Senior Manager, Public Affairs

Job Function Summary 

You will support the U.S. Chronic Care organization by educating payors and policy makers through patient groups, professional societies, and industry associations to enable sustainable business growth. You will build strong relationships with these stakeholders on the state and federal levels and through them shape public opinion on challenges and solutions to optimize patients’ access to Coloplast offerings.  

As part of the Payors and Evidence team, you will report to the Vice President of U.S. Payors and Evidence and have a dotted reporting line to Director of Global Government Affairs & Patient Advocacy at Coloplast headquarters in Denmark.  

Major Areas of Accountability 

Stakeholder engagement 

• Report health policy and payment risks identified by Reimbursement and Market Access 

• Support Coloplast Market Access and Reimbursement initiatives created to uphold: 

• patients’ access on the right product & service based on personal and clinical needs  

• patients’ right to personalized, integrated, patient-centric care and digital solutions as enablers to patients’ care  

• societal value a dignified life for chronic disease and disabled patients  

• Drive Coloplast’s initiatives through external stakeholders, groups, and forums. 

• Manage relationships and represent select Payors and Evidence initiatives in alignment with Market Access and Reimbursment teams with external stakeholders e.g., patient groups (United Spinal, Spina Bifida, United Ostomy Association, ITEM), professional societies (AUA, WOCN, SUNA) and industry associations (AAH, AdvaMed, Medical Alley)  

Campaign management 

• Partner with internal Coloplast teams and/or external media agencies and develop compelling campaigns. Measure campaign outcomes and provide recommendations on next steps 

• Mobilize key stakeholders (e.g., patient organizations, advocacy and support groups, professional societies, industry associations, coalitions) to educate and influence patients, healthcare providers and payors in support of Payors and Evidence initiatives  

• Serve on the Global Government Affairs & Patient Advocacy team to coordinate execution of global campaigns 

• Create a tools box for the engagements related to public affairs and effectively deploy it in commercial setting 

Cross-functional collaboration 

• Drive internal alignment process to ensure that the public affairs function is tightly connected to Coloplast Chronic Care business objectives 

• Partner with Coloplast and Comfort Medical teams (Reimbursement, Market Access, Medical Affairs, Marketing, Clinician Education, etc.) to cultivate relationships within external stakeholders and support their business initiatives 

• Support the US Reimbursement and Government Affairs Director to engage external stakeholders on a federal level per their direction  

• Support the US Downstream Market Access Director on the state level initiatives securing access to Coloplast offerings, policy expansion and price protection per their direction 

Basic Qualifications 

• Experience in patient advocacy, patient organizations, and/or public affairs etc. in the medical device industry 

• A minimum of 7 years of successful engagements to develop and execute patient advocacy or public affairs campaigns  

• Competencies in communications (storytelling, writing, strategic communications, sound knowledge of new media)  

• Ability to form strategic relationships with key personnel in stakeholder groups 

• Self-motivated and capable of managing multiple projects with a drive for results 

• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and spokesperson skills with the ability to express complex information and processes in a clear, concise, and compelling manner 

• Complex stakeholder and project management skills 

• Travel as needed to support key initiatives 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Master’s degree in communications, business, language and culture or political science accredited institution in related field 

• Experience in driving public campaigns relevant to disability and healthcare inequity, unmet medical and emotional needs as a matter of social justice, personalized health care, mental health, human dignity, chronic care coordination 

Location: Minneapolis, MN and Washington, DC is preferred but remote is acceptable