Vice President, Public Affairs; Healthcare

Agency

Weber Shandwick

Communications and PR

Public Relations

Vice President , Public Affairs, Health

Weber Shandwick is more than a leading global PR agency – we’re an engagement agency working at the cutting edge of the new media landscape. We’re storytellers and content creators who engage people IN the story. Our success is built on a deep commitment to client service and our people, embracing creativity and collaboration to build brands and reputations.

Weber Shandwick is currently seeking a Vice President to join its Public Affairs team, helping to lead key healthcare client engagements and serve as a leader and trusted partner on health policy and public affairs in collaboration with leaders across our teams. This position will be based in our Washington, D.C. office on a hybrid schedule.

The ideal candidate is someone who sees patterns that others don’t, constantly tracks the latest developments in healthcare, excels at unpacking complex health policy for a variety of audiences, and understands how to shape winning healthcare public affairs strategies and craft patient advocacy programs.

Most importantly, we are looking for someone who wants to put their strategic skills to work driving engagement for healthcare clients and on important issues, who is highly collaborative, and who is excited about growing work in the health policy space. The chosen candidate must have a strong public affairs and media relations background in the Washington, D.C. market; a proven track record of leading external communications and issues management campaigns in the health space, including the pharmaceutical industry;

and experience working directly with senior-level clients to shape and execute communications and media strategies. Public affairs experience should include thorough understanding of current U.S. health policy and the political landscape at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as the intersection of earned, paid, and owned media.

Candidates must be driven, poised, and team-oriented, with a demonstrated ability and enthusiasm to learn issues quickly and communicate effectively with internal and external audiences. They must possess exceptional judgment when working with team members, client contacts, and partners, including legal and government relations partners, and experience managing teams and supervising individuals. As a vice president, the candidate should also be committed to serving as an energetic and constructive team lead and a supportive, trusted supervisor and mentor for more junior colleagues.

Design and implement public affairs and issue advocacy campaigns on behalf of corporate, coalition, and trade association clients, with an emphasis on the health sector.

Provide counsel to senior level executives among firm clientele on health policy developments, public affairs campaigns, and strategic communications planning; apply best practices in communications counsel and projects, in collaboration with other senior leaders.

Develop, oversee, and execute reputation, stakeholder engagement, and integrated marketing and communications programs and campaigns, including but not limited to: data and analytics, strategic planning, formative research, message testing, creative concepting and production, earned, paid, and owned media.

Lead major assignments for corporate healthcare clients in support of business initiatives, including supporting leadership or executive messaging, positioning, and thought leadership.

Craft and execute earned-first media strategies and high-quality materials as part of corporate, public affairs and issues/crisis communications.

Serve as a primary client…