BSI activities via integrated communications

·      Monitor campaigns to input into evaluation of marketing strategies and specific campaign performance against key performance indicators

·      Contribute on behalf of the journals marketing team in meetings, creating and presenting reports

·      Keep up to date with latest trends, techniques and best practice in scientific journals marketing

Other responsibilities

·      Embed the principles of the BSI’s Diversity & Inclusion framework in our communications and in interactions with staff, members, stakeholders etc.

·      Be a proactive and hands-on member of a small communications team, contributing to other communications projects and liaising closely with colleagues across the team to ensure our activities are communicated in an accurate and engaging manner

·      Undertake any other reasonable duties which may arise occasionally, and which are commensurate with the general level of the post and as requested by the Marketing & Communications Manager

·      Occasional national travel and occasional weekend working

Qualifications

Education and experience

Essential

·      Graduate or postgraduate qualification in science or equivalent experience, ideally within the science/health fields

·      Proven experience of developing and delivering effective marketing and communications activities within a science and or clinical/health environment

·      Experience of working in the academic publishing sector, and liaising with publishers and editors

·      A good understanding of marketing and communications principles and how to apply them

·      Strong level of IT literacy including email marketing software, web and content management systems (CMS) and membership databases or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software

·      Experience of writing, editing and producing high-quality content for different channels including websites, reports, blogs and video, as well as creating engaging graphics for digital and print

Desirable

·      Understanding of the research landscape and experience of engaging with key stakeholders

·      Relevant experience in a similar role

·      Experience of using a range of programmes including Drupal 9, Google Analytics, InDesign, Canva and mail management software

Skills and capabilities

Essential

·      Excellent written communication skills, including copywriting, copyediting and proofreading, and a rigorous attention to detail

·      Excellent interpersonal skills, with ability to build relationships across organisation and with other stakeholders

·      Strong organisational skills, with ability to coordinate and prioritise a varied and complex workload

·      Ability to communicate complex ideas in an accessible and clear manner through a variety of formats

·      Ability to use initiative and judgement to anticipate potential issues and solve problems, and ability to work independently and as part of a team

·      Highly self-motivated, capable of working independently as well as collaboratively

·      Demonstrate positive and collaborative attitude across all aspects of work, with a proactive and solutions focused approach