Senior Director, Executive Communications

Roche•South San Francisco, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Director of Executive Communications oversees development of an overarching executive communications strategy that strengthens our employees’ trust in and commitment to Genentech’s leaders, our long-term business strategy, and our unique culture and company values. This person will lead, grow and develop a high-performance team, recognized for what it accomplishes through mutual respect, collaboration and a commitment to engaging employees in our leadership’s vision. This role also directly manages the development and execution of an executive communications and thought leadership strategy that drives visibility for Genentech’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) internally and externally. This person provides end-to-end communications partnership and serves as a key advisor to the CEO, in order to enhance Genentech’s reputation with key audiences and continue to build connection and trust with employees. The individual possesses a strategic and enterprise mindset with a demonstrated ability to navigate a dynamic, complex organizational landscape within Genentech and across key partners in Roche. They must inspire others through their own exceptional verbal and written communication skills, know-how, and influence with a bias for action.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree
A minimum of 10-15 years of communications or public relations experience, including at least 3-5 years of c-suite level executive communications.
Strong writing skills, whether short- or long-form, including speechwriting.
Experience with collective leadership and stakeholder management, change communications and management, and the ability to approach work with adaptability and an enterprise mindset preferred.
Experience in leading high-performance teams and developing innovative communication platforms.
Track record of managing external vendor partners and other internal colleagues in the execution of communications strategies, plans, programs and events.
Visionary Executive Communication: Deep expertise in corporate and executive communications, capable of developing and implementing innovative strategies that distill complex business priorities into clear, compelling, and engaging narratives.
Strategic Agility and Innovation: A systems thinker who excels at challenging the status quo, architecting novel strategies, and driving continuous improvement to maximize program and portfolio-wide impact.
C-Suite Advising and Influence: Proven ability to serve as a trusted, strategic counsel to C-suite leaders, effectively influencing across all levels of the organization and orchestrating high-visibility executive presentations.
Enterprise Leadership and Problem Solving: Highly skilled at navigating a complex organizational landscape, demonstrating sound judgment in decision-making, and modeling an enterprise mindset to drive large-scale, cross-functional initiatives.
People Management and Culture Building: A committed collective leader with a track record of building, developing, and coaching high-performance teams, fostering an inclusive culture of innovation, curiosity, and measurable impact.

Nice To Haves

Experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or related industry.
Previous internal and external communications, corporate communications and/or communications agency experience

Responsibilities

Executive Communications Strategic Planning: Develop and implement a comprehensive executive communications and thought leadership strategy that aligns with the organization’s goals, mission, and values, and bolsters Genentech’s reputation internally and externally through the voices of our key leaders
Identify strategic visibility opportunities and influential forums for showcasing our leaders; oversee the development of impactful messaging and content to support these opportunities across digital channels, traditional media, employee engagement channels and external speaking venues
Partner with external communications and media strategy colleagues on proactive media engagement and corporate issues management to enhance and uphold Genentech’s reputation
CEO Communications Strategy and Execution: Identify strategic visibility opportunities and influential forums for showcasing the CEO; execute the development of impactful messaging and content to support these opportunities across digital channels, traditional media, employee engagement channels and external speaking venues.
Collaborate with the Internal Communications team on relevant internal announcements and initiatives, leading the voice of the CEO in these communications.
Conceive and implement creative, compelling and engaging content platforms, and experiences that bring the company’s and CEO’s narrative to life commensurate with the CEO’s voice, style and unique presence.
Partner with external communications and media strategy colleagues on proactive media engagement and corporate issues management to enhance and uphold Genentech’s reputation
Strategic Counsel: Serve as a trusted advisor and provide public relations and overarching communications counsel to the CEO and other senior executives.
Change Communications: Manage CEO communications efforts during periods of change, transition, or crisis, ensuring timely, transparent, and effective internal and external messaging.
Oversee overarching change management strategies across the Executive Communications function in support of key leaders.
Partnership and Collaboration: Serve as key partner in bridging enterprise-wide partner functions; partner closely with corporate communication teams (Internal Communications, External Communications & Social Media, Policy Communications, etc.), the internal communication network and a diverse range of stakeholders to craft strategic communication plans for the CEO that resonate with employees and external audiences and support organizational initiatives.
Measurement and Evaluation: Measure outcomes and KPIs of communications and programs to achieve maximum impact.
Trend Monitoring: Stay current on industry trends and best practices in latest communication and engagement, integrating learnings and experimenting with new program elements, formats, channels and approaches to enhance audience engagement and communication effectiveness.
Collective Leadership: As a member of the Corporate Communications Leadership team, lead within the Corporate Communications function and within critical enterprise-wide & community forums relevant to the work; shape and partner on the direction of the Executive Communications team strategy and capability-building; Serve as a key communication and engagement advisor for the GNE organization and a steward of the culture.
Model and amplify entrepreneurial and enterprise-level thinking.
Evaluate and deploy financial resources to maximize business impact; adapt to changing needs.
Vendor Management: Manage and oversee work of external agencies and partners supporting strategic communication efforts.