Sr. Manager, Communications

Position Summary

McKesson is advancing a more connected, dependable communications experience for business-critical technology services. This role will create the shared standards, readiness practices, and trusted partnerships that enable planned maintenance and service interruptions to be communicated with greater speed, clarity, and confidence. The Senior Specialist will own the end-to-end communications operating model, translating complex and fast-changing system information into timely, accurate, and actionable messages for internal partners across the U.S. pharmaceutical distribution business.

Operating with substantial independence, this highly visible role will bring structure to ambiguity, strengthen alignment across technology and business teams, and continuously improve how McKesson communicates when information matters most.

Broader portfolio contribution: The role also provides communications counsel and execution support for selected technology releases, product changes, innovation initiatives, roadmaps, executive updates, and operational communications serving internal and external audiences.

• Partners receive concise, audience-appropriate information that explains impact, timing, actions, and next updates without unnecessary technical language.
• Speed with accuracy
• Repeatable intake, review, approval, and distribution practices shorten the path from validated facts to approved communications.
• Operational readiness
• Playbooks, templates, FAQs, decision paths, stakeholder maps, and contact lists are current and usable before they are needed.
• Technology, product, operations, and communications partners have a reliable lead who can navigate competing priorities and drive decisions.
• Post-event insights are translated into stronger processes, cleaner audience data, and more consistent communications performance.

• Lead business continuity and service communications
• Own end-to-end communications for planned maintenance, degraded service, and unplanned outages affecting critical platforms. Gather validated facts, define audience needs, draft initial and follow-up messages, develop collateral, coordinate review, and manage distribution through resolution.
• Build communications readiness and governance
• Design and maintain practical playbooks, templates, FAQs, intake standards, approval paths, escalation guidance, decision points, and message cadences that improve speed and consistency.
• Translate technical information for business audiences
• Partner with product managers, engineers, service owners, and incident teams to convert technical details into plain-language communications describing business impact, timing when known, workarounds, required actions, and next steps.
• Manage stakeholder relationships and alignment
• Serve as a dedicated communications partner across technical and business functions. Build durable relationships, clarify ownership, challenge incomplete information, reconcile competing inputs, and drive timely decisions without formal authority.
• Govern audiences, channels, and distribution
• Create, maintain, and routinely validate distribution lists and stakeholder maps. Strengthen audience segmentation, ownership, access, and change controls so approved messages reach the right partners through the right channels.
• Measure effectiveness and improve the operating model
• Capture lessons after significant events, identify recurring breakdowns, and implement corrective actions. Establish practical measures for readiness, timeliness, accuracy, reach, update cadence, and stakeholder feedback.
• Support adjacent technical, product, innovation, and executive communications
• Provide writing, editing, strategy, and communications counsel for selected technology releases, product changes, roadmaps, innovation initiatives, executive updates, and other operational communications requiring coordinated messaging.

Degree or equivalent and typically requires 7+ years of relevant experience.

Bachelor's degree in communications, journalism, public relations, business, information systems, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

• Typically, 7+ years of relevant experience in corporate, employee, operational, technical, crisis, incident, or change communications.
• Demonstrated experience owning high-visibility communications in a complex, matrixed environment with multiple reviewers and time-sensitive deadlines.
• Demonstrated experience partnering with technology, product, engineering, service management, or operations teams and translating complex information for nontechnical audiences.
• Experience creating and sustaining repeatable communications processes, templates, playbooks, FAQs, governance, or audience-management practices.

• Advanced business writing and editing skills, including the ability to produce concise, accurate messages from incomplete or rapidly changing inputs.
• Working knowledge of technology service operations, planned maintenance,…