Associate Director, Campaigns and Thought Leadership

UnitedHealth Group•Eden Prairie, MN

About The Position

The Associate Director of Executive Communications is a communications leader responsible for shaping, advancing, and protecting the voices of the company’s most senior leaders as part of the corporate reputation campaign. This role drives executive thought leadership across a complex, highly regulated health care enterprise, supporting both insurance and care delivery businesses. The role identifies and develops strategic opportunities for executives to engage externally—across media, industry forums, policy discussions, and stakeholder events—while ensuring consistency with corporate strategy, regulatory requirements, and reputational risk standards. The Associate Director also supports the creation and operational use of a company-wide speaker’s bureau to strategically manage, prioritize, and track executive speaking engagements.

Requirements

12+ years of communications experience, including executive communications, thought leadership, or public affairs in a complex organization
Demonstrated experience supporting C-suite and senior executives in external engagements and high-visibility communications
Proven solid understanding of communications within regulated industries and publicly traded companies
Proven exceptional writing, storytelling, and strategic messaging skills
Proven ability to influence and advise senior leaders with confidence and discretion

Nice To Haves

Experience in health care, insurance, life sciences, or another highly regulated industry
Experience building or managing a speaker’s bureau or centralized executive engagement program
Demonstrated familiarity with investor, policy, and regulatory audiences
Experience working in matrixed, multi-business environments

Responsibilities

Execute a comprehensive executive communications and thought leadership strategy aligned to enterprise priorities, business growth objectives, and policy and regulatory environments
Identify high-impact platforms, forums, and moments for executive engagement, including conferences, industry associations, policy discussions, media, and third-party publications
Translate enterprise strategy, market insights, and health care trends into compelling executive narratives and points of view
Serve as a trusted advisor to senior executives, providing counsel on positioning, messaging, and engagement strategy
Develop and oversee creation of executive communications materials, including speeches, keynote remarks, talking points, bylines, op-eds, executive Q&As, and presentation materials
Prepare executives for external engagements through briefing documents, message alignment, and rehearsal as appropriate
Support a centralized company-wide speaker’s bureau to govern external speaking engagements across executives and senior leaders
Establish intake, review, prioritization, and approval processes to ensure engagements align with business priorities, compliance requirements, and reputational standards
Maintain a centralized system to track speaking engagements, audiences, topics, outcomes, and metrics to inform future planning and reporting
Partner closely with Legal, Compliance, Regulatory, Government Affairs, Investor Relations, and Media Relations to ensure executive communications meet regulatory and disclosure requirements
Ensure consistency of executive messaging across insurance and care delivery businesses while respecting business-specific nuances
Provide guidance on sensitive topics, disclosures, and risk considerations for external engagements
Work closely with business leaders, corporate affairs, marketing, public relations, and policy teams to identify opportunities and align executive participation with broader campaigns and initiatives
Coordinate executive participation across multiple external requests to manage capacity, prioritization, and strategic impact
Define success metrics for executive thought leadership and speaking engagements, including reach, influence, and strategic alignment
Conduct post-engagement assessments to evaluate effectiveness and refine future strategies.
Continuously monitor industry trends, policy developments, and competitive positioning to inform executive engagement opportunities
Lead and manage agency partners and external vendors supporting executive communications and speaker management