CAREER CENTER

The University of California San Francisco seeks a dynamic and creative communications leader to serve as Executive Director, Strategic Communications. As one of the world's premier biomedical research and health-science institutions, UCSF advances health worldwide by educating the next generation of healthcare professionals, translating leading-edge scholarly and scientific research into knowledge, therapies, and cures for debilitating diseases, providing compassionate patient care, and serving the local and global community through community service, public policy research, and advocacy. UCSF embraces a common set of values - articulated in its commitment to PRIDE - professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity, and excellence.

The Executive Director, Strategic Communications, will be joining the University at a critical juncture marked by significant growth aimed at expanding their overall impact and reach. To this end, the Executive Director will play a critical role in serving as the enterprise-wide expert on strategic communications as well as issues and crisis management.

Reporting to the Vice Chancellor of Communications (VC-C) and serving as a key member of the Office of Communications (OOC) leadership team, the Executive Director, Strategic Communications, will provide the vision, direction, and execution of communications programs that promote and defend UCSF's strategic initiatives. In addition, the Executive Director will serve as the lead strategist for issues and crisis management, developing communications that not only showcase UCSF's impact on a national and global level but also uphold its world-class brand and reputation.

The Executive Director will join the Office of Communications at a time of significant investment and expansion, which are intended to better serve the growing needs of UCSF's mission and strategic initiatives. The Executive Director will drive complex communications strategies working collaboratively with colleagues across the University and health system, including in communications, marketing, community and government relations, real estate and planning, and legal, among other internal and external stakeholders.

As a senior leader within the Office of Communications, the Executive Director, Strategic Communications, will develop and execute a comprehensive communications strategy around key institutional priorities, leading a small team of talented communications professionals to advance UCSF's overarching public mission, thoughtfully engage its stakeholders, and enhance its overall reputation.

In this highly visible role, the Executive Director will be responsible for establishing UCSF's reconceived strategic communications function as well as providing oversight for two director-level staff. The Executive Director will be charged with developing, implementing, and leading communications strategies in support of dynamic, complex, time-bound initiatives that have high public profiles and often encounter opposition from special interests. Strategies will span subject matter across all of UCSF's mission areas--including issues stemming from care delivery, research, and education--and strategic initiatives, including the modernization of UCSF's Parnassus Heights campus and the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital campus. In addition, the Executive Director will be tasked with establishing, executing, and overseeing a preemptive issues management system, including the creation of an Issues Council comprised of a cross-section of UCSF functions and units, as well as a crisis management protocol that is integrated with Legal, Risk Management, and other UCSF units.

UCSF's strategic initiatives are complex and involve multiple units and teams across the University and health system, as well as the University of California system. In many cases, including the most visible UCSF strategic initiatives, the ED-SC will be the primary communications leader responsible for developing the overarching communications strategies that integrate the work of other UCSF units involved in a project.

The strategic communications function is, by design, meant to be channel-agnostic and therefore will collaborate closely with others who manage key units, verticals, and channels--such as public affairs, community and government relations, real estate and planning, brand/marketing, digital, and legal--to execute UCSF's strategies.

The Executive Director, Strategic Communications, must be a proactive, goal-oriented, and agile leader with demonstrated success working within healthcare, higher education, or related organization to set and achieve effective communications strategy. The ideal candidate will bring a proven track record of developing and leading communications strategies in complex and competitive environments, proactive leadership and team building skills, outstanding communication skills, and a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The ideal candidate must have exceptional relationship skills along with the necessary diplomacy and tact to collaborate and partner with a variety of internal and external stakeholders. The Executive Director, Strategic Communications, must possess a high degree of emotional intelligence and be sensitive to the ongoing needs of UCSF and its constituents.