Scientific Communications Officer - COSMIC

We’re currently seeking a Science Communications Officer to join our team. You’ll come in at an exciting time as we build and innovate for the future, playing a vital role in shaping COSMIC’s success, direction and global impact. 

About Us:

COSMIC (Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer), is an expertly curated and world-renowned scientific cancer genomics data resource. COSMIC captures the overwhelming flood of cancer genomics data and transforms it into datasets and tools. Our goal is to accelerate breakthroughs across the patient journey, whether that’s supporting discovery, diagnostics, or design of new targeted therapies. 

COSMIC consists of a core database of somatic mutations, but we also have a variety of additional tools and products. These include COSMIC Cancer Mutation Census (classifying driver mutations), COSMIC Actionability (identifying and tracking the progress of drugs that target specific mutations in cancers), COSMIC-3D (visualising cancer mutations within 3D protein structures) and COSMIC Mutational Signatures (unique genetic ‘fingerprints’ found within cancers). 

Commercial biotech, pharmaceutical, and drug discovery companies pay for access to the data so that COSMIC (as a non-profit organisation) can provide the data resource free to support research and development for the academic community. 

Why we need you?

We know our data is complex but valuable, and our mission of the Communications and Marketing team is built around three pillars; Awareness (building our brand, product awareness, and reaching new audiences), Education (helping users feel confident using COSMIC), and Accessibility (optimising our web-content to meet user needs). This role involves working in a multidisciplinary team under the guidance of the Head of Marketing and Communications to help design and deliver relevant communications materials to deliver on this strategy. 

You’ll be a motivated and driven communicator, who’s passionate about science - particularly cancer genetics. You’ll use exceptional interpersonal skills to work closely with the COSMIC team and wider scientific community to identify great stories about our products and tell them via a range of different channels/media. This role would suit someone looking to develop their skills, gain new skills, and take ownership of the work.  

What will you be doing?

This is a varied role, and day to day will include activities such as writing blogs, running the social media channels, editing web-pages, sending the newsletter, attending conferences/events, and testing new communications/marketing ideas. In particular, the latter presents an opportunity to play to your strengths and learn/establish expertise in the team with a particular interest - as an example podcasting, video creation, or graphic design.

COSMIC’s communications and marketing function is designed to be audience-led. You will be working closely with the Scientific Intelligence Officer and Business Team to understand our audiences and design ways to engage with them. As part of this, you will also report back on key communications analytics to help refine marketing strategies, product development, and highlight the impact of our work.  

For further key responsibilities and job criteria, please download the job description.