dna Communications - Associate

dna Communications – Associate

Who are we?

dna Communications is an integrated medical communications agency.. Part of the IPG DXTRA Healthcare ecosystem, the dna Communications Medical Education team offers clients high-level insights into the ever-changing commercial landscape through strategic, medical educational, behavioural change and engagement programmes.

They pride themselves on their supportive team-led culture with a strong focus on work/life balance, team collaboration and proactive development and training for progression.

A snapshot of the role

The Associate supports the execution of medical education activities and the delivery of world-class client service. The Associate has responsibility for a broad range of tasks including providing admin support across client accounts, developing basic written materials, liaising with the creative design team, overseeing the upload of materials on approval systems such as Veeva, and assisting with project and financial tracking. The Associate provides critical support, enabling the efficient functioning of the account team and is in turn supported to develop their medical education and healthcare communications knowledge and skills. The Associate has opportunities to contribute to creative ideas, support the health of the agency and hold senior staff members to account regarding the values of dna Communications.  

The Associate is a client contact. The Associate provides necessary deliverables such as meeting agendas and notes, responds to client requests for information (after consultation with the dna client team) and is required to build relationships with both clients and other external stakeholders such as vendors and suppliers.  

The Associate is often a key contact for suppliers and has responsibility for ascertaining costs, managing these via a cost tracker to ensure that there is available budget to allocate to supplier costs. They may also support with other financial responsibilities such as developing budget estimates and scope of work documents. The Associate is required to be aware of what activities are within budget scopes and to ensure that any work they do, or commission external suppliers to do, is able to be recognised and charged to the client.  

What will you be doing?

Client Responsibilities: 

• Takes responsibility for timely, effective and efficient organisational and administrative elements of their account work (status reports, actions lists, call notes, etc.) 
• Works to activity plans and ensures understanding of detailed project requirements (including deadlines); takes initiative to liaise with supervisors and third parties to deliver specific actions to meet the overall brief 
• Supports the Manager and the whole dna team in providing excellent and responsive client service 
• Ensures cost and material development trackers are completed accurately and kept up to date 
• Commissions suppliers, ensuring necessary policies are followed and any costs incurred have an associated client budget that can cover the cost. Tracks costs and liaises with suppliers to ensure work supplied meets required standards and that supplier invoices are paid  
• Schedules meetings and supports the development of necessary meeting materials such as agendas and minutes 
• Supports the approval of materials through managing approval platform processes and liaises with reviewers as required  
• Quality control and attention to detail on client deliverables. Ensures spelling, grammar, etc. are correct and that deliverables meet the standard expected 
• Builds a constructive relationship with the client and develops trust and credibility 
• Acts in a professional and responsible manner at all times, helping to promote a positive perception of dna among all external stakeholders 

Agency responsibilities:

• Sharing perspectives, opinions and experiences to help the agency to grow and provide a fun and supportive environment for everyone that is aligned to the dna values  
• Ensuring time sheets are completed accurately and on time 
• Supporting allocated internal agency work streams, e.g., marketing, internal comms, training, etc.  
• Contributing to internal meetings and fully participating in activities that provide opportunities to develop knowledge and skills  
• Consistently looking for opportunities for self-development and growth  

Who are you?

Client work skills 

• Excellent client service skills, showing full understanding of dna client service principles, policies and procedures 
• Ability to create interesting and engaging copy in clear English 
• Excellent content development skills, with an ability to format and guide design of deliverables to ensure these meet the required standard 
• Attention to detail and ability to proof and edit deliverables to meet quality control requirements 
• Ability to use Microsoft Office suite to create client deliverables to a high standard in terms of both content and format/aesthetic appeal  
• Excellent written English, with the ability to adapt style and language for various audiences 
• Excellent presentation skills, able to present proposals and the rationale behind them to both internal and external senior audiences. Includes excellent PowerPoint formatting skills 
• Able to use Veeva/PromoMats and/or any other appropriate platform to enable the agency to support client approval of deliverables  

Broader agency skills 

• Able to undertake management of suppliers, including familiarity with financial policies, processes and procedures 
• Able to provide and accept constructive feedback 
• Emotional intelligence and ability to build relationships with colleagues  
• Understanding of the dna business model and business health metrics 
• Able to work under pressure, and demonstrate excellent time management skills 
• Project management skills – being able to support the team to create the necessary materials and take the required steps to deliver projects on time and to budget, while at all times ensuring visibility for clients and senior team members  

Preferred experience and qualifications   

• One year’s experience of healthcare communications or equivalent 
• Experience working within the healthcare/pharmaceutical sector 
• Experience in managing suppliers and budgets 
• Experience in client service and administrative tasks 
• Undergraduate scientific degree or equivalent experience  

Our values and expected behaviours 

Ownership 

Taking accountability for any allocated account deliverables and for excellent client service. Taking responsibility for personal development and taking advantage of the learning opportunities provided.  

Partnership 

Partnering with colleagues to deliver excellent work in a collegial and collaborative culture. Speaking up and sharing perspectives to help the agency provide a fun and inclusive working environment.  

Entrepreneurship 

Understanding the agency business model and how the work of the Associate enables the business to function. Managing and reporting costs accurately and supporting the financial hygiene of accounts.   

Curiosity 

Proactively increasing understanding of the broader healthcare environment, relevant therapy areas and clients’ business, environment and priorities.  

Determination 

Understanding the underlying purpose behind actions and ensuring that objectives are met and deliverables are completed on time. Applying initiative and  
problem-solving skills to identify solutions to overcome barriers.   

Integrity 

Following all appropriate company and client policies and upholding the highest ethical standards. Speaking up and encouraging others to voice their opinions.  

Fun 

Contributing to a team environment that is fun, social and non-judgemental. Sharing perspectives, opinions and experiences to help the agency to provide the most fun environment possible for the whole team.  

Anything else?

We are based in London with a very modern office space in Liverpool Street, which boasts a roof terrace (with some pretty awesome views!), a spacious design and plenty of office perks! Follow the link to see a full tour (password: 'office') https://vimeo.com/472688193/0d86f82335

Note from the talent team:

We appreciate the time taken to apply for the role and your recent interest in dna Communications. We will review all applications within five working days and be in touch with those who have been shortlisted to the next stage. Unfortunately, down to volume, we are not able to get back to everyone individually so if you have not heard back from us, unfortunately, you have not been successful on this occasion and wish you all the best in your search.

At IPG we are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.

*** JOB SCAM ALERT***

We have recently become aware that individuals not associated with The Weber Shandwick Collective and dna Communications have fraudulently used our name - and the name of some of our employees - to solicit applications for fake jobs, to conduct fake job interviews and to make fake job offers. Any request to schedule an interview and any bona fide offer of employment will only come from an authorized representative of The Weber Shandwick Collective with an email address "@webershandwick.com". We will never require an applicant to provide credit card or banking information to cover any supposed advance costs.

If you have provided personal information in connection with a fake job offer or interview and you are concerned, we suggest that you take appropriate action.

The Weber Shandwick Collective takes these activities very seriously and are taking appropriate steps to shut down this fraudulent activity.

We urge you to be careful when sharing your personal information and to be aware of scams involving fake job postings and job offers.

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