Vice President, Influencer Strategy, DIG, Ruder Finn

Ruder Finn•Chicago, IL

3d•$120,000 - $145,000

About The Position

Ruder Finn is seeking a Vice President, Influencer Strategy to join our growing Digital (DIG) practice, supporting our healthcare and pharma clients. In this role, you will be a strategic, client-facing leader responsible for developing and overseeing influencer strategies and programs across multiple clients. The VP will be accountable for the strategic and operational excellence of influencer programs, quality of client service, account profitability, organic growth and new business development. This individual will bring deep healthcare and pharma experience, with a clear understanding of how influencers, HCPs, patients, caregivers, and online communities influence health conversations and decision-making. They will understand how influencer strategy connects with social, earned media, paid media, digital, experiential, partnerships, content and broader integrated communications. They will provide senior-level counsel across the full influencer lifecycle, including audience and cultural insights, creator strategy and identification, vetting, creative development, content strategy, activation, amplification, optimization and measurement. As a VP, you will lead and develop teams, strengthen Ruder Finn's influencer capabilities and collaborate closely with colleagues across strategy, creative, media relations, social, digital, analytics, paid media and other specialty areas.

Requirements

A minimum of 8+ years working in the influencer strategy space with significant experience in the healthcare and pharma industries
Bachelor’s degree in advertising, communications, public relations, marketing, or a related field preferred
Deep expertise in influencer and creator strategy, with a strong understanding of the creator ecosystem, social platforms, audience behavior, cultural trends, creator identification, brand safety, content strategy, amplification, and measurement, and the unique considerations of healthcare and regulated communications
Proven ability to serve as a strategic counselor to clients, translating complex business and communications objectives into clear, integrated influencer strategies and confidently presenting recommendations to senior stakeholders
Demonstrated success leading complex, multi-channel influencer programs for healthcare, pharmaceutical, consumer health, or related clients, with the ability to connect creator marketing to earned media, social, paid, digital, experiential, partnerships, and broader integrated communications
Commercial and entrepreneurial mindset, with a track record of identifying opportunities to grow existing business, contributing to new business development, shaping compelling proposals, and balancing creative ambition with scope, budget, and profitability
Proven ability to navigate healthcare and pharmaceutical content review processes in partnership with medical, legal, regulatory, compliance, and communication stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Serve as a senior client contact, consistently providing excellent client/stakeholder management
Provide senior level influencer strategy counsel across assigned client relationships
Develop and oversee strategic influencer and creator programs that connect client priorities to audience needs, communities, brand narratives and measurable business objectives
Translate complex client challenges into clear social and influencer strategies, providing a strong point of view on the role creators and communities can play within broader integrated communications programs
Lead the development of branded and unbranded influencer strategies involving HCPs, KOLs, patients, caregivers, advocates, experts and relevant health communities, and provide senior oversight for campaign-based, always-on and ambassador-style creator programs
Demonstrate a deep understanding of clients' businesses, audiences, competitive landscapes, industries and key stakeholders in order to provide proactive and relevant counsel
Lead senior-level client meetings, confidently presenting and defending recommendations while influencing decisions and guiding clients through complex or changing situations
Partner closely with MLR and communication stakeholders to guide influencer programs through appropriate review and approval processes
Maintain working knowledge of relevant FDA, FTC, adverse event reporting, privacy and platform considerations as they relate to influencer programs
Help establish client program goals, success measures and strategic frameworks and manage teams against those expectations
Provide senior guidance on creator identification and selection, evaluating strategic relevance, credibility, audience composition and quality, engagement, content fit, cultural alignment and potential impact
Build and maintain relationships across the creator and talent ecosystem, including creators, agents, managers, representatives, platform partners and other relevant industry contacts.
Provide senior oversight across creator outreach, relationship development, briefing, content development, activation and campaign optimization
Guide the development of creator briefs that establish clear brand, communications and business objectives while preserving the authenticity and creative flexibility necessary for effective creator storytelling
Oversee approaches to creator deliverables, compensation, usage rights, exclusivity, content approvals and paid amplification in partnership with appropriate internal and client stakeholders
Partner with analytics team to define meaningful KPIs and evaluate audience quality, engagement, content performance, conversation, awareness, consideration, traffic, conversion and other relevant outcomes
Translate campaign performance into clear client insights, articulating what worked, what was learned, what should change and how those learnings should inform future strategy
Provide leadership for influencer campaigns, creator-led events, product launches, brand experiences and other integrated programs