Creative Director, Healthcare, Ruder Finn

Ruder Finn•New York, NY

1d•$150,000 - $210,000

About The Position

Ruder Finn is seeking a Creative Director, Health to help shape smart, audience-centered ideas and programs for clients across health care communications. This role will work with account, digital, social, analytics, and creative teams to support existing client work and new business opportunities. They will help teams clarify the challenge, sharpen the brief, uncover meaningful insights, and organize ideas into clear, actionable plans. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in health care communications and creative direction, exceptional leadership skills, and a passion for innovation and creating culturally relevant ideas. The CD, Health, will translate client challenges into compelling, insight-driven creative solutions. They lead with confidence in client settings, create trust amongst teams, and set a high bar for innovation and quality in everything they touch. As a Creative Director, you will be responsible for overseeing the development and execution of creative concepts that align with brand strategy and business objectives. In partnership with a strategist, they will help teams address business challenges with creative solutions, concept development and innovative activations that inspire clients, colleagues, and key audiences. This individual should be energized by breakthrough communications, comfortable working in cross-functional teams, and skilled at translating complex healthcare topics into compelling ideas, planning frameworks, and creative directions.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in creative strategy, planning, integrated marketing, communications, or a related creative environment, with at least 5 years focused on health care strategy and communications
Strong healthcare communications experience, with an understanding of audience engagement, stakeholder needs, and integrated program development
Experience working in an agency environment or closely with cross-functional agency teams is strongly preferred
Experience supporting product communications, including branded and unbranded campaigns, launch or lifecycle communications, data milestones, regulatory milestones, disease education, and competitive positioning
Deep understanding of the health care landscape, including creating compelling creative in a compliant, regulatory friendly manner
Strong knowledge of pharmaceutical marketing and all that it entails: disease state and product science, therapeutic industry standards, legal restrictions and competitive markets
Experience in creating DSE, unbranded and branded programming, with drug launch know-how a must
Bachelor's degree in communications, marketing, advertising, writing, design, strategy, or a related field
Strong conceptual thinking, writing, visualization, presentation, and facilitation skills
Ability to translate complex healthcare topics, client priorities, research findings, marketplace dynamics, and audience insights into clear creative briefs, planning frameworks, and actionable recommendations
Strong project management skills, including the ability to organize complex assignments, manage timelines, align stakeholders, track deliverables, and keep teams moving toward execution
Ability to work effectively across account, digital, social, analytics, creative, and senior stakeholder teams
Curiosity, creative energy, cultural awareness, and a strong understanding of how audiences engage with health information, brands, issues, and ideas
Curiosity and comfort with integrating AI into communications and workflows
Operational mindset with the ability to bring structure, clarity, accountability, and quality control to integrated planning and campaign development
Portfolio demonstrating strategic, insight-led communications ideas across healthcare, corporate communications, integrated campaigns, or related work required.

Responsibilities

Design, lead, and support brainstorms, planning sessions, workshops, and concept development meetings for existing clients and new business opportunities
Develop creative briefs, strategic platforms, audience journeys, content themes, campaign approaches, and integrated program recommendations
Steer concept development and creative execution across integrated campaigns
Translate client priorities, research findings, analytics inputs, cultural signals, social trends, stakeholder considerations, and marketplace dynamics into clear creative territories, executable ideas and actionable plans
Ensure all creative outputs are aligned to strategy, creative concept, as well as all creative outputs — from visual assets to copy — are strategically aligned, on-brand, and delivered to the highest standard
Present creative approaches, and integrated program ideas to internal teams and clients, clearly articulating rationale, business value, and creative opportunity
Act as the primary creative point of contact for key clients, building trusted partnerships and delivering creative counsel that inspires confidence.
Partner with strategy, client leadership, digital, analytics, and creative teams to develop earned-first ideas that transform complex science, data, and healthcare issues into programs that build trust, shape reputation, and inspire action
Support integrated healthcare communications programs across product, corporate, disease awareness, branded and unbranded campaigns, pipeline and milestone moments, thought leadership, executive visibility, advocacy, social, influencer, content, paid, and stakeholder engagement workstreams
Contribute to new business efforts by developing pitch narratives, integrated program structures, activation concepts, planning frameworks, and presentation-ready recommendations
Support proposal development and pitch preparation, including helping translate insights, ideas, and campaign approaches into clear, compelling materials
Review, refine, and strengthen client-facing materials, including strategic plans, POVs, creative briefs, campaign write-ups, planning documents, creative rationales, and presentation decks
Identify audience, cultural, healthcare, marketplace, digital, social, and influencer trends that can inspire stronger strategy, planning, program design, and creative development
Ensure ideas and program plans are credible, compliant-aware, health-literate, audience-appropriate, and sensitive to healthcare communications considerations
Bring strong organization, quality control, clear communication, and collaborative problem-solving to planning assignments
Explore emerging technologies, AI-enabled creative workflows, and new storytelling approaches that improve creative quality, accelerate ideation, and enhance client outcomes.
Demonstrate curiosity by exploring emerging cultural behaviors, healthcare trends, audience needs, technologies, and creative inspiration to uncover new strategic opportunities