Head of Communication
About Astellas:
At Astellas we are a progressive health partner, delivering value and outcomes where needed.
We pursue innovative science, focusing initially on the areas of greatest potential and then developing solutions where patient need is high, often in rare or under-served disease areas and in life-threatening or life-limiting diseases and conditions.
We work directly with patients, doctors and health care professionals on the front line to ensure patient and clinical needs are guiding our development activities at every stage.
Our global vision for Patient Centricity is to support the development of innovative health solutions through a deep understanding of the patient experience. At Astellas, Patient Centricity isn’t a buzzword - it’s a guiding principle for action. We believe all staff have a role to play in creating a patient-centric culture and integrating an awareness of the patient into our everyday working practices, regardless of our role, team or division.
We work closely with regulatory authorities and payers to find new ways to ensure access to new therapies. We deliver the latest insights and real-world evidence to inform the best decisions for patients and their care-givers, to ensure the medicines we develop continue to provide meaningful outcomes.
Beyond medicines, we support our stakeholder communities to drive initiatives that improve awareness, education, access and ultimately standards of care.
The Opportunity:
As Head of Communications, you will be responsible for promoting the company's image to all external stakeholders: health ecosystem, economic decision-makers, politicians and media, as well as promoting internally the actions of the French affiliate to other entities of the company.
In this role you will define the global communication strategy with the functional departments and product teams, and manage its implementation at the national level in line with the global guidelines. Additionally you will actively monitor health sector issues in conjunction with the public affairs team.
You will be reporting to the General Manager.
Hybrid Working:
At Astellas, we recognise the importance of balancing your work and home life, so we offer a hybrid working solution allowing time to connect with colleagues in person at the office alongside the flexibility to work from home; optimising the most productive work environment for you to succeed and deliver.
Key Responsibilities:
- Develop and plan an annual internal communication plan as well as an external and multi-channel communication plan.
- Collaborate closely with the medical, marketing, regulatory and market access teams to ensure the consistency of external messages on products, clinical projects or publications, respecting local and global regulatory constraints.
- Develop and validate the health language elements used in external communications and media relations, to ensure compliance.
- Act as a spokesperson for Astellas and/or train the members of the Management Committee in this exercise (media training, interview management, Q&A, etc.).
- Manage the digital communication and social networks strategy internally (Veeva Engage) and externally (LinkedIn, X, YouTube, etc.), with a focus on employer awareness and corporate communication, as well as implement e-reputation monitoring tools and manage responses in the event of a crisis.
- Develop and maintain the protocols and all the tools available for crisis communication, in coordination with the legal, regulatory and corporate functions.
Essential Knowledge & Experience:
- Extensive experience in communications roles including agency and/or with the advertiser.
- Knowledge of the functioning of communication agencies and communication and multimedia technologies (printing, publishing, audiovisual, multimedia, DTP, web, etc.).
- Successful experience in managing cross-functional projects in frequent interaction with the Management Committee.
- Mastery of public speaking in any audience.
- Good knowledge and practice of product communication, particularly at the national level and/or in events.
- Fluent in spoken and written business English.
Education/Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in communications, public affairs, or equivalent.
Additional information:
- This is a permanent, full-time position.
- Location: This position is based in France.
- This position follows our hybrid working model. Role requires a blend of home and a minimum of 2 days per week in our respective local affiliate office in Levallois-Perret. Flexibility may be required in line with business needs. Candidates must be located within a commutable distance of the office.
What We Offer:
- A challenging and diversified job in an international setting
- Opportunity and support to continuous development
- Inspiring work climate
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Beware of recruitment scams impersonating Astellas recruiters or representatives. Authentic communication will only originate from an official Astellas LinkedIn profile or a verified company email address. If you encounter a fake profile or anything suspicious, report it promptly to LinkedIn's support team through LinkedIn Help.
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