Strategy Officer at European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)

About the team/job

EMBL is Europe’s life sciences laboratory – an intergovernmental organisation with more than 110 independent research groups and service teams covering the spectrum of molecular biology. It operates across six sites in Heidelberg (headquarters), Barcelona, Cambridge, Grenoble, Hamburg and Rome. Our mission is to perform basic research in molecular biology; train scientists, students and visitors at all levels; offer vital services to scientists in the public and private sectors within the member states; develop new instruments and methods; and engage actively in technology transfer.

EMBL is looking for a Strategy Officer to support activities in strategy development and implementation, planning and reporting. You will report to the Head of Strategy and work closely with the Director General and other members of the Strategy team. This role will support consultative processes involving stakeholders across the organisation as well as the identifying, developing and maintaining key indicators of performance and impact of the organisation. We are an international, friendly and supportive team, with ties to scientists and professionals throughout EMBL. This position is based in Heidelberg, Germany, but will require some international travel, including some travel to EMBL’s five other sites and occasional out-of-hours working. 

Your role

The position includes the following tasks and responsibilities:

• Supporting EMBL’s Director-General in developing the institute’s scientific and operational strategy, in particular in the context of the 5-year EMBL Programmes;
• Researching topics of strategic interest to EMBL and assisting with developing proposals for new initiatives;
• Following and having an always current overview of the scientific and operational developments at EMBL and at relevant external stakeholder institutes to identify links and new opportunities;
• Support the management of projects within EMBL, frame issues, problem-solve (both creatively and analytically), synthesise analyses and present findings. Supporting consultation processes within EMBL and other scientific communities through working groups or other formats;
• Participate in drafting and regular updates of internal strategy and operational process documents as well as writing publications, reports and summaries of internal and external workshops and meetings;
• Contribute to improving systems for EMBL Programme implementation and ownership of particular areas to keep up to date on scientific and operational developments;
• Delivery of data collection, analysis and reporting of performance metrics including defining the reporting requirements of the organisation to inform updates to existing metrics and establish new measures of impact;
• Summarising, presenting and visualising organisational data and indicators for diverse communication outlets, including presentations, reports and digital communication;
• Preparing strategic presentations, speeches and briefings for the Director-General for strategic and scientific stakeholder engagement and advocacy; 

You have

• You will have a degree in the life sciences, ideally a PhD in molecular or cell biology, and some relevant experience as a strategist, project or program manager in a research environment.
• You will have a passion for life-science research and be interested in shaping, writing and implementing scientific strategy. Knowledge of molecular biology is essential.
• You will have some knowledge of project or change management principles and techniques, ideally with practical experience in a scientific environment.
• You will be capable of quickly synthesizing complex concepts and will enjoy working with both research information, numbers and statistics. You will know how to transform data from different institutional sources into meaningful indicators and build a convincing argument based on a variety of data types and sources.
• You will have excellent organisational, analytical, writing and communication skills with a high level of accuracy. You will have an eye for detail and will be an advanced user of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• A demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency and diplomacy both individually and as part of a complex team effort is fundamental.
• The abilities to work to deadlines and handle a number of tasks simultaneously are essential.
• An excellent command of spoken and written English is necessary. 

You might also have

• Experience in a role managing collaborative scientific or change projects
• Knowledge of French, Italian, Spanish and/or German is an asset
• Experience working in an international environment or communicating with an international audience is desirable. 

Why join us

EMBL is curiosity-driven, community-oriented and international. As an inclusive, equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity enables us to collaborate more effectively and be innovative in our approaches. We are, therefore, committed to creating an inclusive and flexible culture – one where everyone can realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to our organisation. 

We encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing team – we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and personal experiences reflect the diversity of the populations that our science serves. We actively encourage applications from all genders and cultures, ethnic groups and all demographics to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights at this transformational point in our people strategy.

EMBL offers attractive conditions and benefits appropriate to an international research organisation with a very collegial and family-friendly working environment. Competitive salary and social security benefits, financial support for relocation, a relaxed culture, professional development, an on-site nursery, canteen and other staff facilities make EMBL a great place to work.

**Don’t meet every single requirement? We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply nevertheless. 

What else you need to know

We are Europe’s research laboratory for the life sciences – an intergovernmental organisation performing scientific research in disciplines including molecular biology, physics, chemistry and computer science. We are an international, innovative and interdisciplinary laboratory with more than 1900 employees from many nations, operating across six sites, in Heidelberg (HQ), Barcelona, Hinxton near Cambridge, Hamburg, Grenoble and Rome.

Our mission is to offer vital services in training scientists, students and visitors at all levels; to develop new instruments and methods in the life sciences and actively engage in technology transfer activities, and to integrate European life science research. The working language of the institute is English.

Please note that appointments on fixed term contracts can be renewed up to 9 years in total, depending on circumstances at the time of the review.

EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we implement best practices in research assessment in our recruitment processes here.