Senior Director, Public Affairs

At Lilly, we unite caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We are a global healthcare leader headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our employees around the world work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to our communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. We give our best effort to our work, and we put people first. We’re looking for people who are determined to make life better for people around the world.

About the job 

The Sr. Director, Public Affairs is a critical member of the Global Corporate Communications, Reputation Management team and will work in a cross-functional environment with Global Public Policy (GPP), Legal, Federal Government Affairs (FGA), Value and Access (LVA) and Business Unit Corporate Affairs (BUCAs). The focus of this role is to deploy communications strategies to craft a policy environment at the federal level that promotes Lilly policy objectives. The ideal candidate will have experience crafting and launching public affairs campaigns that include media strategy, partner engagement, external mobilization, paid media and digital/social amplification. Outstanding writing skills and pharmaceutical industry knowledge are a must. This position will report into the Associate Vice President and Head of Public Affairs with a dotted line to the Senior Vice President and Head of Global Public Policy. 

Have you had success developing and driving public affairs communication campaigns that required media strategy, digital/social savvy, paid targeting, partner outreach and coalition building? Your skills and experiences would be appreciated and valued here. Apply today and join Team Lilly 

Primary Responsibilities  

Develop and lead environment crafting communications campaigns and activities for priority policy goals with GPP, Legal, FGA, LVA and the BUCAs. 

Collaborate with partners within Global Corporate Communications, (Corporate Channels and Creative (CCC) and Internal Communications) to implement tactics. 

Coordinate with industry associations’ public affairs teams (e.g., PhRMA, BIO) as needed. 

Engage with the different departments on communication strategies and tactics, which may encompass earned and paid media, digital and social media amplification, internal communications, advocacy groups, speaking engagements for Lilly executives, and events or briefings. 

Stay on top of the evolving policy landscape in terms of drug pricing, intellectual property, patient affordability, reimbursement and innovation. 

Work with Federal Advocacy to find possibilities to improve the efficiency of advocacy groups through communications in support of policy priorities. 

Partner with GPP to engage external policy influencers to provide POV. 

Develop proactive and reactive message documents, including talking points, standby statements, press release and FAQs. 

Develop advocacy communications materials, including issue backgrounders, fact sheets and partner letters. 

Draft and position op-eds on behalf of Lilly executives. 

Build connections with key policy media. 

Work jointly with business partners to lead media inquiries and partner with extended communications team on story prospects. 

Work with Legal and Compliance functions to outline appropriate guardrails related to influencing the external environment. 

Evaluate and recommend fresh perspectives to drive Lilly’s voice externally. 

Partner with and provide direction to external agencies and vendors, as needed. 

Flex to support other areas of the team, as needed. 

Requirements 

Understanding of biopharmaceutical industry, supply chain dynamics, public policies impacting industry and partner/advocacy landscape. 

Corporate external communications, public affairs and partner engagement experience. 

Understanding of if/when/how to use Lilly’s thought leadership to advance policy objectives. 

Experience deploying media strategies and shown success interacting with reporters. 

Ability to work quickly and with effectively in a prompt manner. 

Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams across a matrixed organization, establishing strong working relationships. 

Superb verbal and written communication skills. 

Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills. 

Highly organized, problem solver with capability to lead multiple tasks. 

Ability to be a flexible teammate, act quickly and meet due dates with the highest ethical and business standards. 

Professional presence capable of handling ad-hoc issues, performing with a sense of immediacy. 

Meticulous attention to detail, with ability to grasp and focus on the big picture. 

Project management capabilities that include process development and improvement, communications of standard processes, and measurement. 

Basic Qualifications 

Bachelor’s Degree 

7+ years of communications experience. 

Qualified candidates must be legally authorized to be employed in the United States. Lilly does not anticipate providing sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g., H-1B or TN status) for this employment position. 

Additional Skills/Preferences 

Shown ability in leading, running and coordinating large cross-functions and sophisticated results; ability to influence without authority; ability to develop collaborations and good working relationships to secure teamwork across all functions. 

Previous experience with or knowledge of drug development and commercialization. 

Strong critical thinking skills with the ability to lead strategy projects, engage others and translate strategy into implementation tactics and capabilities. 

Established capability to influence others and lead without authority. 

Excellent communication and relationship-building skills across functional and geographic boundaries as well as across, up, and down the interpersonal ladder. 

Experience working with professional, advocacy, communications outlets or similar collaborators. 

Location  

Washington DC. Hybrid work schedule allowed. 

Eli Lilly and Company, Lilly USA, LLC and our wholly owned subsidiaries (collectively “Lilly”) are committed to help individuals with disabilities to participate in the workforce and ensure equal opportunity to compete for jobs. If you require an accommodation to submit a resume for positions at Lilly, please email Lilly Human Resources ( Lilly_Recruiting_Compliance@lists.lilly.com ) for further assistance. Please note This email address is intended for use only to request an accommodation as part of the application process. Any other correspondence will not receive a response.

Lilly is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.

Our employee resource groups (ERGs) offer strong support networks for their members and help our company develop talented individuals for future leadership roles. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia Network, African American Network, Chinese Culture Network, Early Career Professionals, Japanese International Leadership Network (JILN), Lilly India Network, Organization of Latinos at Lilly, PRIDE (LGBTQ + Allies), Veterans Leadership Network, Women’s Network, Working and Living with Disabilities. Learn more about all of our groups.

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