Group Director, Engagement Strategy (Medical Education)

Wunderman Thompson; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Group Director of Engagement Strategy in Medical Communication to lead transformative client engagements. This role is pivotal in connecting engagement strategies with medical communications, leveraging AI and data to craft impactful experiences for healthcare stakeholders. You will guide omnichannel customer journeys, strategize innovative activations, and foster strong client relationships. Join a dynamic team that champions creativity and innovation, where your expertise will drive meaningful connections and enhance the understanding of medical narratives. If you're passionate about transforming healthcare communications, this opportunity is for you.

Benefits

Health Coverage (Medical, Dental, Vision)

401k Match

Paid Time Off

Training Opportunities

Inclusive Culture

Growth Opportunities

Qualifications

• 3-6 years in medical communications with tactical planning experience.
• Strong grasp of medical science and ability to collaborate with medical teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop audience insights to activate engagement across the customer journey.
• Lead planning of activations that connect strategic goals to engagement priorities.

Skills

Medical Communications

Strategic Planning

Data Analysis

Audience Engagement

Creative Thinking

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Master's Degree

Tools

AI Technology

CRM Systems

Data Visualization Tools

Job description

Who We Are:

At VML, we are a beacon of innovation and growth in an ever-evolving world. Our heritage is built upon a century of combined expertise, where creativity meets technology, and diverse perspectives ignite inspiration. With the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson, we have forged a new path as a growth partner that is part creative agency, part consultancy, and part technology powerhouse.

Our global family now encompasses over 30,000 employees across 150+ offices in 64 markets, each contributing to a culture that values connection, belonging, and the power of differences. Our expertise spans the entire customer journey, offering deep insights in communications, commerce, consultancy, CRM, CX, data, production, and technology. We deliver end-to-end solutions that result in revolutionary work.

About VML Health:

VML HEALTH is a global healthcare agency that partners with healthcare clients across a broad definition of health, from high science to wellness and everything in between. It operates fluidly within the VML agency, as a core group of health specialists (a ‘vertical’) that has the benefit of autonomy in management, but with support of non-health expertise.

At the heart of health is the story of life – all the highs and lows, ambitions, and possibilities. But facing a health challenge can suddenly pull people away from these stories, knocking them off course.

Our purpose is to bridge this gap, bringing people closer to life and all its meaning. We gain a deeper understanding of Healthcare Professionals’ and patients’ needs, behaviors and lived experiences through what we call ‘radical empathy’.

VML Health creates connected brands that get to the heart, bringing people closer to the lives they want to live. Get to the heart. Connect for life.

International Meetings and Science (IMsci), a division of VML Health, works with companies to build world-class healthcare and pharmaceutical brands among medical professionals and consumers, with a transmedia storytelling approach that covers medical education strategies.

What we’re looking for:

As a Group Director Engagement Strategy, Medical Communication you will help lead key client engagements and serve as the connective tissue between engagement strategy and medical communications. You will demonstrate your expertise in bringing to life the clinical narrative and key medical education in a targeted ecosystem of connected experiences for different audiences. You will have the unique ability to leverage a keen understanding of audiences’ needs and preferences with the nuance of the relevant therapeutic areas to craft and orchestrate targeted and captivating experiences that help activate our audiences to want to learn more, consider new therapeutic approaches and progress their clinical understanding, shifting mindsets.

VML Health is on a mission to reimagine medical communication, bringing AI technology, data and science forward strategically for our clients and reaching diverse audiences in new and meaningful ways. You’ll work at the intersection of creativity, medical science, data and technology to develop impactful experiences for healthcare stakeholders. Working across medical communication initiatives, you will collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team to lead and develop engagement strategy, AI and innovative experiences every step of the way. Leveraging insights, you’ll turn client objectives and medical communication priorities into measurable success, delivering solutions that engage, inspire, and create lasting connections between audiences and pharma brands/companies.

What You'll Do:

• Getting to the heart of customers: Develop a deep understanding of audience’s wants, needs, and behaviors across the full customer journey to be able to effectively message and activate at each step.
• Master the journey: Guide development of seamless omnichannel customer journeys across pre-launch, launch, and post-launch phases, incorporating dynamic personalization to engage with HCPs along their learning journey.
• Strategic activations: Lead the planning of key activations that creatively connect strategic goals to engagement priorities.
• Channel expertise: Devise specific strategies (e.g. social, CRM, website, paid media, apps, MSL and rep-delivered and more) all designed to educate and activate key audiences.
• Strategize with precision: Develop integrated, data-informed strategies for medical communications programs in line with stakeholder mindsets and experience needs.
• Collaborate deeply: Partner with IMsci account and scientific teams to create personalized engagement strategies and communication narratives that integrate seamlessly with content, messaging, and regulatory requirements, and are built to meet strategic goals.
• Lead with innovation: Champion AI initiatives (working within WPP’s Open) and stay attuned to emerging technologies, channels and tools. Collaborate with client teams to refine existing ADVENT Hub and understand educational content hub platforms such as Magnolia.
• Empower agile learning: Focus on building an educational experience for each and all focusing on agile, deconstructed and ubiquitous online presence with a multitude of tailored opportunities for every learner.
• Build trust: Foster strong client relationships as a strategic partner, delivering actionable, ROI-driven solutions that address their most pressing challenges.
• Mentor and inspire: Lead and develop junior strategists, building a team culture of creativity, growth, and collaboration.
• Win the pitch: Participate in new business proposals by presenting bold, forward-thinking visions that set VML Health apart in a competitive landscape.

Who You Are:

• Proven experience with medical communications: 3-6 years working in medical communications or medical education, with proven experience with a wide range of deliverables and tactical planning.
• Strong grasp of medical science: Proven ability to understand scientific concepts in close collaboration with medical teams, ideally supported by a background in healthcare communications, medicine or science.
• Strategic Thinker: Proficient in developing activation briefs and synthesizing diverse data points (in collaboration with the medical team) to tell a clear, cohesive narrative.
• Peer-to-Peer Expertise: Passion for leveraging the power of P2P and interactions among HCPs to develop impactful KOL programs, advisory boards, speaker programs, roundtable discussions and other innovation tactics that bring HCPs together for discussion and learning, by building on the success of current ecosystems.
• Congress Experiences: Deep understanding of the HCP Congress space, driving innovation by building on the success of current ecosystems to stimulate learning and engagement pre, during and post Congress through unique tactics and experiences.
• Data-Driven Mindset: Constantly thinking about established and novel ways to assess success and looks to incorporate measurement into all engagements.
• Leadership: Confident and authoritative, able to flex role within project teams from SME to process driver. Experience coaching junior team members desirable.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree required; master’s or advanced degree preferred.

What You'll Need:

• 7-13 years of experience in overall research and strategic planning experience.
• Deep experience developing medical communications strategy and tactics.
• Medical communications agency experience.
• Critical and analytical thinker, innovator and visionary that inspires creativity.
• Demonstrates passion, familiarity, and curiosity with the CX practice.
• Able to develop strong client relationships and trust based on deep immersion in the client’s business.
• Highly collaborative and able to work effectively across internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree and a multidisciplinary background, including developing business strategy, marketing strategy, consumer insight, and/or account planning.
• Advanced degree preferred—such as a Master’s in Health Communication, Public Health, or an MBA.

What We Offer:

• Passionate, driven people: We champion a culture of people who do extraordinary work.
• Consciously cultivated culture: We aim to embody the behaviors to build an inclusive community that is in it together, bringing both positivity and active listening into the workplace as we simultaneously strive to empower creative bravery.
• Competitive benefits: What we offer full-time hires ranges from the full spectrum of group health coverage options (medical, dental, vision) to a generous 401k match (100% dollar-for-dollar match, up to 5% of salary contribution), and a variety of paid time off offerings that reflect our investment in all aspects of your overall life balance and wellness.
• Growth-minded opportunities: We aim to nurture a culture of real-time feedback, a growth-oriented mindset, and plenty of training opportunities through VML and WPP so you can continue to grow personally and professionally.

#vmlhealthcareers

The base salary range for this position at the time of this posting is indicated below. Individual compensation varies based on job-related factors, including location, business needs, level of responsibility, experience, and qualifications. We offer a competitive benefits package, click WPP Benefits for more details.

VML is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

VML is a WPP Agency. For more information, please visit our website, and follow VML on our social channels via Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.