Journalist/Press Officer. Salary 25-35K (depending on experience), plus performance bonus
DrThom, the UK’s leading online doctor service, is seeking an exceptional candidate with the perfect combination of journalism and PR experience, creativity, and drive to head up our Press Office. We have a fun team, a company that’s going places, and tons of amazing raw material just waiting to be packaged up the right way and introduced to the right people. Our products combine health, lifestyle, technology and sex(ual health)… what could be easier to sell? We have dozens of stories just waiting to be told. Join us and tell them!
About the company
DrThom is an online service which helps people avoid seeing a doctor face-to-face by offering safe, confidential diagnosis and delivery of prescription medicines. We operate 12 websites, including www.drthom.com and http://onlinedoctor.lloydspharmacy.com. Over 350,000 patients so far have discovered that they can access contraception, cystitis treatments, medications for erectile dysfunction and hair loss, malaria tablets and home tests for a variety of STIs online, and have them delivered safely to their home or their nearest Lloydspharmacy for pickup. Our patients love us because we are discreet, efficient and responsive – and by using us, they don’t have to interrupt their busy lives to go to the doctor, or announce what they need in a crowded local pharmacy. We’re owned by Lloydspharmacy and registered with the Care Quality Commission, which is the body that regulates all private and NHS healthcare providers in the UK – so our patients know they are getting top quality, safe, confidential care. DrThom is based at 50-54 Wigmore St, Marylebone, London, W1U 2SB. We were the first online doctor to register with the UK Care Quality Commission and we intend to remain at the cutting edge of online healthcare, challenging the idea that every healthcare problem requires a face-to-face ‘consultation’ between doctor and patient.
About the team
DrThom’s culture is informal, practical and friendly; and our people are talented, entrepreneurial, and action-oriented. Our office feels quietly energetic, and just about every week we celebrate a new launch or more sales or growth of some kind.
About the opportunity
This role combines press office duties with journalism. You’ll write press releases and deal with journalists, but you’ll also interview people, interpret data and write articles for our website.
DrThom has grown dramatically in recent years and recently celebrated its 500,000th patient order. With a tenth anniversary this year and a raft of stories already prepared, there is so much scope for PR. We have tons of ideas and we’re sure you will too. We now need someone with the experience and the skills to make sure that we’re crafting our plans right and to deploy the right material at the right time.
About the candidate
The successful candidate will need to be able to:
• Contribute website content: write fast, accurate, engaging copy; edit others’ work; and give them tactful feedback
• Plan and implement a PR calendar: write fascinating press releases, organise press events, win the attention of writers and editors
• Create a crisis communications plan
• Be available out of office hours if a story requires it
Skills and experience
• Strong journalism portfolio AND evidence of clear PR impact (ESSENTIAL)
• Existing relevant networks and contacts (ESSENTIAL)
• Strong first degree from good university (desirable)
• Medical or scientific writing background (desirable)
• Knowledge of ecommerce and/or pharmacy or healthcare operations (desirable)
• An interest in (or even a passion for) healthcare innovation (desirable)
• Understanding of SEO and how Google works (desirable)
Attitude and character
We need someone who is:
• Exceptionally self-starting and entrepreneurial
• Driven, with an exceptional commitment to delivery
• Resilient and persistent, with a problem-solving orientation
• Able to do much with few resources—a ‘startup’ mentality
• Gutsy, with a willingness to challenge assumptions and entrenched ideas
Other information
Apply to rachel@drthom.com with a cover letter, CV and whichever examples of your written work you think are closest to what we might put on our website. In your cover letter, let us know who you would approach first to land a PR story, and why.
Shortlisted candidates will be asked to perform a test in their own time. Finalists will then proceed to at two rounds of interviews: the first to check skills and the second to check cultural fit.
References will be a major part of the evaluation process and will be checked via telephone as the final stage of recruitment.
All staff must be CRB-checked before starting work, as we deal with sensitive patient data.