Director Marketing and Communications

SUMMARY

The Director of Marketing & Strategic Communications is responsible for managing multi-level activities and assignments related to analysis, planning, execution, control and evaluation of marketing and strategic communications programs supporting Chesapeake Regional Healthcare (CRH). The Director establishes enterprise-wide marketing and communications strategies that advance corporate objectives, strengthen reputation, align internal and external messaging, support service-line growth and build trust with employees, physicians/providers, administrators, nurses, staff, patients and families, community partners, media, the Board, donors/foundation, elected officials/government agencies and other important stakeholders. The Director also serves as a senior communications advisor to executive leadership and oversees communications strategy, including but not limited to message architecture, public relations, media relations, internal communications, community engagement, executive communications, issues management and crisis communications.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

The duties and responsibilities described below represent the essential functions of the job. Other duties or responsibilities may be assigned at the discretion of the immediate supervisor and/or leadership within the individual’s hierarchy.

Marketing Strategy, Brand and Growth

• Develops and executes comprehensive marketing plans and programs, both short- and long-range, to support service and revenue objectives of the organization.

• Utilizes market research and monitors competitive services and marketing activities to recommend marketing strategy course corrections, seize emerging opportunities and respond to competitor activity.

• Oversees brand management.

• Develops and recommends service market positioning to capitalize on long-term market share.

• Determines agencies and suppliers of record for comms and marketing and negotiates contract terms and conditions for major services.

• Ensures effective control of marketing results and takes corrective action to keep achievement of marketing objectives within designated budgets.

• Guides development and maintenance of customer database.

• Ensures preparation of marketing activity reports and presents regularly to executive management.

• Establishes and maintains a consistent corporate image throughout all product lines, promotional materials and events.

Strategic Communications Leadership

• Develops and leads an enterprise-wide strategic communications plan that aligns internal and external communications and community engagement with CRH priorities, organizational strategy, reputation goals and service-line growth objectives.

• Owns enterprise message architecture, including core narratives, key messages, proof points, talking points, boilerplate language, positioning statements and standard messaging for major organizational priorities.

• Provides strategic communications counsel to the CEO, executive leadership, Board members, service-line leaders, and other internal stakeholders on sensitive, high-visibility or organization-wide matters.

• Drafts, edits, or oversees executive communications, including leadership messages, speeches, presentations, talking points, Board-related communications, service-line communications and communications supporting organizational change.

• Builds integrated communications plans for major initiatives, including service launches, facility changes, partnerships, affiliations, advocacy issues and organizational transformation.

• Sets and maintains standards for brand voice, tone, editorial approvals, plain language, accessibility and consistency across communications channels and audiences.

Internal Communications

• Leads internal communications for employees, physicians/providers, administrators, nurses and staff to support understanding, alignment, engagement and timely awareness of organizational priorities.

• Partners with HR, clinical leadership, operations, compliance, legal and executive leadership to ensure internal communications are clear, appropriate, timely and aligned with organizational priorities.

• Develops communications materials and toolkits that equip leaders and managers to communicate consistently with their teams.

Public Relations, Media Relations and Reputation

• Oversees public and media relations functions and serves as an organizational spokesperson, as appropriate.

• Leads proactive earned media strategy, media monitoring, reputation management, interview preparation, press release development, media statement creation and delivery, as well as media-response protocols.

• Prepares executives, subject matter experts, physicians/providers and other spokespeople for media interviews, public presentations and high-visibility communications opportunities.

• Monitors media coverage, public sentiment and reputational issues and recommends communications strategies to protect and strengthen CRH credibility and trust.

• Establishes and maintains relationships with industry influencers, media representatives, key community partners and strategic partners.

Issues Management and Crisis Communications

• Leads crisis communications and participates as a member of incident/crisis response teams.

• Develops, maintains and activates communications protocols for issues and crises, including patient safety events, operational disruptions, leadership changes, regulatory matters, labor issues, litigation-sensitive topics, community controversy, service changes and public health events.

• Oversees creation of timely, accurate, coordinated messaging for internal and external audiences during sensitive or emergent situations.

• Conducts after-action communications reviews following significant issues or events and recommends improvements to processes, messaging and readiness.

Community, Stakeholder and Channel Communications

• Builds communications strategies for employees, patients/families, physicians/providers, community partners, media, the Board, donors/foundation, elected officials/government agencies and other key stakeholders.

• Collaborate with Health Equity/Community Events/Employee Engagement committees to support community engagement efforts such as mobile clinics, school initiatives, health fairs and onsite insertions and ensure alignment with overall strategy.

• Develops overall community engagement strategy and leads direct efforts developed by ELT or MarComm that support CRH visibility, relationships, partnerships and trust in the communities it serves.

• Owns editorial strategy across channels, including website, social media, email, intranet, newsletters, video, speeches, presentations, thought leadership and related content platforms.

Leadership/Administrative Responsibilities

• Develops and manages the marketing and communications operating budget.

• Guides preparation of marketing and communications activity reports and presents results, insights, risks and recommendations to executive management.

• Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring and training/developing staff employees; planning, assigning and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

• Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws.

• Attend required hospital-wide orientations, meetings and in-services.

Supervises: Professional and support staff within the Marketing Department

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The qualifications listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required for the job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Required Education

Verifiable completion of the following degree in a major relevant to the role is required:

• Bachelor’s Degree

Preferred Education

• Master’s degree

Required Experience

• Seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in marketing, strategic communications, public relations, media relations, internal communications, issues management or equivalent combination of education and experience as well as experience managing and developing staff.

Preferred Experience

• Ten (10) years of experience as described

Licenses, Certifications and/or Registrations

Preferred Credential(s)

• Accreditation in Public Relations (APR)