Science Communications Officer/Lead

About Us

The Welfare Footprint Institute develops scientifically rigorous methods and tools to quantify animal welfare. Our core contribution is the Welfare Footprint Framework (WFF). We apply the framework in research programs on aquatic animals, pigs, poultry, cattle, shrimp and other species, and we work on the theoretical and statistical foundations that underpin it. Our work sits at the intersection of animal welfare science, pain and affective neuroscience, ethology, veterinary medicine and quantitative methods.

What the Role Is

We are seeking a Science Communications Officer or Lead to make the Welfare Footprint Framework and our research clear, accessible and useful to researchers, educators and practitioners. This role will require either a strong scientific background with the ability to communicate clearly, or a strong science communication background with direct experience handling scientific content accurately. What matters most is the ability to produce accurate, engaging material for different audiences without losing scientific precision.

You will work closely with leadership to develop dissemination and teaching materials, including an online training course and practitioner certification materials, a media kit, and other communications. Scientific staff are responsible for scientific content, standards and approval. The Science Communications role is responsible for how that content is explained, presented, published and maintained.

The position is fully remote. Gross annual salary for full-time work is USD 65,000–105,000. Employee benefits include health cover, a pension contribution, 25 days of leave, home office allowance and a professional development expense reimbursement.

Core Responsibilities

• Turn scientific research into clear articles, summaries, presentations, scripts and visual explanations, preserving the evidence, assumptions and uncertainty.

• Produce teaching materials for university courses and workshops, including lecture slides, worked examples, exercises and instructor guidance.

• Develop and maintain the online course and materials for practitioner certification, working from scientific content and assessment requirements agreed with the scientific team.

• Create resources for independent learning and application, including tutorials, FAQs, recorded demonstrations and troubleshooting guidance.

• Prepare scientifically informed interview questions and help researchers present their work through interviews, webinars and other formats.

• Provide online support to learners and users, recognising when a question requires scientific judgement and referring it to the appropriate researcher.

• Use learner, instructor or practitioner feedback to improve materials and address recurring misunderstandings.

• Maintain WFI’s website, making research findings, methods and practical resources easy to find and understand.

• Maintain and update content on WFI's social network.

• Develop WFI's newsletter.

• Coordinate production, scientific review and publication, completing agreed work on schedule and keeping resources current.

• Develop and use advanced AI workflows to create and edit videos, animations, narrated explainers, scientific graphics and interactive learning materials. Select suitable tools, combine them into effective production workflows, and verify scientific accuracy with the research team before publication.

Qualifications

• Experience or formal training in science communication.

• Experience reading scientific papers critically, understanding methods and results.

• Complete fluency in written and spoken English, with the ability to write clear, precise, formal scientific prose.

• Exceptional attention to scientific detail with experience checking sources, numbers, units, figures and claims.

• The ability to learn the Welfare Footprint Framework in depth and explain it faithfully to audiences with different levels of scientific knowledge.

• Practical experience producing digital content and working with websites, presentation software and visual communication tools.

• Extensive hands-on expertise with AI tools for video generation and editing, animation, image creation, narration and interactive content, with a portfolio demonstrating high-quality outputs and the ability to manage production from scientific source material to finished resource.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing online courses, university teaching materials or professional training.

• A degree in a biological science, neuroscience, veterinary science, animal welfare science or a related field, ideally a master’s or PhD, or demonstrated background in animal welfare, affective neuroscience, physiology, veterinary science or related research.

• Experience creating scientific graphics, short videos, demonstrations or interactive explanations.

• Experience interviewing scientists or preparing questions that help audiences understand difficult methods and findings.

Selection process

• The selection process includes paid tasks and a three-month provisional period during which one or more candidates will work with the founding team before a final appointment decision is made.

• Review of a portfolio of science communication pieces, such as articles, website pages, teaching materials, presentations, videos or graphics. Include examples developed using AI tools or related technologies, identifying the tools used and how you checked the outputs. For each piece, briefly identify the intended audience and your own contribution, including any work completed by collaborators.

• Two short explanations of the Welfare Footprint Framework, one paragraph each, with a maximum of 150 words per paragraph:

  1. For a general audience of consumers with no scientific background.

  2. For a legislator considering animal welfare policy.

Both explanations should convey what the framework measures and why it is useful to the intended audience, without overstating what it can establish. AI tools are welcome; briefly state how you used them and verified the result.

To guarantee that your application receives full consideration, please apply by Monday, October 26th (11:59 PM US Eastern time).