Senior Communications Manager, Human Pharma
Boehringer Ingelheim | Sydney, Australia | Corporate Affairs
Shape the Human Pharma agenda, driving business impact, trust and reputation.
At Boehringer Ingelheim, our purpose — Transforming lives for generations — guides how we innovate, partner and grow.
Corporate Affairs plays a critical role in how that growth is understood and trusted. As Senior Communications Manager, Human Pharma, you will help shape the business agenda across Australia and New Zealand, partnering with leaders to advance priorities, navigate complexity and strengthen our reputation in areas of high unmet medical need.
This is a senior role at the centre of the business, combining strategic advice with end‑to‑end accountability for communications strategy and delivery. You will work closely with the ANZ Human Pharma leadership team to guide decisions, lead integrated programs, and deliver communications that support business priorities across key therapy areas, including cardio‑renal‑metabolic disease, stroke, rare cancers and lung disease.
Strategic Leadership & Business Partnership
- Act as a principal communications advisor to Human Pharma ANZ leadership, providing strategic counsel on reputation management, issues preparedness, employee engagement and change communications.
- Own the local communications strategy and operating plan, translating global and regional priorities into market-relevant programs, clear narratives and measurable outcomes for Australia and New Zealand.
Represent ANZ in regional and global Corporate Affairs forums, influencing direction with local insights, sharing best practice, and ensuring bi-directional alignment across the matrix.
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Therapeutic Area Communications
- Lead communications strategy and execution across the HP therapeutic portfolio (including cardio-renal-metabolic, stroke, rare cancers and lung disease), setting priorities and ensuring integrated planning across functions.
- Lead market-shaping campaigns, announcements and product lifecycle communications, proactively identifying risks and opportunities and advising leaders on recommended positions and messaging.
Ensure strategies are aligned to integrated brand, medical and cross-functional plans, with clear governance, stakeholder alignment and performance measurement.
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Media Relations & Issues Management
- Lead proactive and reactive media strategy for HP ANZ, including spokesperson counsel, briefing materials, statements and Q&A, ensuring readiness for high-stakes issues.
- Own horizon scanning and intelligence, translating external insights into recommendations for leaders and integrated communication plans.
Lead local issues and crisis communications across product, scientific and reputational matters, partnering cross-functionally and escalating to regional/global Corporate Affairs in line with governance.
Digital & Content Strategy
- Set the digital and owned-channel strategy for HP ANZ, leading targeted campaigns for patient communities, healthcare professionals and broader audiences, with clear KPIs and performance optimisation.
- Establish editorial standards and content governance, ensuring high-quality, compliant production across formats (articles, videos, infographics and internal communications) and channels.
Lead external agency partners end-to-end (briefing, strategic direction, quality control and evaluation), balancing hands-on delivery with senior oversight.
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Patient Storytelling & Advocacy Support
- Lead compliant patient storytelling programs, ensuring ethical practice and alignment to corporate standards, regulatory requirements and risk frameworks.
Build and steward strategic relationships with patient organisations and internal partners to incorporate patient insights responsibly and strengthen organisational reputation and trust.
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Internal Communications & Employee Engagement
- Lead internal communications strategy for HP ANZ, strengthening leadership visibility and employee engagement through compelling narratives, disciplined cadence and channel optimisation.
Partner with HP leaders to align messaging across priorities and change initiatives, equipping leaders with talking points and engagement plans that drive understanding and action.
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Compliance & Governance
- Own communications governance for HP ANZ, ensuring all activities comply with internal standards and external requirements, including the Medicines Australia Code of Conduct.
- Lead documentation, risk-based approval and audit-ready processes (including Veeva Vault where applicable), continuously improving workflow efficiency and quality.
Provide final-level compliance and quality oversight across internal/external content and agency outputs, proactively managing risks and ensuring readiness for internal review.
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Qualifications & Experience
Essential
- Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, Communications, Journalism or related field.
- 8+ years’ experience in strategic communications across pharmaceuticals, healthcare, or similarly regulated sectors, including senior stakeholder counsel and reputation/issue leadership.
- Proven track record in strategic leadership communications within a complex, matrixed organisation, influencing stakeholders and driving outcomes without direct authority.
- Demonstrated experience delivering product‑related communications across multiple therapeutic areas.
- Experience delivering strategic communication supporting market shaping, registration announcements and product lifecycle activities.
- Strong program, project and campaign leadership capability, including agency management, prioritisation and delivery against timelines, quality and business objectives.
- Proven experience across public relations, patient storytelling, issues management, media engagement, social media, content production, and employee communication.
Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across functions and influence stakeholders without formal authority.
Preferred
- Experience in internal communications and/or change communication, complementing the role’s broader remit across employee engagement.
Experience with Veeva Vault content management system
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Group Functions
NSW
Boehringer Ingelheim
Full-Time
