Careers

MAIN PURPOSES OF THIS JOB

The Policy and Public Affairs Executive is a key role for the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA), the voice of the innovative life sciences and biotech industry, enabling and connecting the UK ecosystem so that businesses can start, grow and deliver world-changing innovation.

The Policy and Public Affairs Executive supports the delivery of the influence objective of the BIA. This involves coordinating public affairs activities across the BIA; supporting BIA colleagues and members to represent the sector to stakeholders in Westminster and Whitehall; and working to shape and influence public policy development that has an impact on UK life sciences.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Working with the Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager, and the wider team as appropriate, the Policy and Public Affairs Executive will:

• Manage the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Life Sciences events, communications and governance throughout the year, along with collaborators in the charity sector, and industry partners
• Support the organisation of the BIA’s events at the Party Conferences
• Engage with parliamentarians and member CEOs to support delivery of the BIA’s annual Parliament Day; a key influence event for the life science sector
• Coordinate and run events for the BIA Government Affairs Network, an intelligence sharing and networking group at the heart of the sector
• Write commentaries and other content on UK political developments to help BIA members and colleagues stay informed and up-to-date, including the BIA guide to government
• Link the policy and public affairs team with the marketing, membership and events teams to ensure our work is communicated through the BIA’s comms and media channels and that groups and communities are managed through consistent and collaborative processes
• Support the production of the quarterly influence report and increase engagement with it through a new, digital-first format
• Manage the delivery of the BIA Committee Summit, in collaboration with the events team
• Support the Secretariats of BIA Advisory Committees, ensuring coordination of agendas and governance
• Help the wider team in the development and running of member communities
• Work with colleagues to curate data about the member community gathered in the Advisory Committees and other member meetings
• Act as a point of contact to develop and maintain the CRM, in order to improve external relationship management and membership intelligence

The above responsibilities will include the following types of activity:

• Keeping abreast of policy and public affairs developments and sharing information with colleagues and members as appropriate
• Producing engaging content on our policy and public affairs work for a variety of audiences and looking for wider opportunities to communicate BIA interests such as through external blogs and events
• Contributing content to the quarterly reports and editing colleagues’ copy
• Analysing reports, documents and data as directed to support the policy development work of the wider team
• Supporting relevant member committees and groups as directed
• Contributing to the development of the strategic focus of the BIA in respect of policy and public affairs, corresponding plans and activity and delivering those in practice
• Representing the BIA at external events, policy working groups and fora
• Attending weekly policy and public affairs team meetings to update on your work, contribute to team goals and brief colleagues effectively
• Contributing to and maintaining stakeholder lists, contacts and processes within the Dynamics CRM database
• Ensuring the BIA website content is kept up to date for the pages you are responsible for

As a small organisation, flexibility is a key value all members of the team need to work to. As such the above duties and responsibility are subject to change as informed by needs of the team, organisation and changes in the external environment.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Essential

• Passion and curiosity in life sciences and politics
• Ability to communicate complex topics and showcase coherent arguments
• Ability to grasp complex issues quickly and distil these for a variety of external audiences
• Proven project management skills to drive projects through from conception to output
• Events organisation experience
• Collaborative team-player who is flexible to changing business needs and supports colleagues effectively
• Excellent interpersonal skills with demonstrative ability to work with a variety of stakeholders to build and communicate a consensus view
• Ability to develop good working relationships with a range of stakeholders
• Ability to represent the BIA and its members in person and through oral and written communication

The Marketing Manager will be responsible for a diverse range of strategic and tactical activities aimed at promoting the organisation, engaging members, and driving growth.

Key responsibilities include:

1. Develop and manage the execution of marketing initiatives and content marketing plans to build new communities across key strategic areas and deepen BIA’s digital footprint.
2. Develop and oversee multiple digital marketing channels including website, social media platforms, and newsletters in collaboration with other team members.
3. Content marketing: plan and deliver a high-quality content pipeline for BIA’s new communities supported by targeted email campaigns and effective segmentation.
4. Event marketing: Coordinate marketing efforts to promote BIA events, conferences, and networking opportunities, collaborating closely with the events team.
5. Design branded collateral: create high-quality visually appealing marketing materials and promotional collateral for marketing campaigns and events, ensuring consistency with the established brand guidelines.
6. Grow email and marketing databases and work with the Digital Marketing Executive to build BIA’s social media following and new communities.
7. Member communications: develop compelling content to showcase member successes and tell engaging membership stories. Utilise storytelling techniques to highlight member and sector achievements and contributions.
8. Manage and optimise website content and structure for search engine visibility.
9. Lead on SEO activity including keyword research.
10. Performance Monitoring: Review the success of marketing campaigns and member communications in terms of impact, reach, and revenue generation, and produce monthly performance reports against KPIs including insights for improvement.
11. Establish and nurture partnerships with industry stakeholders, BIA members, annual supporters, sponsors, and collaborators. Coordinate media partnerships with partner and member events.
12. Act as a brand guardian ensuring consistency of brand tone of voice and style guidelines across all marketing collateral (digital and print) and being a reference point for all marketing communication activities.
13. Collaborate with policy and public affairs, membership, content and events teams for a unified approach to marcomms and to integrate marketing efforts.
14. Support digital solutions implementation, including ongoing CRM/CMS upgrades and integration between systems and platforms

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Essential:

• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in Marketing Communications, ideally with substantial experience in a corporate membership organisation or trade association.
• A confident self-starter with an ability to grasp complex issues quickly and how to distil these for a variety of external audiences
• Proactive and creative approach; problem-solving; hands-on; willing attitude.
• Demonstrable experience of website management and development
• Experience of managing email, design and social media platforms
• Excellent interpersonal skills, great team spirit, with the ability to work with a variety of stakeholders
• Excellent attention to detail and flexible ‘can do’ attitude
• Great copywriting and experience of CMS and CRM
• B2B marketing experience
• Degree or equivalent

Desirable:

• Previous  experience in life sciences or healthcare
• Experience of working with journalist and influencers across print, broadcast and online media to deliver impactful media coverage
• Life science degree or background
• Events marketing experience
• Experience of MS Dynamics CRM, Canva, DotDigital, Hootsuite
• Experience of working in an agile, innovative technologies organisation.

Media Relations:

1. Cultivate and maintain relationships with journalists, editors, and media outlets.
2. Respond promptly to media inquiries and coordinate interviews with BIA’s spokespeople.
3. Proactively pitch stories to secure positive media coverage for BIA and our member companies.
4. Stay abreast of industry trends, audience behaviour and member activities to inform strategic decisions.
5. Own the External Comms calendar and planning of industry events and awards entries.

Content Creation:

1. Write and edit press releases, news stories, member news and blogs to effectively communicate our key messages and to promote BIA and the biotech sector.
2. Work closely with the Digital Marketing Executive, content, events and policy teams, to develop engaging content for various channels, including website and social media and ensure a cohesive and integrated communication strategy.
3. Ensure all digital content and news stories are optimised for SEO.
4. Contribute to the marketing calendar, attending planning meetings and finding synergies with the editorial calendar to maximise PR purposes.

Public Relations:

1. Monitor media coverage and report analysis to the wider team regularly.
2. Organise press conferences, and briefings and be the first point of contact for journalists at our events.
3. Establish monthly reporting of communication efforts and effective measurement frameworks.

Influencer Relationship Management:

1. Identify and build relationships with thought leaders, influencers and content creators.
2. Collaborate with key opinion leaders to drive engagement and build communities, creating authentic and engaging content that aligns with our messaging.

Crisis Management:

1. Work closely with leadership to develop crisis communication strategies and respond to any negative press or media issues promptly.

Collaboration:

1. Collaborate with content, membership, policy and public affairs teams to gather information and insights for media communication purposes.
2. Foster relationships with external partners and stakeholders to enhance collaborative opportunities.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Essential

• Excellent writing and copy-writing skills and strong attention to detail with a passion for creating inspiring content
• A confident self-starter with an ability to grasp complex issues quickly and how to distil these for a variety of external audiences
• Highly organised with great interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships, plan and prioritise workload
• Experience of working with journalists and influencers across print, broadcast and online media to deliver impactful media coverage
• Confident and resilient personality
• Reliable, loyal and trustworthy
• An appetite for seeking out interesting story angles and content topics from across the business that will resonate with diverse external audiences (excellence in fact-gathering and joining the dots)
• MS Office experience including Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Experience in dealing with external contacts at all levels
• Comfort in working in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with high expectations, and ideally experience within a growing business or start up environment
• You will need to be hands-on with a 'make it happen' attitude
• Experience of CMS and CRM
• Degree or equivalent

Desirable

• Previous work experience in life sciences or other innovative industries
• Experience of managing email, design and social media platforms
• Demonstrable experience of website management and development B2B marketing experience
• Life science degree or background
• Events marketing experience