Vice President, Client Experience - Healthcare

Weber Shandwick Chicago has an exciting opportunity for an Account Director to join our Corporate/Enterprise team.

We are looking for an engaging, curious and collaborative person with outstanding client service and interaction skills, as well as proven analysis, writing, strategic planning, media relations and digital/social media acumen to help drive the growth and success of a variety of accounts. 

Responsibilities:

• Developing public relations action plans; program goals; and earned /social media campaigns, targets and pitch angles that require input from senior team leadership
• Play day to day account lead for B2B, financial sector and professional services accounts
• Managing teams and collaborating/responding to clients
• Researching and writing briefing materials for client executives
• Writing and editing press materials, key message documents, briefing materials, blog posts and pitch letters
• Staying abreast of current industry news and trends, and sharing that information with account team members 
• Developing and managing timelines and weekly action plans to ensure all deadlines on client programs are met
• Breaking down and managing detailed tasks with the account team associated with planning and implementing special public relations events such as press conferences and media trips
• Anticipating and proactively offering solutions to senior team leadership for executional issues specific to assigned programs 
• Interacting with senior management and providing input into tactics and strategies
• Cultivate and enhance collaborative working relationships with media through regular communications 
• Persuasively pitching media and securing high-profile coverage for clients
• Understanding client objectives and priorities to help shape story angles  

Basic Qualifications: 

• 6+ years of communications experience, preferably in an agency environment
• Understanding of and experience working with professional and financial services companies, financial markets and products
• Excellent communication/presentation skills; verbal and written
• Strong attention to detail and project management skills
• Social media literacy with the ability to identify and recommend social program elements
• Ability to multi-task effectively and work within tight deadlines
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team to meet deadlines and client expectations
• Confident and comfortable presenting in front of groups
• Media relations experience for financial and professional services accounts is a plus

The Weber Shandwick Collective recognizes that your health and wellbeing are a priority. This is why we offer a full suite of benefits including:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• 401k (with employer match)
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Juice Money – $60 monthly reimbursement to be used towards purchases that nourish your health, mind, body, and soul
• MyDays – Flexible holiday schedules
• Short-Term Disability
• Paid Employee Family Leave
• Family Building Benefit

Weber Shandwick is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Weber Shandwick recruits qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, ethnic or national origin, protected veteran status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or citizenship status.

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Weber Shandwick is looking for an Executive Vice President, Client Experience with Healthcare expertise in our Chicago office. This unique, career-enhancing role has two overall responsibilities: to lead high-profile, growing accounts with the opportunity to partner with exceptional senior practitioners across the agency and its network; and to work alongside the North America healthcare lead and health leadership team to support the growth of the practice through business development.

This senior leader will be an active day-to-day counselor for clients, managing the overall relationship. They will deploy teams in the most efficient and productive way to execute flawlessly and be a supportive mentor and coach. The successful candidate will have experience with consumer-focused programs, FDA approvals and regulatory and data milestones, never-ending curiosity, a desire to always push the work to be better, and the ability to inspire, connect and collaborate with colleagues across agency practice areas, talent communities and geographies.

 We are seeking someone who is passionate about healthcare and making a difference in the lives of patients living with various diseases and conditions. The ideal candidate will have experience and/or knowledge that spans multiple therapeutic areas across pharmaceutical, biotechnology and health technology fields. This candidate will have proven leadership skills, a passion for client service and business development, a hands-on approach, and experience managing cross functional teams and integrated communications programs.

 

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES.

 

• Build, nurture and expand client relationships, growing business by providing strategic guidance to senior level clients as a trusted counselor and thought leader.
• Own responsibilities for leadership of multiple clients and/or client programs, budgets, teams.
• Lead the development of communications programs, facilitating cross-functional integration and collaboration with strategy, creative, and integrated media teams to ensure ideas are data driven, earned at the core, digitally relevant, and impactful.
• Translate strategies into tactical plans with deliverables aligned to measurable goals.
• Guide and inspire clients to continue expanding the kinds of communications work they are doing digitally, directly tied to meeting their business challenges.
• Develop quality standards while delivering above expectations, continuing to fulfill the trusted partner role we enjoy with our clients.
• Proactively support and suggest improvements and innovative ideas to exceed client expectations by leveraging industry knowledge, experience, and a curiosity to stay ahead of the shifting healthcare environment.
• Lead, develop and coach a team of passionate staffers across client experience, earned media, digital and other specialty functions to ensure they deliver state-of-the-art counsel and content.
• Actively participate in agency business development and lead select new business efforts.
• Participate as part of the practice leadership team on the operations of the group.
• Demonstrate financial acumen in budgeting, billing, and staffing.
• Manage ongoing team resourcing/staffing to ensure successful delivery of work product.
• Contribute to the career growth of team members, serving as manager, mentor, and role model.

 

QUALIFICATIONS.

 

• 14+ years of relevant experience, including public relations agency experience.
• Deep knowledge of the pharma regulatory landscape and how to manage a large pharmaceutical account, with the keen organizational skills needed to do so in a deadline-oriented environment.
• Experienced integrated marketer working across teams and disciplines – strategy, planning, creative, earned media, influencer marketing, social media – on large scale campaigns.
• Propensity to organize thinking, break down complexity, and manage shifting priorities.
• Experience building, staffing and leading high-performing teams; mentoring team members.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Proficiency in MSOffice, advanced proficiency in PowerPoint and other presentation platforms.

The Weber Shandwick Collective recognizes that your health and wellbeing are a priority. This is why we offer a full suite of benefits including:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• 401k (with employer match)
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Juice Money – $60 monthly reimbursement to be used towards purchases that nourish your health, mind, body, and soul
• MyDays – Flexible holiday schedules
• Short-Term Disability
• Paid Employee Family Leave
• Family Building Benefit

Weber Shandwick is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Weber Shandwick recruits qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, ethnic or national origin, protected veteran status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or citizenship status.

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What You Will Be Doing:

We are seeking a Manager, Client Experience who is passionate about healthcare and making a difference in the lives of patients living with various diseases and conditions. As a Manager, you will work across several teams, serving as a key client contact and overseeing the success of various client program and day-to-day work.

As a successful Manager, you will be a strong leader with excellent writing and communications skills, an ability to translate client needs into project plans, and the ability to guide the work of junior team members. You will also help develop and implement engagement campaigns for a variety of healthcare clients, including pharmaceutical companies. Ideally, you should have agency/consulting or related experience with a background in healthcare communications, specifically pharmaceutical product communications experience.

 

Other responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Manage account team implementation of agreed-upon programs, ensuring quality standards are met and desired results are delivered on-budget
• Lead project management, ensuring all activities are moving forward and are within deadlines
• Coordinate among interdisciplinary team of research, creative, digital and media strategists
• Develop a range of external and media materials including press releases, key message documents, pitches, social media content, etc.
• Manage client status reports, including materials trackers, media trackers, and website analytics trackers.
• Manage event and activation logistics in a variety of settings
• Set and meet campaign measurement and evaluation criteria
• Identify training and development needs of junior staff and provide opportunities that enable staff members to reach their full potential
• Assist in financial management for clients, including development of invoices and activity reports

 What We Are Looking For:

• Experience working on multi-disciplinary (holistic) healthcare communication initiatives
• Familiarity with data and regulatory milestone communications needs
• Fluency and/or familiarity with earned, digital and social media
• Strong understanding of the relationship between traditional public relations and the use of current online/digital technology and social media
• Strong budgeting and financial management skills
• Experience with clients and accounts that are measurement and evaluation driven
• Strong presentation skills, poise, and professionalism
• Industry experience in healthcare communications and/or pharmaceuticals

Basic Qualifications

• 4-5 years’ experience in public relations at an agency or corporate in-house (healthcare experience required)
• The ability to manage multiple projects at various stages simultaneously.
• Be a self-starter who works well within a highly collaborative, multi-disciplinary team.
• BA or BS in Public Relations, Communications, or in a related field

The Weber Shandwick Collective recognizes that your health and wellbeing are a priority. This is why we offer a full suite of benefits including:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• 401k (with employer match)
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Juice Money – $60 monthly reimbursement to be used towards purchases that nourish your health, mind, body, and soul
• MyDays – Flexible holiday schedules
• Short-Term Disability
• Paid Employee Family Leave
• Family Building Benefit

Weber Shandwick is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Weber Shandwick recruits qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, ethnic or national origin, protected veteran status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or citizenship status.

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