UK Senior External Communications Manager

Job Description: UK Senior External Communications Manager

Why Patients Need You
Pfizer's purpose - breakthroughs that change patients' lives - requires us to share high levels of trust with all our external stakeholders, including the general public. We aim to engage with those stakeholders to support the best healthcare outcomes for patients today, and to make progress toward better health outcomes tomorrow. We are here to outdo yesterday. As a core part of this mission, the UK Corporate Affairs team manages reputation and engagement across external communication, policy, public affairs, patient advocacy, global health and social impact.

The External Communications team within the Corporate Affairs division draws on best practices in corporate, therapy and brand communication, digital, media, public relations and strategic comms planning to positively advance our company purpose and contribute to our aim of becoming the most trusted healthcare brand.

What You Will Achieve
It's all about driving our external engagement. You will manage external communication programmes, materials and relationships for Pfizer - across a range of channels including traditional news media, digital (social, web), stakeholder relations and executive engagement. Your guidance will be sought for developing and maintaining communications strategies, approaches, language and guidelines in the therapy area(s) under your responsibility and in corporate projects. You will create materials using a factual and creative approach with careful attention to accuracy and verifiable internal and external sources, alongside a compelling creative style.

Your advanced knowledge of pharmaceutical and healthcare communications will enable you to lead ambitious projects through teamwork across external communications, corporate affairs and cross-functional brand teams. Your ability to develop and manage strategic and executional plans will enable you to set appropriate, measurable communications goals and evaluate project and programme outcomes - sharing best practice across the business and identifying improvements. Your professional experience enables you to troubleshoot roadblocks and influence teams to achieve collective success.

How You Will Achieve It

• Enabling the key business goals and strategies by creating industry-leading external communications solutions (communication strategies, plans, tactics) in a '360 approach' across digital and traditional channels founded on expert communications counsel to internal leaders and teams.
• Aligning with cross-functional teams to understand key business goals and priorities and the strategies and plans supporting them.
• Delivering tactical excellence through communications actions that outperform industry benchmarks for creativity, reach and engagement with target audiences - including developing and maintaining communications materials and executing seamlessly across traditional media, digital channels (web, social media), executive engagement and stakeholder relations.
• Maintaining cross-functional teamwork and relationships across the business (leaders, corporate affairs, brand XFTs).
• Measuring and analysing our communications environment and the impact of our strategies and tactics on it.
• Issues management - protecting reputation and managing business risks through excellence in judgement and planning of comms and engagement linked to issues/crisis.
• Maintaining and delivering specialist expertise in news media and press channels - including media influencers, maintaining industry-leading relationships with key news organisations and journalists.
• Overseeing and managing procedures, processes and tools required for industry-leading media communication - including essential compliance processes in our highly regulated industry and patient-centric culture.
• Applying specialist news media expertise to deliver One Pfizer strategies linked to integrated communication programmes.
• Developing and maintaining a compelling Pfizer story through the external engagement messaging, execution and communications strategy in your area(s) of therapy responsibility.
• Establishing strong internal relationships to ensure alignment with managers, and cross-functional, regional and global colleagues - at all levels of the business.
• Overseeing the day-to-day work of external agencies in your area(s) of responsibility.
• Acting as the primary internal point-person in your allocated therapy area(s) to coordinate program planning, delivery, content development and requisite Subject Matter Expert approvals.
• Ensuring that activities in your area of responsibility stay within budget.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• Bachelor's Degree
• Extensive years of experience in a similar role in this industry - in a communications agency or in-house
• Proven expertise in developing and executing insight-driven, strategic and measurable external communications programs
• Demonstrable understanding of and experience of managing relevant media and channels
• Ability to assimilate strategic information and convert it into clear and concise messages
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and as a part of a geographically diverse team
• Strong time management skills and ability to manage multiple projects against tight deadlines
• Excellent written, presentation and verbal communication skills
• Strong IT and digital skills (Microsoft Office - Word, PowerPoint, Excel, aptitude to learn new software and online systems when required)

Nice-to-Have

• Master's degree
• Seasoned communications professional in the pharmaceutical industry with experience in global product communications, media relations or public relations
• Experience of allied roles in pharma corporate affairs, including patient advocacy, healthcare/medical communications, policy, public affairs, CSR, stakeholder engagement.

Work Location: On Premise in Walton Oaks, Surrey (flexible options available)