Head of Global External Affairs, Roche Diagnostics

Roche • Washington DC, DC

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

Operating as the Head of Global External Affairs, you will be a pivotal member of the Quality, Regulatory & External Affairs (QR&E) global leadership team, with a direct reporting line to the Global Head of QR&E for Roche Diagnostics. This role serves as the senior global leader for Roche Diagnostics regarding policy architecture and high-stakes external stakeholder engagement, working closely with our regional and affiliate leaders. Leading dedicated global teams, you will position the organization as the authoritative voice for defining and harmonizing official policy across regulatory policy, healthcare, environmental, trade, and industry domains to drive Roche Diagnostics business priorities on key innovation and markets to serve. Furthermore, you will cultivate strategic alliances to advance these global positions, collaborating in lockstep with regional and country affiliates, Roche/Genetech Pharma and Group (as relevant) to implement a unified policy framework that accelerates enterprise business priorities for Roche Diagnostics.

Requirements

• Advanced degree (Master’s, Ph.D., or JD) in Public Policy, Health Policy, International Relations, Law, Environmental Affairs, or Life Sciences.
• Minimum 15+ years of global or multi-regional leadership experience in External Affairs, Policy Setting, or Government Relations within the In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD), Medical Device, or Pharmaceutical sectors.
• Proven track record of leading, mentoring, and developing high-performing global teams; skilled at building strong internal policy capabilities, fostering talent growth, and inspiring a collaborative culture within a complex, matrixed organization.
• Proven experience leading central policy development and successfully building multi-stakeholder partnerships across regulatory, healthcare, environmental, and trade domains.
• Demonstrated executive presence and media expertise, with a track record of influencing C-level executives, Board members, and key external global stakeholders while serving as an articulate spokesperson on complex policy matters.
• Exceptional strategic and analytical thinking skills with ability to simplify complex topics.
• Proven leadership skills, including the ability to lead in a complex and matrixed environment, building coalitions and advising senior executives.
• Exceptional ability to distill complex, multi-faceted issues (regulatory, environmental, trade) into simple, compelling, and unified policy stances.
• Outstanding track record acting as the principal spokesperson and negotiator with high-level external partners and public authorities.
• Strong capability to influence, align, and partner with regional and local country affiliates without direct hierarchical authority, uniting them around common business goals.
• Ability to balance long-term global policy shaping with the near-term commercial needs of regional business units.

Responsibilities

• Lead teams that serve as the central point for setting, maintaining, and governing Roche Diagnostics' official policy positions on critical topics, including: Trade & Industry Policy, Regulatory Policy, Healthcare Policy, and Environmental Policy.
• Develop and cascade a streamlined, simplified matrix of global policy positions designed to give internal and external stakeholders absolute clarity on Roche Diagnostics' stance.
• Champion enterprise-wide awareness regarding current and prospective healthcare trends influencing the business, while proactively managing high-stakes relationships with prominent global external bodies, including the WHO and OECD.
• Act as the primary global representative and executive connector for Roche Diagnostics across regulatory entities, multilateral organisations, key external partners, and policy platforms outside the US.
• Partner closely with External Affairs International, Diagnostics US Government Affairs & Policy, Genentech's Head of US Public Affairs & Market Access, and key members of the Roche Diagnostics Leadership Team to socialize, clarify, and align policy stances, driving a unified "One Roche" approach that optimizes broader enterprise leverage.
• Create, nurture, and leverage high-impact external affairs partnerships with industry associations, international non-governmental organizations, and patient advocacy coalitions to advance Roche Diagnostics' strategic positions.
• Direct targeted advocacy strategies to ensure Roche Diagnostics proactively shapes the global policy agenda rather than reacting to it.
• Work closely with regional and country-level teams to translate global policy positions into actionable local strategies, ensuring local execution directly advances global business priorities.
• Establish a robust global-to-local network to aggregate regional market insights, emerging country trends, and policy risks back into the central policy-setting process.
• Embody Roche's leadership vision as a Visionary (setting clear policy direction), Architect (building agile policy framework mechanisms), Catalyst (forging external alliances and removing local barriers), and Coach (empowering global and regional policy leads).
• Collaborate seamlessly across the broader QR&E function, Diagnostics Division, Diagnostics affiliates, Pharma Division and affiliates, Commercial, Legal, and Corporate Sustainability to ensure enterprise-wide policy cohesion.

Benefits

• Relocation benefits are available for this role.
• A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and Company performance.
• This position also qualifies for the benefits detailed at the link provided below.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree