Director, Corporate Affairs (Vaccines and Immune Therapies Unit)

As a Director of Corporate Affairs you will be key to supporting AstraZeneca’s Vaccines and Immune Therapies (V&I) Unit with a focus on the Company’s RSV and flu portfolio.

V&I, part of Biopharmaceuticals (BioPharma), is at the forefront of a new and exciting era in disease prevention. Built on AstraZeneca’s established heritage in infectious disease and its commitment to patients, the unit has developed medicines that offer protection from some of the world’s most challenging respiratory diseases, including COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Our ambition is to develop and deliver transformative vaccines and antibodies, providing long-lasting immunity for millions of people, where the burden of disease is greatest.

This role is accountable for development and execution of corporate affairs strategies including communications as well as policy and advocacy collaborations for our RSV and flu portfolios, as well as supporting the Therapy Unit CA team more broadly.

You will need an understanding of the communications and campaign requirements for reaching a wide range of audiences, including media, policy makers, governments and regulators, the financial community (investors and analysts), healthcare professionals, patients and employees.

You will also need to be a key partner for the cross-functional global franchise and product teams who have responsibility for the clinical development and commercialization of the RSV and flu portfolios, working closely with policy functional leads, regions and priority markets and a broad mix of internal stakeholders across the V&I Unit, the Global Corporate Affairs function (global, regional and marketing company contacts across communications, media, policy/government relations and patient advocacy) Investor Relations, Global Medical Affairs, and R&D.

The role reports to the Head of Global Corporate Affairs, V&I.

What You’ll Do:

• For the RSV/flu portfolio, lead global product communications including data/regulatory/commercial milestones, medical news and any disclosures required by company convention or regulation. Includes coordinating global and in-country product plans and collaboration with investor relations and global media relations.
• Support development and delivery of global cross-functional programs and campaigns in RSV/flu that advance AZ goals and transform healthcare, aligned to the interests of patients, governments/payers and society. Includes supporting programs that increase understanding and improving standards of care, support access to care, reform healthcare system and government policies, and advance collaborating with experts, patient advocacy groups, policymakers and other stakeholders. Includes working closely with Head of V&I and global/regional/key market colleagues.
• Maintains and evolves a compelling narrative for AZ’s work in RSV and flu, in close collaboration with colleagues, with clear messages and sharp proof points to build awareness and confidence among key stakeholder groups.
• Develops and delivers digital communications to support the needs of the portfolio. Includes use AZ’s global corporate digital channels and paid-for/organic digital campaigns/content to meet agreed strategic goals.
• Partners with Investor Relations and Corporate Communications to ensure that financial stakeholders understand the value, products, pipeline and newsflow for the RSV and flu portfolio.
• Develops and delivers cross-functional plans for key moments for therapy area such as priority medical congresses and product milestones
• Ensures identification, prioritization and appropriate handling of issues that could impact the RSV/flu portfolio and ultimately AZ reputation with a focus on the dynamic nature of addressing RSV/flu seasons around the world. Includes identifying and supporting the corporate affairs activities to manage topics including supply NGO, government and/or regulatory developments, and media attention..
• Initiates, cultivates and maintains external relationships with partners and high-level influencers to protect, nurture and build the reputation of the business; could include external experts partner companies, NGOs, advocacy groups, scientific societies, external experts, health authority or government contacts.
• Develops and delivers internal communications that inform, engage, and motivate employees by ensuring that they understand the business strategy, the competitive environment, and the importance of their individual contributions to the success of the RSV/flu portfolio.
• Manages executive communications for key leaders in the V&I business. Supports preparation of R&D leads and executives for media engagements and oversees the development of speeches, Power Point presentations and talking points, as necessary.
• Develop and deliver approaches across the RSV/flu portfolio for evaluating success of corporate affairs activities including KPIs, metrics, sentiment analysis, reputational research, return-on-investment evaluations, externally validated outcomes.
• Serves as a collaborative team members able to flex to support timely requirements or priorities with the V&I, Biopharmaceuticals or broader Global Corporate Affairs agenda when required.
• Demonstrate enterprise leadership and role model value-aligned behavior.

Essential Requirements:

• Graduate degree with working knowledge of global Pharmaceutical market and innovative life sciences environment.
• 5 years of experience and established track-record of delivering impactful, strategic and content-rich communications programs, and proactive stakeholder management with demonstrable measures of success.
• Substantial experience of healthcare communications gained in-house at a biopharma company or at a global agency, backed up by deep understanding of regulatory environment, compliance framework and perspectives of key external stakeholders such as physicians, payers and patients.
• Significant experience of leading issues preparedness and issues management in a similar environment.
• Strong digital capability including track record for leveraging organic and paid-for opportunities in pharmaceutical company/medical settings.
• Strong internal communications capability including understanding of effective channel management, engagement strategies and organizational change communications.
• Strong proven leadership skills and collaborative behavior required to establish ways of working and to drive successful delivery against strategy through a broad mix of internal and external stakeholders.
• Proven capability to influence and counsel senior leaders and teams across functions and geographical boundaries.

Preferred Requirements:

• Ability to provide effective coaching and guidance to peers and other team members.
• Ability to work in a global environment including understanding of cultural differences.
• Ability to combine strategic thinking with hands-on delivery.
• Experience of creating and translating scientific/technical content for a broad range of audiences.

Why AstraZeneca

At AstraZeneca when we see an opportunity for change, we seize it and make it happen, because any opportunity no matter how small, can be the start of something big. Delivering life-changing medicines is about being entrepreneurial -finding those moments and recognizing their potential. Interested? Come and join our journey!

Next Steps – Apply today!

To be considered for this exciting opportunity, please complete the full application on our website at your earliest convenience – it is the only way that our Recruiter and Hiring Manager can know that you feel well qualified for this opportunity. If you know someone who would be a great fit, please share this posting with them.