Executive Communications, Director

The Opportunity

The Genentech Executive Communications team, within Corporate Communications, is seeking a seasoned communications leader to shape executive communications, thought leadership, and visibility strategies that build trust, engagement, and alignment across internal and external audiences. This role plays a critical part in advancing Genentech’s long-term business strategy while reinforcing our culture, values, and leadership credibility.  The right individual will be able to serve as a strategic advisor to senior leaders, develop and execute integrated executive communications and visibility strategies, elevate leader presence and influence, and connect executive messaging across priorities to ensure clarity, consistency, and enterprise alignment.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Executive Communications, the role partners closely with Internal and External Communications teams and key stakeholders across the enterprise to lead executive visibility efforts and deliver high-quality executive communications, including narratives, business updates, presentations, talking points, and thought leadership content for high-stakes moments. The ideal candidate brings a strong enterprise mindset and a proven ability to navigate complex, matrixed organizations, influencing through exceptional verbal and written communication skills, know-how, and influence with a bias for action.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to senior leaders, including the C-suite, shaping executive narratives and communications strategies that advance enterprise priorities and strengthen Genentech’s mission and reputation.

• Lead executive communications end-to-end, acting as the primary point of contact and ensuring clarity, consistency, and impact across all channels.

• Partner closely with Internal and External Communications teams to align executive messaging with enterprise strategy, corporate narratives, and reputational priorities across audiences.

• Provide senior-level counsel on executive positioning, thought leadership, public relations, and crisis communications, including preparation for high-stakes internal and external moments.

• Leverage emerging technologies and AI-enabled tools to enhance executive communications, streamline workflows, and scale impact—continuously identifying opportunities to optimize processes, improve efficiency, and modernize how communications are developed, delivered, and measured.

• Oversee and direct external agencies and partners—including media relations, speechwriting, creative development, logistics, and production—to ensure deliverables meet the highest standards of quality, tone, and brand alignment.

• Elevate executive presence and visibility through strategic engagement across enterprise and external forums, including national meetings, enterprise town halls, roadshows, and leadership forums.

• Provide strategic and creative leadership for major executive and leadership communications moments—such as annual meetings, senior leadership town halls, executive off-sites, and enterprise-wide engagement events—guiding narrative development, content strategy, and production oversight.

• Ensure compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and Genentech policies.

Skills / Abilities:

• Core Knowledge/Expertise

  • Deep experience in corporate communications, internal and external; executive communications experience preferred 

  • Proven leadership skills, including demonstrated comfort in driving large-scale cross-functional initiatives; ability to persuade as well as to be flexible and humble

  • Ability to design and implement innovative communication efforts that engage and inspire others at various levels in the organization

  • Deep fluency of business priorities, employee preferences, company culture and industry landscape and is considered a critical partner in advancing relevant enterprise objectives 

  • Highly skilled at managing new, complex, large-scale, multi-cross-functional workstreams projects that may include both internal and external stakeholders.

  • Deep experience in writing,story-telling through different mediums and channels and editing, verbal communications and presentations

• Strategic Agility & Innovation

  • Leads, envisions, and architects innovative strategies that drive expanded program and portfolio wide impact

  • Strategic leader and systems thinker, with excellent ability to distill data and input from disparate sources, industry and competitor trends, enterprise / business context to develop strategies that drive change and impact at scale

  • Proactively seek ways to prioritize and simplify, challenge the status quo, and introduce new ideas that strengthen impact of the work, lead with curiosity, willingness to experiment, learn and iterate

  • Creative thinker and agile mindset, striving for continuous improvement and evolution of programs to adapt to changes in the internal and external environment

  • High ethical standards and integrity; strong humility and discretion; comfort and commitment to operating in highly regulated environments

• Influencing, Partnering & Leadership

  • Exceptional ability to partner, counsel, negotiate for alignment, drive collaboration and influence without authority across all levels and with diverse audiences by demonstrating authenticity, cultivating trust, identifying collective opportunities and driving toward successful outcomes 

  • Proven ability to provide strategic communications counsel to C-suite leadership, orchestrating high-visibility executive presentations, and developing brand identity. 

  • Effective consulting skills with the ability to quickly assimilate business needs and circumstances to inform and advise others

  • Leads and designs department strategy & processes, capabilities building and business strategy and measurement

• Decision Making, Problem Solving, and Managing Change

  • Leads team to prioritize effectively to focus efforts on activities that drive the most value, demonstrate flexibility and willing to pivot, flow resources, and adapt and catalyze others to focus efforts on activities that drive the most value

  • Highly skilled in taking on new challenges, navigating ambiguity and striving for clarity, with consistently demonstrating an acumen for sound judgement and strategic thinking in complex decision making

  • Constantly thinking in a disruptive mindset to find opportunities for change and impact; inspires a culture that embraces this approach and sees opportunities.

• Execution Excellence & Operating Agility

  • Thrives in a fast-paced, high-demand environment, with the ability to juggle multiple priorities, shift gears quickly, and consistently deliver under tight deadlines.

  • Highly organized and detail-oriented, with strong program and project management skills across complex, concurrent workstreams.

  • Demonstrates a strong bias for action, with the ability to operate autonomously, anticipate needs, and proactively drive work forward with minimal direction.

• Technology & Data Fluency

  • Strong digital and AI fluency, with the ability to leverage tools and platforms to enhance content creation, workflow efficiency, and team productivity.

  • Experience using data and insights to inform communications strategy, track performance, and optimize outcomes.

• Leadership & Ways of Working

  • Proven ability to lead with both independence and collaboration—operating autonomously while fostering deep partnership across teams and stakeholders.

  • Strong commitment to teamwork, transparency, and collective success, with the ability to bring others along and elevate team performance. 

Who you are

• You have a Bachelor’s degree (general business, public relations, marketing and/or communications disciplines) is required. 

• You have a minimum of 10 years of previous communications or public relations experience 

• Exceptional writing skills with speech writing as a key advantage

• Extensive communications design experience and advanced presentation development skills.

• Proven ability to develop and implement communication strategies in collaboration with a diverse team.

• Proven ability to provide strategic communications counsel to senior leaders, orchestrating high-visibility executive presentations, and developing brand identity. 

• Experience in engaging high-performance teams and developing innovative communication platforms.

• Ability to design and implement innovative communication efforts that engage and inspire others at various levels in the organization.

• Demonstrated comfort and fluency with AI, digital tools, and evolving technology platforms, with a track record of using them to improve content development, workflow efficiency, and communications impact.

• Experience operating in high-intensity, fast-paced environments, with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously and deliver high-quality work under aggressive timelines.

• Experience tracking, analyzing, and communicating metrics to measure effectiveness, inform strategy, and demonstrate ROI of communications efforts.

Preferred Qualifications

• 8 years of experience gained in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or related industry

• Experience with driving core business and corporate-level strategies and objectives, activities and communications, and execution.

• Previous executive communications, corporate communications or communications agency experience and marketing experience 

• Experience with collective leadership and stakeholder management, change communications and management, and the ability to approach work with adaptability and an enterprise mindset

• Proven leadership experience, strong people management and coaching capabilities a plus. 

Travel as required to support executive engagements and business priorities.

This role is based out of our South San Francisco, CA Genentech Campus;

Relocation benefits are not offered on this posting

The expected salary range for this position based on the primary location of South San Francisco, CA is $167,300/yr to $310,700/yr.  Actual pay will be determined based on experience, qualifications, geographic location, and other job-related factors permitted by law.  A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and Company performance.  This position also qualifies for the benefits detailed at the link provided below.

Benefits

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Genentech is an equal opportunity employer. It is our policy and practice to employ, promote, and otherwise treat any and all employees and applicants on the basis of merit, qualifications, and competence. The company's policy prohibits unlawful discrimination, including but not limited to, discrimination on the basis of Protected Veteran status, individuals with disabilities status, and consistent with all federal, state, or local laws.

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