Communications & Public Affairs Leader (Healthcare)

🌏 Communications & Public Affairs Leader (Healthcare) | 1-Year Fixed-Term | Tokyo

Are you a strategic communicator passionate about shaping healthcare narratives and driving meaningful engagement? This leadership opportunity offers the chance to influence patient access, support innovation storytelling, and strengthen organizational culture within a dynamic healthcare environment.

🧭 About the Role

As a key member of the leadership team, you will design and execute impactful communication and public affairs strategies across multiple therapeutic areas. This role combines external communications, stakeholder engagement, and internal culture initiatives to strengthen reputation, support business goals, and enhance employee engagement.

📍 Location: Tokyo
📅 Contract: 1-Year Fixed-Term
👥 Level: Leadership / Senior Individual Contributor

Contributor

🎯 Key Responsibilities

📣 Strategic Communications & Public Affairs

• Develop and execute innovative communication strategies that enhance disease awareness and improve patient access.
• Lead creative campaigns to communicate upcoming healthcare innovations to medical professionals and stakeholders.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with media, patient groups, and advocacy communities.
• Strengthen organizational reputation and positioning within key therapeutic areas.
• Manage external agency partnerships and oversee budgets to ensure effective delivery.

🤝 Stakeholder & Leadership Engagement

• Provide strategic counsel to senior leaders on communication, reputation, and change management.
• Represent the communications function within leadership discussions and decision-making.
• Support sensitive communications and crisis preparedness efforts.

🏢 Employee Engagement & Culture

• Design initiatives to strengthen employee engagement and support organizational change.
• Partner cross-functionally with HR and global teams to align communication strategies.
• Use data-driven insights and performance metrics to measure communication effectiveness.

🌐 Regional & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate across regional and global teams to share best practices.
• Contribute to regional communication capability-building initiatives.
• Support enterprise-wide communication programs when required.

✅ Qualifications

🎓 Bachelor’s degree required (advanced degree preferred)
🗓️ 8–10+ years in strategic communications, public affairs, or corporate communications
🏥 Experience in healthcare, life sciences, or regulated industries preferred
🧠 Strong strategic thinking and stakeholder management skills
📰 Experience engaging directly with media and external partners
📊 Proven ability to manage multiple projects and competing priorities
💬 Native-level Japanese communication skills required
🌍 Business-level English proficiency strongly preferred
💰 Experience managing budgets and external agencies

🌟 Why This Role Stands Out

• High-impact leadership visibility
• Opportunity to shape communication strategies across innovative healthcare areas
• Dynamic cross-functional and global collaboration
• Meaningful work supporting patient access and healthcare awareness