Lead Strategic Communications - Science Campaigns

£63,000-£65,000 plus benefits

Reports to: Head of Strategic Communications and Campaigns

Directorate: Policy, Information and Communications

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week – open to flexible working such as compressed hours

Location: Office-based with high flexibility (1‑2 days per week in the office)

Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK. Cancer Research UK is able to offer visa sponsorship.

Recruitment process: 2‑stage interview process, 2nd stage to include a task

Job overview: Lead – Strategic Communications – Science Campaigns to head a new team within the PIC. Shape the strategic direction of CRUK’s science campaigns portfolio and drive an insight‑led, innovative approach that aligns with organisational priorities, strengthens the brand, and delivers impact across press, digital, social, and the marcomms mix.

Responsibilities:

• Set the strategic direction for science campaigns, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities, brand strategy and corporate narrative.
• Lead the design and delivery of integrated, insight‑led, multi‑channel science campaigns that showcase CRUK’s impact, ensuring shared messaging, strategic coherence, and joined‑up delivery across workstreams.
• Lead cross‑channel integration, collaborating with other business areas to maximise reach and impact of science campaigns.
• Ensure high‑quality content across all campaign assets, including comms strategies, plans, media materials and multimedia content.
• Monitor external environment, media trends, cultural moments and audience behaviour to shape future campaign development and keep CRUK’s campaigns at the forefront of best practice.
• Oversee and lead on planning and evaluation frameworks for science campaigns, embedding continuous improvement and accountability.
• Line‑manage and develop the science campaigns function; creating a collaborative, inclusive and high‑performing culture.

Qualifications & experience:

• Proven leadership of strategic science/research communications and integrated campaigns.
• Expertise in simplifying complex scientific information for diverse audiences.
• Proven experience in designing and delivering integrated communication campaigns and multi‑channel activations.
• Experience in using data, audience insight and evaluation to inform communications strategy.
• Strong strategic planning skills; ability to translate vision into actionable plans.
• Excellent leadership and stakeholder management skills, including influencing at senior level and the ability to inspire confidence and build credibility with senior leaders.
• Expertise in working collaboratively in a matrix structure.
• Outstanding communication skills – written, verbal, and presentation.
• Strong negotiation, problem‑solving and decision‑making skills; able to work under pressure and to tight deadlines.

Benefits:

We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing, provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high‑quality tools. Our policies enable you to improve your work‑life balance and achieve personal wellbeing goals. Benefits details can be found on our careers web page.

Equal opportunity:

We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under‑represented. We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the application and interview process and are committed to providing any adjustments needed to enable a fair experience. Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18.