Associate Director, Scientific Communications and Engagement

Do you have expertise in, and passion for creating and managing impactful scientific communications and content for leadership and internal audiences?  Are you a passionate science communicator with a deep scientific understanding who thrives working with a diverse group of people? Would you like to apply your expertise to help create and deliver messaging and narratives that help address the unmet needs of patients around the world in a company that follows the science and turns ideas into life changing medicines?  Then this might be the right position for you!

Exciting opportunity to work with LDO and CMO leaders and partners to highlight our scientific vision and achievements through content and communications. We are building upon our strong Oncology heritage and expanding our portfolio to bring solutions and better outcomes to patients. We have the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives every day. As one of the world’s outstanding biopharmaceutical companies, our mission is centered on delivering life-changing products that advance world health and help fight and cure disease. Late Development Oncology and the Chief Medical Office are pivotal in delivering this ambition. We are crafting an inspiring team that will follow, implement, and complete Science.

What you’ll do

As the Associate Director Scientific Communications and Engagement you will help create content, develop strong scientific copy, and contribute towards delivering the LDO and CMO communications strategy ensuring events and content are delivered to a high standard and to agreed timelines. You’ll support the development of content that captures the impact of LDO work and drive engagement with this via a variety of channels. You will report to the Director, Scientific Communications for LDO & CMO, be a member of the Oncology R&D Scientific Communications Network and collaborate with other teams across AstraZeneca.

This role will also work closely with the LDO/CMO Communications team to develop, manage and deliver integrated communication plans for Late Development Oncology and the Chief Medical Office which align to the Oncology R&D global comms plan and positively impact AstraZeneca's culture, employee engagement and performance under the direction of Director, Scientific Communications Lead. This will cover the following areas:

• Partnering to produce engaging scientific content that accurately reflects the scientific story being told by LDO and ORD and tells the scientific story and captures the impact of the work that AZ Oncology is carrying to shape how leaders and collaborators engage audiences LDO work (including pipeline/project achievements, publications, scientific congresses, townhalls). This will include creating scientific PowerPoint presentations and written articles aligned to audience needs for internal scientific audiences, broad company audiences and external scientific experts
• Support creation of the scientific narrative, key messages, key themes and delivery of this narrative to the appropriate internal and external audiences
• Recognise novel methods for measuring engagement with this content via a variety of channels 
• Support the delivery of LDO internal engagement events (e.g. Townhalls, broadcasts, congress events) including connecting with therapy area experts to assist in strategic storytelling, content development, audience polling, production, scheduling 
• Alongside the broader communications team, design and implement the communications team measurement strategy to capture the impact of tactics and inform strategy adjustments 
•  Exhibit resourceful approach to researching information and delivering accurate, up-to-date summaries of key scientific initiatives at AZ Oncology 
• Act as conduit of information exchange between global corporate affairs teams, late development oncology, and enterprise-wide programmes
• Ensure accurate, timely content is developed and establish robust editorial practices for high-level scientific content delivery  
• Keep abreast of internal and external innovation and scientific trends to ensure that content is kept relevant and applicable to all audiences 
• Improve LDO brand presence across internal and external channels by crafting impactful content 'vehicles' that improve collaborator positioning and visibility 
• Actively seek out opportunities to elevate the work of LDO across the enterprise 
• Maintain communications resources on SharePoint Online and drive engagement with these 
• Coordinate LDO input into monthly reports and employee briefing packs 
• Collaborate with communications leads across Oncology ORD to tell an integrated and collaborative story 
• Deliver impactful, compelling scientific copy an content alongside thorough editorial review across all LDO internal and external communication initiatives where necessary 

Essential for the role

• MSc in life sciences discipline
• Advanced MS Office with the focus on PowerPoint (to create scientific presentations)
• Knowledge of pharmaceutical drug discovery and development process
• Experience in crafting impactful scientific communications for a range of difference audiences
• Excellent project management skills
• Strategic attitude and thinking
• Strong influencing, networking and team working skills
• A proven track record of delivering tasks in a timely manner
• Comfortable working in an evolving environment e.g. deadline changes and priority shifts
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Ability to work effectively, demonstrate sensitivity and communicate appropriately across a range of cultures
• Highly developed interpersonal, communication, influencing and relationship-building skills

Desirable for the role

• PhD in life sciences discipline
• Scientific in-depth knowledge in the Oncology field
• Working knowledge and experience of visual communications strategies ie creating slides, workplace posts, videos that improve audience engagement