Communications Lead at Roche

The Job

Roche Diagnostics in Midrand is seeking a Communications Lead to plan, prepare, draft, deliver and monitor internal and external communications, coordinate key organisational events and review and maintain brand standards and compliance in communications, collaborating with different areas of the organization (including global).

Key Responsibilities
Internal Communications

• Preparation and implementation of the local strategy and communication plan for internal communications.
• Support the achievement of the company’s business goals by communicating the company values and business messages, preparing the communications, disseminating internally, receiving and addressing any queries.
• Increase employee awareness in respect of Roche business operations and activities by identifying internal communications strategies, preparing a proposal for the strategy and implementing as required.
• Support organizational change management by creating and disseminating clear and transparent communications, participating in the change processes and platforms, providing advice and input into change processes and addressing any queries.
• Develop and quality control communications within Departments by receiving the instruction, developing or reviewing the communications developed by the Department and assisting with the dissemination as required.
• Supporting and collaborating with internal stakeholders (HR, Finance, IT, Customer Service, Medical Affairs, SHE etc) in any specific communication campaigns that need to implemented by project management, developing a communication plan, communicating to relevant parties and implementing a communications schedule in line with deadlines.
• Managing the local intranet content. Ensuring that content is relevant, accurate and updated.

External Communications

• Preparation and implementation of the local strategy and communication plan for the external public.
• Planning of activities and corporate communication with the external public (patient associations, media, business associations), with the aim of building the reputation of the company.
• Support the achievement of the company’s business goals by communicating the company values and business messages to external stakeholders, preparing the communications, disseminating internally and externally, receiving and addressing any queries as required.
• To increase external stakeholder awareness in respect of Roche business operations and activities by identifying strategies, preparing a proposal for the strategy and implementing as required.
• Actively build and maintain the company reputation and brand value by developing and implementing strategic company communications plans and activities as required.
• Manage external PR companies by tracking the progress of activities against brief, monitoring media events, providing feedback on progress to line manager and addressing any issues.
• Be the first contact for patient associations and the media (journalists).
• Provide support in media communications and relations by receiving instructions and implementing as required.
• Lead, create, collaborate or proactively support the digital marketing initiatives in the organization.
• Application of and compliance with the applicable Rules on the Advertising of Medicinal Products, the Code on the Informing and Communication of Prescription-Only Medicines, the Code of Practice on Relationships between the Pharmaceutical Industry and Patient Associations (Forum of International Research and Development Pharmaceutical Companies) and other applicable legal provisions, and the Roche Code of Conduct.
• Preparation and implementation of written and/or oral communications for all important external parties, such as the media, government organisations and patient associations having a significant influence on decisions related to medicines.
• Preparation of local strategy, activities and plan of disease awareness raising in cooperation with Marketing.
• Regular monitoring of media activities, keeping a log and updating relevant parties.
• Fast, effective and credible response to any media activities connected to Roche Diagnostics.
• Building and maintaining good business relationships with the external public.
• Responsible for managing the local social media presence, with guidance from our global teams, by ensuring that regular, quality updates are posted.

Crisis and Issue Coordination

• Identify potential areas of crisis or issues by reviewing the relevant platforms, identifying trends or threads, and alerting the relevant internal stakeholder of the risk as required.
• Support the implementation of the crisis / issues management plan by receiving instructions, liaising with the PR company and implementing as required.

Event Planning and Coordination

• Plan events by establishing a task team, coordinating key logistical and facilities requirements, coordinating the development of the programmes, arranging presenters, tracking attendance, sourcing and recommending service providers and scheduling events.
• Facilitate the implementation of the event by running the event proceedings, troubleshooting event challenges, implementing corrective action and monitoring and review events quarterly and as required

Brand Management and CSI

• Monitor implementation of brand and Roche Global branding guidelines by reviewing communications provided, identifying anomalies, providing feedback to the specific Departments and approve compliant communications daily .
• Support staff onboarding with materials and delivering it to new staff members as required in alignment with HR.
• Coordinate communications with other areas within Roche (including Pharma, region and global) by engaging with communications teams, participating in communications events, providing input and undertaking activities as required.
• Be one of the key marketing champions for the customer-centricity initiatives such as customer satisfaction surveys, voice of customer, etc.

You, as an ideal candidate, will have the following skills, experience and education:

• Required Qualification: NQF 7/8 in Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, Journalism or similar.
• Required Experience: At least 5 years experience in corporate communications is required with experience in public relations.