Head of Employee Engagement & Corporate Site Communications

3310 Takeda Pharmaceuticals U. • Boston, MA

2d • Onsite

About The Position

A VP senior communications leadership role responsible for defining and advancing Takeda’s global employee engagement and corporate function and corporate site communications strategy. This leader serves as both the architect of Takeda’s employee engagement, ensuring employees are informed, inspired and connected to the company’s purpose, values, culture ambition and strategic priorities. This includes providing integrated communications counsel and leadership for Human Resources, Legal-Ethics & Compliance and Communications & Governance organizations. In partnership with leaders and communicators around the world, this role also leads Takeda’s enterprise transformation and change communications capability and oversees the global network of site communicators supporting Takeda’s key corporate sites. By unifying employee engagement, culture and values communications, functional/executive communications, and site-level engagement under a single strategy, this leader will strengthen consistency, drive efficiency and ensure Takeda remains a trusted employer and valued community partner. Reporting to the Head of Corporate Communications, this lead will sit on the Global HR Leadership Team serving as the strategic communications partner to the CHRO, as well as the Global General Counsel, Chief Communications & Governance Officer and Chief Transformation Officer. This leader will have accountability for executive and functional communications across four Takeda executive team members in total — lead a global team of 10+ communications professionals and serve as a key member of the Corporate Communications leadership team.

Requirements

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, public relations or a related field.
• Minimum of 20 years of strategic, integrated communications programs (internal and external), employee engagement, HR communications, organizational change or related experience, preferably within the biopharmaceutical or healthcare industry, with demonstrated readiness for a VP-level, multi-disciplinary leadership role.
• Demonstrated experience leading large-scale campaigns and employee engagement, transformation, and organizational change communications initiatives across global and complex organizations.
• Experience working in a large, global organization and leading communications across multiple functions required.
• Proven effectiveness operating in global, multicultural environments while balancing enterprise consistency with local market needs and stakeholder expectations.
• Proven success leading and developing global, geographically distributed communications teams, including communicators embedded within local markets and sites.
• Strong executive presence and demonstrated ability to advise, influence, and partner with senior leaders, including C-suite stakeholders.
• Extensive experience establishing enterprise communications strategies, governance frameworks, operating models and measurement approaches that drive organizational outcomes.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree preferred.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead Takeda’s global employee engagement strategy, establishing the vision, priorities, governance and measurement framework that guide internal communications efforts across the enterprise.
• Build and lead an Employee Engagement Center of Excellence to unify approaches and grow the impact of communications in service of Takeda’s priorities, culture transformation and two-horizon growth strategy, including enterprise standards, operating models, tools and governance for communications, channels, measurement and audience insights.
• Partner with senior leaders and communicators across the company to ensure employee engagement strategies support and align to enterprise priorities, common ways of working, culture evolution and transformation objectives.
• Oversee business ownership and strategic direction for internal communications platforms and channels, including SharePoint, Engage, digital signage and future employee communications technologies, ensuring effective governance, adoption, performance and continuous improvement.
• Partner across the Communications & Governance organization to drive integrated global employee engagement strategies at critical business milestones and moments of organizational change.
• Serve as the strategic communications lead and trusted advisor to the CHRO, Global General Counsel, Chief Communications & Governance Officer and Chief Transformation Officer, shaping executive communications strategies that advance business priorities, strengthen leadership visibility and engage internal and external stakeholders.
• Steer a communications strategy for Human Resources, Legal-Ethics & Compliance and Corporate Communications & Governance organizations, reaching internal and external stakeholders with priority messages to drive action.
• Ensure harmonized approaches to planning, executing and measuring communications impact across internal and external channels.
• Drive enterprise culture and values communications, developing compelling narratives and engagement strategies that reinforce Takeda’s values, strengthen employee connection to purpose, and support adoption of the company’s culture ambition and ways of working.
• Own accountability for HR sustainability reporting and HR contributions to company reports and filings.
• Provide senior communications counsel to leaders on organizational transformation, culture evolution, employee engagement, change management and reputation-sensitive issues.
• Lead a team of corporate site communicators, ensuring a coordinated, aligned and enterprise-minded approach to communications at key corporate sites (non-manufacturing, including Bengaluru, Mexico City, Lodz, Poland, and Bratislava, Slovakia).
• Establish the vision, governance and operating model for corporate site communications, creating consistent and connected ways of working that integrate employee engagement, executive communications, external reputation, community engagement and corporate storytelling.
• Build organizational capability among corporate site communicators through standards, development programs, community leadership and best-practice sharing to strengthen communications effectiveness globally.
• Ensure site communications strategies support Takeda’s reputation, culture and business objectives while appropriately reflecting local market nuances and priorities.
• Partner closely with communications, HR and public affairs colleagues globally to ensure coordinated responses to emerging issues, opportunities and reputation-sensitive matters at the local level.
• Ensure corporate site communicators serve as trusted communications advisors to local leadership teams while maintaining strong alignment with enterprise communications priorities and standards.
• Oversee communications planning and execution for enterprise and business-led initiatives requiring local activation, ensuring effective delivery and stakeholder engagement across Takeda’s global footprint.
• Lead Takeda’s enterprise transformation and change communications capability, establishing a Change Communications Center of Excellence.
• Establish scalable change communications methodologies, leader enablement programs, communications toolkits, measurement frameworks and best practices that can be deployed consistently and repeatably across the organization.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to senior leaders on change leadership, organizational transformation, employee experience, stakeholder engagement and communications strategies that accelerate business outcomes.
• Direct the deployment of specialized change communications expertise to support enterprise priorities, ensuring the organization has the communications capabilities and capacity required to navigate complex transformation initiatives.
• Lead and develop the Employee Engagement & Corporate Site Communications team, fostering a high-performing global team and community of communications professionals that drives measurable impact through strategic thinking, innovation and consistency.
• Serve as a member of the Corporate Communications leadership team, contributing to enterprise communications strategy, organizational effectiveness, talent development and long-term capability building.
• Champion Takeda’s values, culture ambition and new ways of working through leadership, communications strategies and role modeling.

Benefits

• We understand compensation is an important factor as you consider the next step in your career.
• We are committed to equitable pay for all employees, and we strive to be more transparent with our pay practices.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive