Scientific Officer (FTC)

The Role

Scientific Officer (FTC)

Bristol

About Us

We're a truly international company, fourth largest in our industry and operating across 120 markets. An inclusive, innovative global FMCG business supported by over 27,500 employees. As we embrace a new era of growth, we are transforming. Our ways of working and culture are driven by a challenger mindset, constantly questioning the status quo. Our agility and entrepreneurial spirit, alongside award winning development programmes, enable innovation and success while creating exciting and rewarding career choices.

As we move forward, our customers will be at the heart of what we do, evolving to needs and expectations and committing to a more meaningful contribution to harm reduction by building a successful Next generation Products (NGP) business. Integral to our long-term success is our sustainability strategy, behaving responsibly and supporting our ambitions, all underpinned by high governance.

Encouraging inclusion at local levels and supporting a developing and robust diversity agenda globally, we’re fully committed to creating and maintaining an environment that celebrates and respects difference fully embracing our FIVE BEHAVIOURS defining how we should act, make decisions and treat one another connecting our purpose, vision and strategy defining our culture.

OUR PURPOSE: Forging a path to a healthier future for moments of relaxation and pleasure.

OUR VISION: To build a strong challenger business powered by responsibility, focus and choice.

Job Description 

Imperial Brands PLC is committed to making a meaningful contribution to harm reduction by building a consumer-centric portfolio of potentially less harmful next generation products (NGPs) for adult smokers that would otherwise continue to smoke. We are seeking to recruit a scientist for maternity cover period who is passionate about the company’s mission and excited to apply their experience to the role of a Scientific Officer. In this role you will contribute to a portfolio of content generation to support internal and external stakeholders’ scientific data informational needs within the department of Scientific Substantiation (SS&E) and Engagement within Harm Reduction and Engagement.

The Scientific Officer will be responsible for providing accurate, balanced and objective scientific information regarding Imperial Brands’ product portfolio to internal and external key decision makers and business partners as required as well as for providing project management support to the Behavioural Science Team within SS&E. This role will thus assist scientific interpretation and contextualisation as well as generation of scientific data as part of Imperial Brands legal duty of care activities as well as support the study management and generation of Behavioural Science data.

The successful candidate will monitor, understand and report on scientific and medical developments relevant to Imperial Brands portfolio, and relevant product categories, with a focus on potentially less harmful NGPs including heated tobacco, electronic nicotine delivery devices and oral nicotine pouches. The Scientific Officer will have cross-collaboration project management experience developing plans and coordinating timelines to ensure timely completion of research programmes, and projects, including summaries and critical analysis of the scientific literature, and the preparation of reports for a broad range of stakeholders.

Principle Accountabilities

• Support scientific literature reviews and reviews of regulatory & governmental reports relevant to Imperial Brands’ scientific, regulatory and commercial strategies. 
• Monitor, review, critique and report on literature developments in designated scientific topics and provide overviews and early alerts to senior leaders, and the wider Group Science & Regulatory Affairs function.
• Contribute to specific scientific questions requested to support the formation of scientific opinion & substantiation of scientific evidence and the positioning of the Group on scientific and technical issues.

• Coordinate with external partners to produce high-quality, scientifically accurate documents.

• Establish scientific evidence, records, and content in living documents, and re-evaluate regularly so that functions are working from a shared, up to date, blueprint.
• Support with identifying topics (horizon scanning approaches) which require expert opinion/ a formal report to support the Imperial’s Scientific and Regulatory Affairs narratives.

• Supporting the wider Scientific Substantiation Team on the behavioral & clinical research program & related studies to support our Next Generation Products (E-Cigarettes, Heated Tobacco, Oral Nicotine Products).
• Support Project Management on behavioral & clinical studies in close collaboration with internal and external project teams to deliver the operational elements of the study plans.
• Support wider activities related to the outsourcing of clinical studies to CROs and vendors.
• Support research meetings with internal stakeholders, suppliers and vendors including kick off, investigator meetings, lessons learned, etc.
• Contribute to growing relationships with external partners based on mutual trust, participating in regular update meetings and discussions regarding research projects and scientific developments with external experts.

Key Skills, Education & Experience

• Graduate qualifications or experience in an aspect of science related to tobacco & nicotine or health sciences e.g., toxicology, pharmacology, biological sciences, biomedical sciences or medical biochemistry etc.
• Experience in supporting qualitative and quantitative research acquired in academia or industry, preferably in a regulated consumer products industry such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, tobacco, food or cosmetics.
• Experience and skill performing medical and scientific literature searches and experience producing high quality scientific documents with superb attention to detail.
• START WITH THE CONSUMER: Ability to analyse complex and detailed scientific research papers, including concisely summarising and critiquing publications.
• COLLABORATE WITH PURPOSE: Strong interpersonal skills along with an ability to build and leverage strong and meaningful working relationships internally and externally. Strong collaboration and project management experience in coordinating internal stakeholders and managing external execution partners / suppliers to support behavioural Science research projects.
• TAKE ACCOUNTABILITY WITH CONFIDENCE: Strong organisational/prioritisation skills for the management of multiple concurrent projects and interdepartmental needs
• BE AUTHENTIC, INCLUSIVE TO ALL: Great communication ability at all levels within and outside the business, including presentation, written, oral and communication skills.
• BUILDING OUR FUTURE: Curious in exploring new ways of working and proactive in proposing creative solutions and ideas. Creative thinking and intellectual curiosity paired with a strong ability to understand complex relationships and communicate these easily across cultures and organisational levels tailored to different audiences including non-scientists.

Desirable

• Masters’ qualification in science.
• Experience in neurobiology, human biology, pharmacology, medicine, clinical or behavioural research.
• Understanding of tobacco & nicotine science and related products.

What We Offer

Competitive salary, bonus scheme, pension, and 25 days holiday + bank holidays (with an additional 4 days on top to cover the Christmas period), 50 / 50 hybrid working policy, corporate discounts, Health Cash Plan, and other wellbeing initiatives.

Imperial Brands is committed to inclusiveness and creating a work environment where differences are expected, accepted, and valued and people feel like they belong. We embrace diversity in our workforce, as part of this, there are four employee resource groups focused on Gender, Disability, LGBTQ+, and Ethnicity which any employee can join.

If you’re a person with a disability or have a condition that you believe may affect your performance during our selection process, we are more than happy to make reasonable adjustments for you during our application and interview process to enable you to be present your best self.

Next Steps

Interested applicants should apply with their CV highlighting their suitability for the role.