Responsibilities

• Identify & Develop Stories: Identify story angles in collaboration with researchers, educators, and Institute leadership; conduct background research and empathetic interviews with subject-matter experts, program participants, and donors to capture authentic human-interest narratives.
• Versatile Content Creation: Write and edit clear, engaging content across multiple formats, including feature stories, research explainers, donor impact stories, case-for-support materials, participant profiles, executive speeches/talking points, and digital newsletters.
• Cross-Departmental Relationships: Build strong working relationships with faculty members to stay abreast of ongoing research and newsworthy publications. Partner closely with the Advancement/Development team to support fundraising campaigns and donor stewardship through impactful storytelling.
• Executive Collaboration : Collaborate with the Director on high-level institutional features and major research announcements.
• Editorial Calendar Management: Maintain and drive an editorial calendar aligned to Institute priorities and key moments (publications, events, campaigns, program milestones).
• Multi-Channel Adaptation: Adapt core narratives for diverse distribution channels (web, email, social) while preserving scientific accuracy, audience relevance, and brand voice.
• Social Content Ideation: Brainstorm and pitch compelling social media angles for institutional news, research discoveries, and impact stories; partner with the social media specialist/freelancer to translate written features into channel-ready concepts.
• Freelancer & Partner Collaboration: Serve as an editorial resource for external creative partners (social media contractors, videographers, graphic designers)-providing clear creative briefs, scientifically accurate copy, and narrative direction to ensure visual assets are on-brand.
• Multimedia Concepting & Scripting: Conceptualize and script short-form video or audio content (e.g., video clips, podcast segments, digital explainers), providing the scientific hooks and story arcs that bring multimedia projects to life.
• Analytics & Optimization: Track performance metrics (engagement, click-through, time on page, conversions where applicable) across content touchpoints and recommend data-informed adjustments to refine overall strategy.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in a biological/life science field (Biology, Genetics, Biotechnology, etc.) OR in Journalism, Communications, or English with a proven portfolio of writing about complex scientific or technical topics.
• Experience: 3+ years of experience in science communication, science writing, public relations, or technical writing, ideally within an academic research institute, non-profit, or healthcare/biotech environment.
• Core Competencies & Capabilities:
• - Scientific Fluency: Ability to rapidly grasp complex biological, genomic, and agricultural/biotech concepts and translate them for non-expert stakeholders without sacrificing accuracy.
• - Versatile Writing: Proven excellence across multiple storytelling formats-from long-form human-interest features to tight social media copy, donor pieces, and conversational video/podcast scripts.
• - Editorial Judgment: Strong copy-editing skills and a meticulous eye for detail, tone, and brand consistency.
• - Interpersonal Intelligence: Highly diplomatic and empathetic interviewer, comfortable building trust with faculty scientists, executive leadership, research participants, and community stakeholders.
• - Project Management: Demonstrated ability to manage multi-step editorial workflows, balance competing deadlines, and coordinate deliverables across internal and external teams.
• - Professional Discretion: Poise, maturity, and tact in handling sensitive, confidential, or proprietary information.
• - Technical Proficiency : Fluent with Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, web content management systems (e.g., WordPress), and web/media analytics platforms (e.g., GA4, Muck Rack). Familiarity with basic digital accessibility and SEO best practices is a plus.