Senior Director, Patient Ambassador Strategy

Senior Director, Patient Engagement, Ruder Finn Ruder Finn is one of the world's largest independent global communications and integrated marketing agencies, known for bold ideas, sharp strategy, and a culture that pushes what's next. Ruder Finn continues to earn recognition for its industry leadership, creativity, and continued growth, including being named Large Agency of the Year at the 2026 PRWeek U.S. Awards and one of PRWeek's Best Places to Work. We're looking for a Senior Director, Patient Engagement to join our growing rf.voices team. This role will develop the strategy, structure and plans for patient ambassador programs across pharmaceutical and healthcare clients. Working closely with clients, patients, caregivers and cross-functional agency teams, the Senior Director will oversee program delivery and ensure each initiative is authentic, compliant, measurable and grounded in patient needs. The Senior Director will develop and manage programs across the ambassador lifecycle, including identification, assessment, onboarding, story development, training, activation and ongoing engagement. They will oversee the preparation of patients and caregivers to communicate confidently and authentically through videos, advertising, blogs, social media, live events, peer-to-peer programs and other approved channels. Key Responsibilities Program Strategy and Planning Develop patient ambassador strategies and program plans that translate client objectives, patient needs, disease-state insights and regulatory considerations into viable engagement models. Define program audiences, ambassador eligibility criteria, participant roles, engagement channels and activation models. Define the program governance structure, decision‑making responsibilities, escalation pathways, and quality standards required for delivery. Contribute to recommendations regarding branded, unbranded or blended approaches based on program objectives, patient needs and regulatory considerations. Develop annual and project‑specific activation plans across live, virtual, digital, social and peer‑to‑peer channels. Apply disease‑state knowledge, patient‑journey insights, health literacy principles and audience considerations to program recommendations. Establish program timelines, deliverables, KPIs and reporting plans in partnership with senior leadership and measurement teams. Evaluate program performance across accounts and use findings to refine strategy, strengthen ambassador experiences and improve future program design. Ambassador Identification and Relationship Management Establish the approach and selection criteria for identifying, assessing and onboarding patients and caregivers. Oversee ambassador recruitment, screening and selection to ensure alignment with program objectives, patient needs and participation requirements. Review and approve recommendations for ambassador participation, particularly for sensitive, complex or high‑visibility opportunities. Set standards for respectful, consistent and long‑term ambassador relationship management. Provide guidance on sensitive ambassador situations and direct the response to changes in health, treatment, personal circumstances or readiness to participate. Monitor the overall ambassador experience and identify opportunities to improve retention, support and engagement. Training and Coaching Oversee the development and delivery of individual and group training that prepares patients and caregivers to share their experiences confidently, authentically and within approved program parameters. Oversee the ambassador story‑development process, ensuring patient narratives capture meaningful experiences, decisions and insights while remaining authentic, compelling and aligned with program objectives. Provide direction and quality oversight for ambassador coaching across presentation skills, approved messaging and message delivery, interviews, media readiness, audience engagement and responses to difficult or unexpected questions. Ensure ambassadors are appropriately prepared for participation across videos, advertising, blogs, social media, live events, internal meetings and peer‑to‑peer programs. Establish and reinforce standards that help ambassadors communicate their personal experiences clearly while avoiding unsupported medical or product claims. Review training plans and ambassador readiness, providing direct coaching for complex, sensitive or high‑visibility engagements as needed. Guide team members responsible for day‑to‑day training and coaching, ensuring a consistent, patient‑centered approach across programs and channels. Story and Content Development Provide strategic direction for story‑mining and content development, ensuring patient narratives reflect meaningful lived experiences and support program objectives. Establish the narrative approach and content‑development standards, providing oversight for sensitive or high‑visibility content Guide editorial and creative team Review #J-18808-Ljbffr ruderfinn