Director Patient Relations & Community

Trust is key to fostering the positive change required to impact patient lives for the better. Honoring and safeguarding Edwards’ reputation and brand identity, our Public Affairs teams build and maintain valued partnerships across the public arena. In close cooperation with opinion-leaders in government, legislation, and the media, your guidance and counsel will help drive policy, lawmaking, and public support. Together we can improve quality of care and health outcomes for cardiovascular patients around the world.

The role of the Director Patient Relations & Community is to lead and foster Edwards strategic, ethical, and collaborative relationships with patient communities, advocacy groups, charity organizations and caregivers by implementing the EMEACLA SHD vision and agenda.

How you’ll make an impact

• Develop and execute a regional EMEACLA patient relations strategy aligned with Edwards’ mission and SHD strategy.

• Translate EMEACLA patient relations strategies into actionable regional plans and country execution.

• Ensure that patient and community insight efforts are aligned with the objectives and strategic plans of the business units.

• Monitor and evaluate impact of advocacy efforts on patient outcomes and company reputation.

• Contribute to the development of legislative policy regarding the use of patient data in regulatory policy development and decision-making.

• Identify relevant data on disease prevalence, incidence, burden, and health disparities to support regional patient access strategies.

• Maximize external engagement by leveraging existing relationships and exploring new opportunities to collaborate with community partners, patient advocate organizations, institutions, and key decision makers to broaden knowledge about gaps in patient journeys and support the patient care journey.

• Develop regional communication strategies that elevate Edwards’ philanthropic impact and inspire engagement across internal and external audiences.

• Develop and support operations and execution of campaigns and strategies to increase participation in volunteer programs and philanthropic initiatives (i.e., Heart Month, Global Month of Giving, employee matching gifts, disaster relief).

• Manage volunteer and donation programs and partner with employees and non-profits to ensure successful outcomes.

• Manage Volunteer Committee meetings, and support and foster a strong community of regional volunteer leaders.

• Plan and execute major events (i.e., Every Heartbeat Matters Partner Summit, patient experiences, partner fundraisers), including concept development, budgeting, logistics, AV, and post-event evaluations.

• Manage sponsorship activations and partner events, ensuring alignment with vision and strategic objectives.

• Support patient-first cultural transformation across EMEACLA organization through patient listening sessions and advisory boards across the region.

• Drive internal cultural change toward Edwards Lifesciences patient-first values.

• Represent the company at EMEACLA patient forums, conferences, and policy roundtables.

• Ensure full compliance with ethical and compliance processes in patient interactions.

What you'll need (Required):

Master’s degree or higher in Public Health, Life Sciences, Political Science, Communications, or related field.

What else we look for (Preferred):

Experience

• 10+ years of experience in patient advocacy, public affairs or communication roles.

• Proven track record in leading regional or global patient engagement initiatives.

• Expertise in patient advocacy and engagement, public affairs, and healthcare systems across EMEA, Canada and Latin America region (EMEACLA) region.

• Experience working with patient associations, NGOs, Foundations, and policy makers.

• Strong understanding of EMEACLA healthcare systems, access pathways, and policy environments.

• Demonstrated success in cross-functional leadership and stakeholder management.

• Experience in compliance and ethical standards related to patient interactions.

Skills

• Strategic thinking and ability to translate vision into execution.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to engage and align external stakeholders, including NGOs, patient associations, and broad range of stakeholders.
• Passion for and experience in helping others though global health and community impact work.
• Cross-Functional leader and trusted partner, with ability to work in matrix organization, to align and coordinate with EMEACLA organization, including Public Affairs (government affairs, market access, communications, public-private partnerships), Business Units, Country leadership teams, Legal / Compliance, etc.
• Cultural Sensitivity and fluency in navigating diverse healthcare landscapes and patient needs across EMEACLA countries.
• Being a trusted partner to Edwards’ employees and to patient organizations in the EMEACLA region.
• Existing relationships and network of global Cardiovascular/SHD patient groups.
• Ability to navigate complex matrix organizations.
• Fluency in English; additional European languages are a plus.