The Senior Director of Strategic Communications is Michigan Medicine's lead strategist and trusted advisor for enterprise-wide internal communication. This role designs and governs an integrated internal communications ecosystem that informs, engages, and mobilizes faculty, staff, learners, and leaders across Michigan Medicine's education, research, clinical and statewide operations.
Serving as a high-level consultant to senior leadership, the Senior Director provides executive counsel, develops clear narrative and messaging architecture, and builds scalable channels and measurement practices that strengthen culture, accelerate change, and advance organizational priorities. The role leads a team of communications professionals and works in close partnership with colleagues across the Department of Communication to deliver coordinated, measurable results aligned with enterprise strategic and business priorities.
This role reports to the Chief Communications & Marketing Officer (CCMO) at Michigan Medicine.
Strategy, Governance & Integration
- Own the enterprise internal communications strategy and editorial governance model, ensuring consistent standards, processes, style, and tone while enabling appropriate local customization.
- Establish an integrated channel and platform approach (e.g., intranet, leader communications, campaigns, toolkits), reducing duplication and improving efficiency and impact of communications.
- Lead strategic planning, prioritization and execution for internal communications initiatives tied to Michigan Medicine tripartite mission and goals, including outcomes-oriented communications plans for major operational, financial, clinical, education, research, and cultural priorities.
- Build and maintain a measurement framework (insight, analytics, and feedback loops) to evaluate effectiveness, inform decision making, and drive continuous improvement, with regular reporting to key stakeholders.
- Draft and/or oversee drafting of talking points, key messages, remarks, presentations and internal announcements for high-visibility moments (e.g., results, major initiatives, change efforts), keeping in mind the unique perspectives of learners, researchers, clinical care and operations teams and governance when appropriate.
- Collaborate with communications leads for the EVPMA/CEO and Medical School Dean, Public Relations and other communications functions to develop and align high-impact executive visibility and messaging across internal and external audiences and ensure consistency when appropriate.
Culture, Engagement & Change Leadership
- Lead communications approaches that strengthen culture, experience, and engagement across clinical, education, and research communities.
- Partner with leaders across Michigan Medicine to support change management communications that improve adoption, understanding, trust and readiness.
- Translate complex operational and financial information into clear, actionable communications that support leaders and teams and drive institutional alignment (e.g., year-end results, performance targets, investments, alliances).
Content Strategy & Stakeholder Partnership
- Allocate resources and set strategy for internal communications support across key centers and service lines (e.g., Cancer, Cardiovascular, Sports Medicine, Women & Children's), balancing enterprise priorities and localized needs.
- Provide strategic oversight for selected patient/consumer communications and relevant intranet content areas as assigned, ensuring consistency and alignment with enterprise narrative and standards.
- Consult with partners (e.g., physician relations, contact center management, education, research and clinical department leaders) to deliver modern, scalable solutions for recurring needs (newsletters, publications, mailings, digital content).
Team & Vendor Leadership
- Build, lead and develop a high-performing internal communications team (direct and matrixed), setting clear strategy, expectations, coaching talent and fostering accountability.
- Create an operating model that enables proactive consulting and strategic partnership - not only writing/editing - across Michigan Medicine.
- Identify, select and manage outside vendors/consultants as needed to augment capacity or specialized expertise.
Supervision
- Supervises: Direct and/or matrixed internal communications professionals; manages vendors/consultants as needed
- Master's degree in Communications, Marketing, or related field.
- 15+ years of communications leadership experience in health care or similar highly regulated consumer service environments strongly preferred.
Leadership Competencies
- Executive-level consulting skills: trusted counsel, sound judgment, presence, discretion and ability to influence without authority.
- Strategic narrative leadership: ability to define, translate, and sustain a unified story and message architecture for different audiences across a complex organization.
- Data-informed decision-making: builds strategy, prioritization and recommendations grounded in analytics, research and stakeholder insight.
- Strong business acumen: understands academic medicine operations and can align communications to mission, strategy, risk and
