Director - External Communications

Stanford Health Care•Palo Alto, CA

74d•$79 - $105

About The Position

Reporting to the Sr. Director of External Communications, the Director of External Communications this role is responsible for managing media relations, enhancing the organization's reputation, and serving as the Public Information Officer during emergency situations for SHC and the School of Medicine. It involves crafting compelling narratives, responding to media inquiries, proactively engaging with journalists, and effectively addressing reputational challenges to ensure clear and accurate communication during critical times.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major work in healthcare management, communications or a related field.
Eight (8) years of experience that is directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified
Four (4) years supervisory experience, preferably of multi-person teams
Significant experience directing and managing vendors and agencies
Proven track record in using analytics to drive better decision making and strategy
Corporate-Side Experience – In-house Public Relations and Communications, including Corporate Communications and Media Relations. Must include proven success in positive Reputation Management and Crisis Management.
Proven skilled at building high-performing teams, which includes external partners
Technical Proficiency – Demonstrated capabilities for content development, strategic planning, media handling and other essential functions.
Health Care Experience – This individual must have current or previous experience in the Health Care sector, which could include a wide variety of categories—Providers, Insurance, Pharma/OTC, Devices, with Community and/or AMC (Academic Medical Center) experience a strong plus.
Organizational Development – Demonstrated success building organizational capabilities through functional design, organizational, and hiring. Additionally, this individual must be skilled at building and developing a world-class bench of external resources to draw upon when required.
World-class messaging, communication strategy expertise (technically proficient)
Translates core business strategies into actionable initiatives (service orientation)
Ability to express ideas clearly both verbally and in writing (communication excellence)
Understands dynamics of communications environment (media savvy)
Proactive orientation (self-starter)
Comfortable incorporating data into planning and implementation (data driven)
Adept at adjusting plans to meet changing circumstances (flexible)
Organizational skills to continuously prioritize competing requests (bias for action)
Ability to cultivate and manage internal and external relationships (networked)
Influencing skills (proven ability to persuade others towards an idea or goal)
Organized and attention-to-detail (strong tactical execution, prioritizes accordingly)
Innovative (need fresh, imaginative thinking, can connect disparate dots)
Intellectual horsepower (highly creative and strategic)
Highly resourceful (stretches people and money; compresses time)

Responsibilities

Develop and implement comprehensive external communications strategies that align with Stanford Medicine’s Integrated Strategic Plan and enterprise-wide priorities.
Collaborate with cross-functional communications teams across Stanford Medicine and Stanford University to ensure consistent messaging across all platforms and channels.
Monitor industry trends and best practices to continuously refine communication strategies.
Coordinate with key internal stakeholders and subject matter experts to ensure timely and accurate responses during crises and other situations.
Demonstrate a clear understanding of policies, processes and perspectives needed to ensure alignment on a communications approach.
Develop tailored communications plans and campaigns to support organizational priorities.
Oversee the creation and dissemination of an issues-driven media monitoring report to senior leaders.
Create and oversee the production of high-quality content for press releases, media kits, and other external communications materials.
Ensure all content align with the organization's voice and messaging approach.
Oversee compliance with Stanford Medicine’s guidance on name use.
Identify and pursue opportunities for positive media coverage through strategic outreach and relationship building.
Develop and maintain relationships with subject matter experts and facilitate media coverage opportunities as needed
Monitor media coverage and analyze trends to inform future proactive media strategies.
Serve as PIO and lead coordination and planning for communications efforts for the Hospital Incident Command Center in collaboration with Stanford Health Care’s Office Emergency Management.
Develop working relationships with key institutional leaders to facilitate development and execution of strategies to reach their external constituents.
Foster strong relationships with internal stakeholders across entities and departments to garner clear understanding of ongoing and emerging priorities
Coordinate with other communicators to ensure strategic alignment.
Develop, run, and analyze day-to-day metrics for communications programs by using quantitative and qualitative analytics tools to evaluate performance. These responsibilities will include developing a set of dashboards to present to leadership. This role will use learnings from the data to adjust the communications strategy in real- time and refocus team efforts, as needed.
Lead and collaborate with a team of communications professionals, fostering a high-performing and supporting work environment.
Set clear goals and expectations to ensure timely delivery of communications initiatives and tactics