Job Description

Every 6 minutes someone learns that they are losing their sight. Every five hours, a baby is born with sight problems. In these moments, two profound questions emerge:

• Can this be stopped?

• How do I (or my child) live this life?

The merger of Fight for Sight and Vision Foundation on 1st April 2023 will enable us to address both questions. By combining our strengths and expertise we’ll be the only significant national funder with the efficiency, capability, and capacity to increase investment in medical research and social improvement. Together we can mitigate both the prevalence and impact of sight loss.

We have a clear ambition, led by our CEO, Keith Valentine, who has valuable lived experience of sight loss. We’ve secured well-respected and highly engaged ambassadors and patrons, such as Sir John Major and Marsha De Cordova MP.  We also benefit from world renowned researchers on our Research Grants Assessment Panel.

We are now looking for experienced, committed, and creative individuals to join our dynamic team as we devise and launch new five-year organisational and research strategies. You’ll have a chance to contribute to the delivery of these strategies and lead on plans for disseminating them.

Sarah Kidner, Head of Communications and External Affairs

JOB DESCRIPTION AND PERSON SPECIFICATION

As Research Communications Lead, you will use your knowledge of the medical research field and science communication experience and expertise to create a suite of research impact communications and stories.

In addition, you will build the base for the charity to confidently talk and communicate the difference that our funded research makes to the lives of people affected by sight loss. These stories should substantiate our position as leaders in funding ground-breaking and world-class research and be used in any instance where we need to demonstrate our research impact, from fundraising materials to our brand marketing.

Working with teams across the organisation, you will act as an advisor, keeping teams up to date on the cutting-edge research we’re funding and what it could mean for people affected by sight loss conditions as well as building relationships with the research community and our partners.

 

Responsible to

Head of Communications and External Affairs with dotted line reporting to the Acting Head of Research. The role sits between the Marketing and Communications and Scientific Research teams and works closely with the Fundraising Directorate.

Direct reports

None

Working hours and contract

This is a 6 month fixed-term contract, 21 hours (3 days) a week.

Salary

£35,000 - £40,000 (pro-rated to £21,000 - £24,000) dependent on experience

Location

Aldgate E1 and hybrid working. Minimum two days in the office and external meetings and events as required

Start date: As soon as possible

Role Responsibilities:

Strategic Research Communications

· Support the Head of Communications and External Affairs and Research Grants team, to develop and deliver a Communications Strategy that amplifies our reach and demonstrates our impact

· Work with the communications and fundraising teams to plan, prioritise and schedule research content

· You will liaise with external research partners and colleagues, to ensure relevant information is available for use when communicating with prospects and donors.

· You will develop an in-depth understanding of the research portfolio, working with the Scientific Research Grants team, funded researchers and our funding partners.

· Communicate the vision and mission of the charity's new brand strategy to the research community with a focus on impact

Content creation

· Produce high quality content, including case studies, e-newsletters, web and other copy focused on the charity's funded research. This could include writing plain language summaries of the research we fund, describing recently published research and working with researchers to create video content to help our audience understand more about their work and to demonstrate the impact of our funding.

· Where appropriate respond to media stories that resonate with the charities vision, mission and values specifically relating to research

· Promote the impact of our funding on the career progression of academics, clinicians, and clinician scientists working in eye health

Cross-team and collaborative working

· Build a strong and collaborative relationship with the research team to support cross functional working including identifying stories that demonstrate the impact of our  funding

· Build relationships with funded researchers and future funded researchers to engage them in communicating our impact

· Build relationships with the scientific communications community specifically trade and scientific press to inform them of our impact

· Promote grant funding opportunities to the scientific community encouraging quality applications from researchers across multiple disciplines

· Liaise with researchers as the key point of contact for fundraising and communications activities including PR and media opportunities, conferences and events (including webinars)

Representing the charity

· Provide authoritative and clear expert briefings to researchers and clinician researchers for media opportunities

· Support colleagues who are representing the charity at national and international conferences and events. Represent the charity at national and international events, including presenting the impact of our work.

· Be an effective ambassador for the charity at any activity you attend

· Leading the updating and development of content for the research pages of the  website, ensuring that complex topics are communicated in an accessible and interesting format for people affected by eye conditions and other stakeholders.

· Develop and maintain a network of positive relationships with national, regional and academic/trade media contacts.

 

Person specification:

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential 

· A scientific or biomedical degree or equivalent in a science-based subject

· Demonstrable experience or passion for scientific research

· Excellent written and oral communication skills

· Ability to communication complex information simply and with passion and to flex tone of voice for the appropriate audience and tone of voice in keeping with our emerging brand identity and values and who can communicate how research contributes to vision and mission

· Excellent interpersonal and networking skills and stakeholder management

· The ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team (including grants, research, communications, fundraising and others)

· Evidence of a diplomatic and confident approach to handling stakeholders through negotiation, conflict resolution and presentation capabilities

· Good IT skills with proficiency in MS Office applications

· Demonstrable experience of working in communications, media communications or public affairs

· Meeting deadlines in a busy  environment

· Producing high quality content for publications, website and social media

· A flair for finding a good angle, producing sharp headlines and for transforming information into a potential news story

· Proven ability to write tight, coherent well-argued and fluent editorial copy to an excellent standard

Desirable

· Experience of working in the charity sector or within a medical research charity

· Post graduate qualification in a relevant science discipline or equivalent qualification

· A degree or qualification with a science communication component and/or experience working in science journalism

· A clear understanding of a range of research methodologies, including basic biomedical research, clinical trials and qualitative research

Personal qualities:

· An understanding of and commitment to the sight loss community

· Good relationship management skills with the ability to build, grow and maintain rapport with internal and external stakeholders

· Strong design skills to create engaging, accessible content that helps to support engage and inspire a range of audiences across a range of mediums

· A self-starter, proactive with a constructive and collaborative approach

· The ability to make the complicated seem simple; you will enjoy sharing your skills, and developing others

· Highly motivated and able to juggle a varied workload

· Personable, with excellent listening skills and high emotional intelligence, with the ability to think creatively

· An intelligent and proactive approach to problem-solving

· Excellent accuracy and attention to detail

Flexibility

·The role description is a general outline of duties and responsibilities and may be amended as the newly merged charity develops and the role grows. The post holder may be required to undertake other duties as may be reasonably required from time to time.

Application Instructions

When writing job applications, we want to see if candidates are the right fit for our charity, so they should be written using your own words. Use of Artificial Intelligence, such as Chat GPT, is considered plagiarism, and applications drafted with the assistance of AI will be automatically rejected.