Shire - Communications Lead - External Affairs

Job Title : Communication Lead

Function : External Affairs

Position Reporting To : Head of External Affairs, India

Nature of Role : Individual Contributor

Job Location : Gurgaon/India

Span of Control : 0

Primary Role Purpose :

- The role will provide support, counsel and strategic communications direction to the India country management and business teams to help meet business and marketing objectives.

- Incumbent shall deliver proactive direction, leadership and support to the local country senior leadership team on communications and issues management, be the key driver of proactive corporate reputation and media management. He/she works in close collaboration with business teams to develop and implement strategic communication campaigns through effective messaging platforms and tools.

Job Duties and Description :

Corporate Communications :

- Proactively launch and shape Shire's reputation to ensure it is aligned with the brand and executed in a consistent way across India. Identify and evaluate opportunities to tell our story in a compelling and consistent way

- Create exceptional content and stories that support the brand and company strategy. Develop visuals to bring our story to life.

- Develop country media materials (country fact sheets, Q&As). Conduct external stakeholder mapping exercise to prioritize what local stakeholders are critical to engage and at what point)

- Plan and execute local Shire launch events (targeting key stakeholders: press, govt./MoHFW, patient groups, key customers, etc.) in coordination with corporate guidance

- Develop and execute ongoing proactive communications (including media, where appropriate) to support Shire reputation program such as being recognized as a premier employer, scientific/biotech leadership, global access, sustainability, community and giving programs, and others as defined globally

External Communications :

- Act as media spokesperson for local media inquiries and proactive outreach, coordinating with senior Shire leaders/spokespersons (as determined by Shire management team) to conduct interviews with press.

- Monitor local media for mentions of Baxalta and for topics/issues that affect Shire's business. Create and distribute regular media analysis reports monitoring reports, analyzing the success of Shire reputation, determine if this is the right model or if this can be done more cost effectively, centrally.

- Partner with HR to ensure all relevant employees (function leaders) are trained on Corporate comms policies and guidance for example a Representing Shire externally policy

Business Communications :

- Be an active member of the country senior business teams for hematology, oncology and immunology

- Plan and execute external communications, in coordination with global comms strategy, related to product launches and other announcements (e.g. clinical data, regulatory milestones, our leadership in R&D and pipeline, as well as therapy and disease state)

- Ensure Shire press release approval process is adhered to. Manage comms strategy for product crises and issues. Media train key business internal senior executives and measure the impact

- Conduct Request for Proposal processes to hire appropriate local Indian PR agencies to support business and corporate communications, manage PR agencies and ensure effective tracking of project budget spend

Internal Communications :

- Engage and align the organization around the goals of the company to drive differentiated performance for our business and support Shire as a great place to work.

- Partner with the India senior management team (SMT)/business teams to develop internal strategy for employee engagement; ensuring staff has a degree of understanding (appropriate to their role in the organization) of Shire's global, cluster and country goals, strategy and performance.

- Use a variety of employee communications channels, facilitate understanding of/contextualize our business strategy and performance, translating global to regional to local. Drive key programs as they occur (e.g. quality improvement, Gemini separation, others).

Crisis & Issues Management :

In line with corporate global and the India Leadership Team (ILT) proactively provide direction, guidance and support on corporate reputation and issues management. This will include :

- Conduct issues mapping and simulation exercises

- Ensure that crisis materials and communication tools are up-to-date (key messages, Q&A, holding statements, chronology of events, and customer/patient letters)

- Ensure that all local leaders are trained and prepared to manage threats in compliance with Shire's global policy/standards

Vendor & Agency Management :

- In accordance with global communications policy, develop and support selection RFP process criteria and quality monitoring guidelines for external agencies to ensure that communications expenditure is optimized.

- Manage agency relationship in accordance with global policy.

Other Job Components :

Internal and External Contacts

External : Vendors/PR Agency

Internal : Leadership Team (Commercial & Support Functions)

Indicative Key Performance Indicators :

- Campaign Management Effectiveness

- Collateral Development

- Communication Outreach Statistics (Media/PR)