Head of Press

**Description**:
**Overview of the role**:
UK Biobank is arguably the world’s most significant biomedical resource with biological samples and 15 years’ worth (and counting) of health-related data from 500,000 volunteers. It is used by more than 30,000 researchers from over 90 countries and has generated more than 7,000 publications.

As our Head of Press, you will be responsible for telling our stories through the media - whether about our latest world-leading project, the most recent discovery by researchers, or our views on the need for accessible data, exposing poor science, or the challenges around giving health-related feedback to participants.

This is an opportunity to create, shape and lead our press function. You will be forging strong media relationships, hosting national and international media, proactively pitching some of our most significant projects and reacting to relevant news stories. You will guide our spokespeople (including participants, researchers and staff) through the media experience and use evidence and data to earn quality coverage.

**Key Responsibilities**
- Initiate and oversee UK Biobank’s press function
- Forge strong relationships with key journalists from relevant UK and international outlets
- Find relevant storytelling opportunities from around the organisation and pitch them to print, broadcast and online outlets
- Build relationships with partner press offices at funder, journal and research institutions
- Keep abreast of relevant news, spotting and reacting to opportunities in a timely fashion
- Manage media enquiries and maintain up-to-date responses to likely questions
- Ensure spokespeople are trained and equipped with the skills and knowledge to handle both on
- and off-topic interview questions
- Develop a pool of participant and researcher interviewees and support them during any media work
- Oversee development of accompanying assets to maximise storytelling opportunities e.g. factsheets, imagery, infographics, press pack

**About you**:
**Essential**
- Evidence of having handled significant national and international science or health stories
- Desire to work on the media front line, following the wider stories and our place in them
- Demonstrable success in pitching news and feature stories on science or health topics
- Experience reacting to relevant news events or media enquiries and able to show how you succeeded in shaping the story
- Existing close working relationships with science and health reporters from a range of outlets
- Guided senior staff through live and pre-recorded broadcast interviews
Excellent all-round communication skills

**Desirable**
- Experience working with patients, research participants or in a healthcare setting and familiar with responsibilities around duty of care
- Success writing opinion pieces with senior members of the team
- Experience of handling crisis communications
- Evidence of creating or overseeing a communications project that has led to policy or behaviour change
- Background in science, health or research and ability to communicate complex science

Our passion for diversity and equality means creating a work environment for all employees that is welcoming, respectful, engaging, and enriched with opportunities for personal and professional development.

**What's on offer**:
We have a range of benefits here at UK Biobank, some of the highlights of those are:

- 26 days' annual leave (which increases with length of service) plus Bank Holidays
- Holiday buy scheme (buy up to 1 week of additional leave per year)
- A paid day off for your birthday (in addition to annual leave)
- Flexible (hybrid) working, including modern offices
- USS Pension Scheme which is a ‘hybrid’ defined benefit/defined contribution scheme (9.8% Employee Contribution, 21.6% Employer Contribution)
- Enhanced family leave (available from day 1 of employment)
- Cycle to work scheme
- Professional subscriptions reimbursement (where applicable)
- Onsite Canteen
- Subsidised lunches (£5 contribution per day when working on site) and refreshments
- Employee discounts portal
- 20% Discount at EE
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Eye-care scheme
- Annual flu vaccination
- Life Assurance cover

LI-Hybrid

**About UK Biobank**:
UK Biobank is a large-scale biomedical database and research resource containing genetic, lifestyle and health information from half a million UK participants.

UK Biobank’s database, which includes blood samples, heart and brain scans and genetic data of the 500,000 volunteer participants, is globally accessible to approved researchers who are undertaking health-related research that’s in the public interest.

UK Biobank recruited 500,000 people aged between 40-69 years in 2006-2010 from across the UK. With their consent, they provided detailed information about their lifestyle, physical measures and had blood, urine and saliva samples collected and stored for future analysis.