Jamie Soffe: Senior Partnerships Executive at Research Outreach
Research Outreach provides a suite of communication services, from articles to podcasts to video abstracts, all with the intention of bringing cutting-edge research to the wider public. Whether your interest is in nanotechnology, sustainable architecture, or the latest developments in cancer treatments, Research Outreach will have an article on it. Driving the publication forward as part of the Partnerships team is Jamie Soffe, who’s been working in his role for almost three years. In this blog, we’re talking to him about his interests, background, and what makes him tick.
Could you introduce us to your background, have you always been interested in research and publications?
Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. I went to university to study music, performance, and production. I’m still interested in music – I play guitar, keyboard, and I sing. I’ve recorded some of my own stuff too, but I won’t inflict that on your ears! I’m my own worst critic, so even though I have released an album I’m not satisfied with it!
I still write music these days, as I find it cathartic. In an ideal world, I’d have some more time to work on a project that’s been sat on the back burner for a while. I do a lot of programming and production of music in my downtime, it’s how I like to relax.
From music to Partnership Executive, how did that happen?
It was one of those things that I didn’t expect to happen. Unfortunately there aren’t that many ‘real’ jobs in music, and I kind of fell in to working in IT for a while. That didn’t last long before I moved on to working in a position where I sold furniture over the phone.
I moved on from there after a few years and met Luke – one of the other members of the Partnerships team here – in my new job; he was my manager at the time but moved on himself after a little while. We had the same outlook on a lot of things, a similar sense of humour, and I’d like to say we’ve been friends ever since then.
It just so happened that, after Luke started working at Research Outreach, another position opened up. I did my interview with Simon, the founder, and I knew this was where I wanted to be. Everyone hypes each other up, we’re always supporting each other.
What do you most enjoy about working here?
Partly the camaraderie: it’s always preferable to be working in a supportive place and I love the atmosphere we have on the Partnerships team. We’re always building each other up, cheesy as that sounds, and it makes the job so much more enjoyable.
The thing is, I’ve always agreed with the saying, ‘try to be the dumbest person in the room’ – and most days, I achieve that! I’m surrounded by intelligent colleagues, I get to learn new things every single day, and we work with people who are top in their field and have brains the size of galaxies.
Falling into working at somewhere like Research Outreach has changed my views on a lot of things. I wouldn’t have put myself down as ‘mad about science’ before starting here, but the research that we cover is just so good that I’m always keen to read the new issue as it comes out.
What are your interests?
I like to joke that I’m a 19-year-old in a nearly 30-year-old body! I like to skate, I play video games and I’ve recently become interested in Forex trading.
I’ve been playing DnD for a while now, and I’m actually in the middle of the Tomb of Annihiliation campaign – if you’ve seen Stranger Things, it’s the one with Vecna in it!
An interview with Jamie Soffe