Director, Europe

**Director, Europe & Canada (EUCAN) Communications**

**Baar, Switzerland**

**Competitive salary and benefits**

Here at AstraZeneca, you’ll be valued for your unique knowledge. It means we are trusted with personal accountability to live up to our full potential and make a contribution. We get to challenge the way we work to find innovative ways to make a bigger impact on the business and patients’ lives. From adopting innovative technology to reimagining technical practices.

The Director, Europe and Canada (EUCAN) Communications will provide communications expertise to the EUCAN Region, including corporate communications, media relations, executive leader visibility and internal communications, as well as support the communications for the Biopharmaceuticals Business Unit (BBU). A critical part of this role will be to coordinate all above therapy area communications and drive an integrated EUCAN Communications strategy across our different business units, in close partnership with the EUCAN communications leads for our Oncology Business Unit (OBU) and Alexion, Rare Disease Business Unit (RDU).

Reporting to the Senior Director, EUCAN Biopharma Corporate Affairs, you’ll work closely with the Vice-President, Head of EUCAN and Alexion International Corporate Affairs and the regional and global cross-functional teams, as well as with the markets across the region, to develop, drive and deliver a coordinated communications strategy aligned to regional business priorities and our Global Corporate Affairs (GCA) objectives.

Internal communications initiatives will predominantly focus on driving increased employee engagement, equipping leaders to engage their teams and inspiring change. It will also include channel management and development. External communications initiatives will predominantly focus on improving/protecting the reputation of the company, supporting our biopharma priorities, issues management and message development. Across both areas, there is a focus on digital communications, simplification, and standardisation.

You will play a functional and strategic leadership role across the region, helping to raise capabilities and driving the network of EUCAN in-market communicators to optimise alignment, efficiencies and standard process.

**Key Accountabilities**:

- Collaborate with the EUCAN Corporate Affairs team to build and drive successful implementation of integrated communications strategies across corporate, internal, media, BBU and above-therapy area. Support improved communications alignment across the three BUs.
- Provide business partner support to the Senior Vice-President (SVP) EUCAN to support delivery of strategic priorities. This demands a strategic approach as well as strong execution skills.
- Provide strategic counsel, leadership and coaching to projects/team leaders to drive communication decisions and actions, as well as improving overall communication efficiency, for agreed business priorities.
- Working with colleagues across Global Corporate Affairs to ensure alignment of narrative/messaging and editorial priorities, pull through of global campaigns and visibility of key regional and market events/announcements.
- Discover opportunities for SVP EUCAN and Leadership Team internal/external engagements, supporting delivery of prioritised communications activities e.g. media engagement, speeches, presentations, etc.
- Represent EUCAN on GCA leadership groups, ensuring regional perspective and needs are reflected appropriately in global plans and aligning with markets re: planning, implementation and feedback.
- Influence and lead (dotted reporting line) the EUCAN communicators’ network, achieving optimum alignment, consistency and efficiency across the region. Help to raise capabilities and sharing of best practice between markets. Share solutions to challenges facing communicators regarding delivery of business priorities.
- Supporting significant organisational change programmes, reputation management activity.

**Crucial requirements**:

- Extensive and varied experience in the communications arena (preferably with previous experience in
- market and at regional level)
- Strong background in delivering impactful internal and external communications strategies
- Specialist knowledge and experience of digital communication strategy, development and implementation
- Strong business insight and shown success in connecting critical communications to business outcomes
- Ability to influence the business and communication decisions of senior level management and to mentor senior leaders on their effectiveness
- Experience in successful change communication programme implementation
- Experience of crisis and/or issues management
- Knowledge of and experience of working across geographic and cultural boundaries
- Fluent in English with excellent written and verbal communications skills and experience and expertise in a variety of media (speeches, fact sheets, briefings, exec