Senior Director Strategic Communications

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Mission Statement

Michigan Medicine improves the health of patients, populations and communities through excellence in education, patient care, community service, research and technology development, and through leadership activities in Michigan, nationally and internationally. Our mission is guided by our Strategic Principles and has three critical components; patient care, education and research that together enhance our contribution to society.

Job Summary

The Senior Director of Strategic Communications is Michigan Medicine's lead strategist and trusted advisor for enterprise-wide internal communication. This role designs and governs an integrated internal communications ecosystem that informs, engages, and mobilizes faculty, staff, learners, and leaders across Michigan Medicine's education, research, clinical and statewide operations.

Serving as a high-level consultant to senior leadership, the Senior Director provides executive counsel, develops clear narrative and messaging architecture, and builds scalable channels and measurement practices that strengthen culture, accelerate change, and advance organizational priorities. The role leads a team of communications professionals and works in close partnership with colleagues across the Department of Communication to deliver coordinated, measurable results aligned with enterprise strategic and business priorities.

This role reports to the Chief Communications & Marketing Officer at Michigan Medicine.

Responsibilities*

Strategy, Governance & Integration

• Own the enterprise internal communications strategy and editorial governance model, ensuring consistent standards, processes, style, and tone while enabling appropriate local customization.
• Establish an integrated channel and platform approach (e.g., intranet, leader communications, campaigns, toolkits), reducing duplication and improving efficiency and impact of communications.
• Lead strategic planning, prioritization and execution for internal communications initiatives tied to Michigan Medicine tripartite mission and goals, including outcomes oriented communications plans for major operational, financial, clinical, education, research, and cultural priorities.
• Build and maintain a measurement framework (insight, analytics, and feedback loops) to evaluate effectiveness, inform decision making, and drive continuous improvement, with regular reporting to key stakeholders.
• Draft and/or oversee drafting of talking points, key messages, remarks, presentations and internal announcements for high-visibility moments (e.g., results, major initiatives, change efforts), keeping in mind the unique perspectives of learners, researchers, clinical care and operations teams and governance when appropriate.
• Collaborate with communications leads for the EVPMA/CEO and Medical School Dean, Public Relations and other communications functions to develop and align high-impact executive visibility and messaging across internal and external audiences and ensure consistency when appropriate.

Culture, Engagement & Change Leadership

• Lead communications approaches that strengthen culture, experience, and engagement across clinical, education, and research communities.
• Partner with leaders across Michigan Medicine to support change management communications that improve adoption, understanding, trust and readiness.
• Translate complex operational and financial information into clear, actionable communications that support leaders and teams and drive institutional alignment (e.g., year-end results, performance targets, investments, alliances).

Content Strategy & Stakeholder Partnership

• Allocate resources and set strategy for internal communications support across key centers and service lines (e.g., Cancer, Cardiovascular, Sports Medicine, Women & Children's), balancing enterprise priorities and localized needs.
• Provide strategic oversight for selected patient/consumer communications and relevant intranet content areas as assigned, ensuring consistency and alignment with enterprise narrative and standards.
• Consult with partners (e.g., physician relations, contact center management, education, research and clinical department leaders) to deliver modern, scalable solutions for recurring needs (newsletters, publications, mailings, digital content).

Team & Vendor Leadership

• Build, lead and develop a high-performing internal communications team (direct and matrixed), setting clear strategy, expectations, coaching talent and fostering accountability.
• Create an operating model that enables proactive consulting and strategic partnership - not only writing/editing - across Michigan Medicine.
• Identify, select and manage outside vendors/consultants as needed to augment capacity or specialized expertise.

Supervision

• Supervises: Direct and/or matrixed internal communications professionals; manages vendors/consultants as needed

Required Qualifications*

• 7 to 10 years of communications leadership experience in health care or similar highly regulated consumer service environments.

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Marketing, or related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience

• Proven experience advising C-suite executives on communication strategies that drive understanding and alignment of enterprise vision, mission and strategic goals.

• Ability to navigate complex environments and meet multiple stakeholder needs in large, highly regulated organizations.

• Exceptional writing, editing, verbal and presentation skills.

• Demonstrated ability to lead through change and ambiguity with confidence, diplomacy and strong stakeholder management.

• Proven record of effective team management and consistent delivery of high-quality, error-free work with clear outcomes and measurable impact.

• Strong negotiation skills, sound judgment, and the ability to manage multiple complex initiatives simultaneously.

Desired Qualifications*

• Master's degree in Communications, Marketing, or related field.
• 15+ years of communications leadership experience in health care or similar highly regulated consumer service environments strongly preferred.

Leadership Competencies

• Executive-level consulting skills: trusted counsel, sound judgment, presence, discretion and ability to influence without authority.
• Strategic narrative leadership: ability to define, translate, and sustain a unified story and message architecture for different audiences across a complex organization.
• Data-informed decision-making: builds strategy, prioritization and recommendations grounded in analytics, research and stakeholder insight.
• Strong business acumen: understands academic medicine operations and can align communications to mission, strategy, risk and performance.
• Collaborative leadership: builds relationships and alignment across communications functions and key partners; drives shared priorities and coordinated execution.
• Operational excellence: delivers high-quality work on time and within budget; able to complete work while managing ambiguity and multiple high-stakes priorities.

Why Join Michigan Medicine?

Michigan Medicine is one of the largest health care complexes in the world and has been the site of many groundbreaking medical and technological advancements since the opening of the U-M Medical School in 1850. Michigan Medicine is comprised of over 30,000 employees and our vision is to attract, inspire, and develop outstanding people in medicine, sciences, and healthcare to become one of the world's most distinguished academic health systems. In some way, great or small, every person here helps to advance this world-class institution. Work at Michigan Medicine and become a victor for the greater good.

What Benefits can you Look Forward to?

• Comprehensive benefits plan options, with excellent medical, dental and vision coverage effective on your very first day

• 2 to 1 Employer Match on retirement savings

• Paid Time Off

• Tuition Reimbursement

• Health and Wellness incentives

• Work-Life Programs - to strengthen a workplace culture that supports personal and family life, including child care, elder care, lactation resources and flexible work arrangements

• Free access to LinkedIn Learning which offers more than 20,000 high quality, on-demand courses available at any time

Modes of Work

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

Background Screening

Michigan Medicine conducts background screening and pre-employment drug testing on job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent job offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background screenings. Background screenings are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Report Act. Pre-employment drug testing applies to all selected candidates, including new or additional faculty and staff appointments, as well as transfers from other U-M campuses.

Application Deadline

Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. The review and selection process may begin as early as the eighth day after posting. This opening may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended.

Please include cover letter with resume when applying.

U-M EEO Statement

The University of Michigan is an equal employment opportunity employer.