Full-Time

Public Relations Vice President

Health

Posted on 8/25/2025

Highwire

Highwire

51-200 employees

Scholarly publishing platform and manuscript management

Compensation Overview

$145k - $175k/yr

Chicago, IL, USA

Remote

Category
Growth & Marketing (1)
Required Skills
Communications
Social Media
Data Analysis
Requirements
  • Minimum 10 years experience in communications, ideally both agency and in-house
  • Extensive experience leading strategic communication strategies within the healthcare, medtech, health systems, pharma, and/or life sciences fields
  • Strong experience in pharma, biotech and/or life sciences preferred
  • Demonstrated experience leading or participating in new business efforts - including targeted outreach, proposal development and pitching
  • Experience with integrated programs spanning digital, editorial and media relations
  • Innovative thinker, with a track record for translating strategic thinking into action plans and output and experience using data and insights to craft strategic campaigns
  • Significant experience providing communications counsel to executives and senior marketers and communicators
  • Track record of delivering standout creative communications campaigns within regulated markets
  • Business acumen in the areas of budgeting, billing and staffing
  • Experience in building, managing, mentoring, and coaching communications managers and specialists
  • Excellent judgment and creative problem-solving skills
  • Ability to make decisions in a changing environment and anticipate future needs
  • Experience setting up measurement programs and measuring the ongoing ROI of communications activities
Responsibilities
  • Help lead the health practice and team to achieve strategic growth and distinction in the market
  • Serve as a strategic partner to clients and direct high impact programs that help them meet their business goals
  • Build and nurture long-term client relationships and grow business by providing leadership, direction and strategic guidance to colleagues, day-to-day teams, and clients
  • Generate organic revenue within existing clients by taking a broad view of the entire marketing and communications mix and offering strategic recommendations to expand the scope of work or bring new services to clients
  • Identify and lead new business pitches to bring in new clients to meet growth goals
  • Stay ahead of the shifts in the healthcare environment and provide guidance to teams and clients
  • Develop strong media relations programs with timely, relevant and creative angles that will drive positive coverage for clients
  • Manage client budgets, financials and profitability
  • Oversee team staffing and resourcing to ensure high quality work for clients
  • Participate in an agency cornerstone (Outstanding Client Services, Strong Careers, Smooth Operators, and Excellent Clients)
  • Work with integrated teams to provide clients with seamless multi-channel solutions utilizing traditional PR, digital, and social media platforms to deliver maximum performance and results
  • Promote a high-performance and continuous improvement culture that values learning and a commitment to quality
  • Manage, mentor, and develop staff using a supportive and collaborative approach consistently
  • Monitor staff performance and development goals, assign accountabilities, set objectives, establish priorities, and conduct annual performance reviews
  • Represent Highwire and key clients at high-level industry events, seminars, and conferences as required to maintain professional development and to build networking and new business contacts
Desired Qualifications
  • Strong experience in pharma, biotech and/or life sciences preferred

HighWire provides a digital publishing platform and services for scholarly publishers to host journals and books, manage manuscript submission and peer review, and handle subscriptions. It offers an end-to-end, integrated workflow from author submission through editorial review to publication and monetization. By focusing on the scholarly publishing niche, HighWire differentiates itself with long-standing relationships and a full suite tailored to publishers’ needs rather than generic publishing tech. The goal is to streamline scholarly communication by delivering scalable technology-enabled tools that simplify content production, review workflows, and revenue management for publishers, societies, and university presses.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Growth Equity (Venture Capital)

Total Funding

$1.2M

Headquarters

Princeton, New Jersey

Founded

2008

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • 160 employees across San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Chicago drive scale.
  • Global collaborator network expands reach for enterprise B2B clients.
  • Inclusive culture attracts top talent in dynamic strategic communications.

What critics are saying

  • AI automates PR tasks, undercutting Highwire's services within 12 months.
  • Economic downturn slashes tech marketing budgets, starving Highwire by 2027.
  • Competitors like LaunchSquad capture Highwire's cybersecurity clients immediately.

What makes Highwire unique

  • Highwire specializes in PR for tech innovators in AI, cybersecurity, and cleantech.
  • Roots in Silicon Valley journalism enable high-impact media relations.
  • Integrated digital marketing connects client reputation directly to revenue.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Paid Parental Leave

Hybrid Work Options

401(k) Company Match

Home Office Stipend

Wellness Program

Company News

GlobeNewswire
May 13th, 2025
Highwire Appoints Powerhouse Michael O'Brien As Ceo

SAN FRANCISCO, May 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Highwire, a strategic marketing communications agency partnering with brands at the intersection of innovation and industry, today announced the appointment of Michael O’Brien as its new chief executive officer, to further accelerate the agency’s growth and lead Highwire’s journey into a new era of integrated services and impactful client programs. O’Brien brings over 30 years of experience driving growth and excellence for some of the world’s most iconic brands. He served as chief client officer for over 10 years of his 23-year career at Ketchum. There, he transformed client service by focusing on growth, reducing revenue attrition, and creating a more purposeful approach to client management. O’Brien was also responsible for global business development and strategic planning. He will succeed Carol Carrubba, who is currently serving as interim CEO

ForexTV
Mar 20th, 2025
Highwire Achieves Double-Digit Growth in 2024, Elevates Michael Byrnes to Chief Growth Officer

To sustain and accelerate this momentum, Highwire has promoted Michael Byrnes to Chief Growth Officer.

The Robot Report
Dec 28th, 2024
Bay Area Events Note The Convergence Of Ai And Robotics

The San Francisco Bay Area is a nexus of AI and robotics. Source: Adobe Stock. The San Francisco Bay Area is the nexus of the artificial intelligence revolution in the U.S., anchored by San Francisco, with the renaissance of robotics investment and innovation in Silicon Valley. AI is merging with and embodied by robotics here. For instance, Waymo’s driverless cars are a common sight in San Francisco. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said the future of AI is physical AI, embodied by robotics including self-driving cars

GlobeNewswire
Dec 19th, 2024
Highwire Appoints Mike Steavenson As Executive Vice President Of Enterprise Technology Practice, Elevates Jason Mayde To Cto

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Highwire, a high-impact communications and marketing partner for global technology and healthcare companies, is proud to announce the appointment of Mike Steavenson as Executive Vice President of its Enterprise Technology Practice and the elevation of Jason Mayde to Chief Technology Officer (CTO). By expanding its technology leadership team, Highwire bolsters its commitment to harness the transformative power of AI in every aspect of its business and to offer clients unparalleled expertise in both B2B technology and AI. Highwire is committed to leveraging AI in a way that ensures quality, safeguards ethics, and complies with all applicable regulations. This approach harnesses the power of AI responsibly to drive innovation, efficiency, and impactful results for clients. “AI is transforming every industry, including communications and marketing, so investment in enterprise and technology talent distinguishes Highwire as we guide our clients in this new era,” said Highwire interim CEO Carol Carrubba

PRWeek
Jul 30th, 2024
Highwire PR hires Real Chemistry's Chuck Hemann

At the start of the year, Real Chemistry named group president and managing partner Kevin Johnson to oversee capabilities, including social media planning and activation; starpower, its pop culture and influencer agency; paid media; and omnichannel practices.

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