Sr. Science Communications Specialist

About the role

The Senior Science Communications Specialist at the Institute for Protein Design (IPD) is responsible for advancing IPD’s comprehensive communications and storytelling program. This includes full ownership of institutional narrative strategy, communications planning, media relations, digital platforms, brand systems, and content production.

Responsibilities

• Direct and administer IPD’s end-to-end communications and storytelling program, including planning, execution, and continuous improvement.

• Define institutional message architecture, narrative priorities, and long-term communications strategy.

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive communications roadmap aligned with scientific priorities, partnerships, and fundraising goals.

• Ensure integration and alignment across all communications sub-functions (media, digital, presentations, publications, brand systems).

• Narrative Development & Institutional Positioning:

  • Lead development of high-impact narratives that communicate IPD’s scientific vision, discoveries, and societal impact.

  • Produce and oversee strategic materials including reports, briefs, presentations, and partnership content.

  • Elevate Translational Investigator pitch materials for venture/industry/public consumption: narrative flow, visuals, figures, platform schematics, traction milestones, and “credibility signals” appropriate for external audiences.

  • Own IPD’s visual identity system and brand standards (templates, typography, layout systems, iconography, imagery style, motion guidelines), ensuring consistency across all major channels and deliverables.

  • Build and maintain a scalable asset ecosystem (slide masters, figure styles, one-pagers, report layouts, signage kits, social templates) that enables fast, high-quality production across IPD.

  • Establish creative intake, review, and approval workflows to ensure message alignment, quality control, and predictable production cycles.

• External Communications:

  • Direct the IPD’s outward-facing communications portfolio across media, web, social, and publications, ensuring scientific accuracy, consistent voice, and high creative standards.

  • Primary Liaison with UW Medicine Media Relations and the Office of Federal Relations. Ensure all IPD communications and media are in compliance with the UW standards.

  • Execute communications for major milestones, including high-impact papers, clinical/translation launches, partnerships, funding awards, and key faculty/trainee/staff announcements.

  • Maintain editorial oversight of all external-facing materials, including website content, social media, blog posts, and institutional publications; mentor faculty, postdocs, and students in science communication.

  • Guide web strategy for ipd.uw.edu and related properties, building content hubs (research areas, visitor pathways, partnership case studies, translation success stories) aligned to institutional priorities.

  • Oversee social media strategy and operations on existing and emerging platforms valid for our content, including scheduling systems and brand consistency.

  • Build internal story-intake pipelines, enabling rapid capture of research updates and conversion into high-quality outward-facing content with appropriate approvals.

• Budget, Resource, and Vendor Management:

  • Develop and manage the communications program budget, including planning, forecasting, and monitoring expenditures.

  • Allocate resources across competing priorities to maximize impact.

  • Manage external vendors and contractors, including scoping, procurement, and performance oversight.

  • Partner with finance leadership to ensure fiscal responsibility and alignment with institutional goals.

• Operations, Systems & Process Management:

  • Establish operational policies, procedures, and reporting mechanisms for communications activities.

  • Oversee project intake, prioritization, workflow management, and production timelines.

  • Implement systems to track outputs, measure effectiveness, and improve processes.

  • Continuously refine operations to increase scalability and efficiency.

• Stakeholder Engagement & Institutional Collaboration:

  • Serve as the primary communications point of contact for IPD leadership, faculty, and staff.

  • Collaborate with UW Medicine, UW Advancement, Office of Research, and external partners.

  • Provide guidance and training to faculty, trainees, and staff on communication best practices.

  • Represent IPD in institutional communications initiatives and cross-campus collaborations.

Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Biological Sciences or related field and 4 years of experience in related field.

• Advanced Degree and 4+ years of experience in brand, creative direction, and hands-on production across digital/print/presentation media.

• Strong portfolio demonstrating excellence in presentation design, brand systems, and multi-format creative execution (web/digital, editorial/report, social/campaign, video/motion preferred).

• Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical/scientific information into clear, accurate, and compelling visuals for diverse audiences.

• Expert proficiency with modern design tools and software.