Associate Director - HIV Public Affairs Planning and Operations

At Gilead, we’re creating a healthier world for all people. For more than 35 years, we’ve tackled diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer – working relentlessly to develop therapies that help improve lives and to ensure access to these therapies across the globe. We continue to fight against the world’s biggest health challenges, and our mission requires collaboration, determination and a relentless drive to make a difference.
 

Every member of Gilead’s team plays a critical role in the discovery and development of life-changing scientific innovations. Our employees are our greatest asset as we work to achieve our bold ambitions, and we’re looking for the next wave of passionate and ambitious people ready to make a direct impact.
 

We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfil their aspirations. Join Gilead and help create possible, together.

Job Description
 

Reporting to the Executive Director, U.S. Treatment Public Affairs, the Associate Director, HIV Public Affairs Planning and Operations will provide project management and operational leadership across the U.S. HIV Public Affairs organization, supporting both HIV Treatment and HIV Prevention.

This role will serve as a critical operational partner to the HIV Public Affairs team, with responsibility for serving as the Business Owner for HIV Public Affairs content moving through important internal review process and providing end-to-end project management for priority Public Affairs initiatives.

The Associate Director will help translate strategy into execution by establishing clear workplans, coordinating content and deliverables, managing dependencies, anticipating risks and ensuring teams remain aligned against key milestones. The individual will partner closely with the established review  process owner to ensure HIV Public Affairs content is appropriately planned, prepared, submitted and progressed through review.

Working across Public Affairs and with cross-functional partners, this individual will bring structure, visibility and operational discipline to a complex portfolio of communications, community engagement, advocacy, regulatory, scientific and reputation initiatives. The role will provide the individual with a hands-on, holistic view of Gilead’s HIV Public Affairs team and how the team’s work fits into strategic enterprise-wide goals.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Planning & Counsel

• Partner with HIV Public Affairs leadership to shape and operationalize integrated U.S. Public Affairs strategies across HIV Treatment and Prevention, ensuring plans support broader business, portfolio and enterprise priorities.
• Provide strategic counsel to HIV Public Affairs colleagues on initiative design, sequencing, stakeholder considerations, reputational implications and executional trade-offs.
• Help identify emerging opportunities, external developments and potential issues that may affect HIV Public Affairs priorities, and translate those insights into recommendations for the team.
• Support the development of integrated Public Affairs strategies for priority regulatory milestones, product launches, scientific data disclosures, congresses and other significant portfolio moments.
• Ensure individual programs and deliverables connect to a clear overarching narrative, defined Public Affairs objectives and intended stakeholder outcomes.
• Partner with Communications and Community Engagement & Advocacy colleagues to align communications, advocacy and community engagement activities around shared strategic priorities while preserving clear functional ownership.
• Facilitate strategic planning discussions that help the team clarify objectives, prioritize opportunities, assess trade-offs and make timely decisions.
• Develop strategic recommendations and concise leadership materials that synthesize progress, external context, risks, opportunities and decisions requiring attention.
• Apply insights and lessons from major initiatives to strengthen future HIV Public Affairs strategies, launch planning and cross-functional ways of working.

HIV Public Affairs Content & Review Coordination

• Serve as the Business Owner for HIV Public Affairs content moving through review across HIV Treatment and Prevention.
• Maintain a forward-looking view of HIV PA content requiring review and ensure review timing and dependencies are incorporated into broader project plans.
• Partner with HIV Public Affairs content owners to ensure materials are strategically aligned, complete and appropriately prepared for submission.
• Serve as the central HIV PA point of coordination for content moving through reviews, working in close partnership with the team responsible for overall review governance and process management.
• Maintain visibility into the status of HIV PA materials in review and help content owners understand feedback, outstanding actions, decisions and next steps.
• Coordinate across Communications, Community Engagement & Advocacy and other HIV PA workstreams to appropriately sequence materials around priority business, regulatory, scientific, congress and community milestones.
• Proactively identify content gaps, timing conflicts, dependencies and issues that could affect review or deployment, and work with appropriate partners to address them.
• Provide HIV PA leadership with clear visibility into the content pipeline, upcoming submissions, materials in review and issues requiring attention.
• Help establish consistent planning practices and tools that enable HIV PA teams to efficiently manage their content through review.
• Partner with the review process owner to identify opportunities to improve the HIV PA team's readiness for and engagement in the review process.

Project & Program Management

• Provide end-to-end project management for priority U.S. HIV Public Affairs initiatives spanning Treatment and Prevention.
• Translate strategic priorities into actionable project plans with clear deliverables, timelines, owners, dependencies and decision points.
• Drive complex initiatives from planning through execution, ensuring teams remain aligned on objectives, responsibilities and key milestones.
• Maintain visibility across concurrent Public Affairs projects and proactively identify risks, dependencies and timing conflicts that could affect execution.
• Coordinate initiatives involving multiple Public Affairs workstreams and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Lead project status meetings and maintain clear action and decision tracking to drive accountability and follow-through.
• Proactively surface risks and obstacles, facilitate resolution and escalate issues requiring leadership attention.
• Provide project management support for major regulatory, launch, data, congress, advocacy, community and reputation initiatives.
• Ensure content development and PARC review timelines are appropriately integrated into broader project workbacks rather than managed as separate activities.

Integrated HIV Public Affairs Planning

• Maintain an integrated view of major U.S. HIV Public Affairs activities across Treatment and Prevention.
• Translate annual strategies and priorities into actionable workplans, milestone schedules and deliverables.
• Connect project plans with the HIV PA content pipeline to ensure key materials are developed and reviewed in support of priority milestones.
• Help teams sequence work across regulatory milestones, scientific data disclosures, congresses, communications activities, advocacy and community initiatives, and other priority moments.
• Facilitate key planning meetings and working sessions, ensuring discussions result in clear decisions, accountable owners and next steps.
• Develop concise reporting that provides HIV Public Affairs leadership visibility into project progress, upcoming milestones, content needs, risks, dependencies and decisions requiring attention.
• Help connect planning across HIV Treatment and Prevention where priorities, stakeholders or timing intersect.

Process Excellence & Team Effectiveness

• Establish clear and scalable approaches for HIV PA project planning, content planning, prioritization and execution, while working within established review and governance processes.
• Develop practical templates, trackers, workback schedules and planning tools that create consistency across the HIV Public Affairs organization.
• Identify operational bottlenecks and recommend solutions that improve the speed, predictability and quality of execution.
• Help ensure roles and handoffs are clear among content owners, project leads and established PARC process owners.
• Simplify workflows and reduce unnecessary administrative burden so team members can spend more time focused on strategic Public Affairs priorities.
• Serve as a connector across HIV Treatment and Prevention, helping ensure teams have visibility into overlapping priorities, dependencies and key decisions.
• Capture and apply lessons learned from major initiatives to continuously improve HIV PA ways of working.

Basic Qualifications:

Bachelor's Degree and Ten Years' Experience

OR

Masters' Degree and Eight Years' Experience

OR

PhD and Two Years' Experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• 12+ years of experience (or 10+ with advanced degree) in public affairs, communications, or related roles within the biopharmaceutical or healthcare sector. 

• Proven experience leading communications strategy and execution for a major product launch, ideally in HIV, infectious disease or another highly competitive therapeutic area. 

• Strong understanding of the HIV treatment landscape, including current treatment approaches, access dynamics, community priorities, and health equity considerations. 

• Deep experience working in highly matrixed environments, with demonstrated ability to influence across cross-functional teams (including Legal and Regulatory). 

• Experience engaging with external stakeholders, including advocacy organizations, public health leaders, and third-party experts. 

• Strong expertise in issues management, media relations and corporate reputation. 

• Demonstrated ability to translate complex clinical and policy topics into clear, credible communications. 

• Strategic thinker with strong executional discipline and attention to detail. 

• Demonstrated experience developing above-brand, disease-state education, or thought leadership communications in a regulated healthcare environment. 

• Recognized subject matter expert in public affairs strategy, particularly within HIV treatment, infectious disease or a related healthcare area. 

• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills, including experience advising senior leaders. 

• Strong project management capabilities, with ability to manage multiple priorities and external partners. 

• Understanding of regulatory and compliance requirements governing biopharmaceutical communications. 

• Passion for improving the lives of people living with HIV and advancing equitable access to treatment. 

People Leader Accountabilities:

• Create Inclusion - knowing the business value of diverse teams, modeling inclusion, and embedding the value of diversity in the way they manage their teams.

• Develop Talent - understand the skills, experience, aspirations and potential of their employees and coach them on current performance and future potential. They ensure employees are receiving the feedback and insight needed to grow, develop and realize their purpose.

• Empower Teams - connect the team to the organization by aligning goals, purpose, and organizational objectives, and holding them to account. They provide the support needed to remove barriers and connect their team to the broader ecosystem.

The salary range for this position is: $182,070.00 - $235,620.00. Gilead considers a variety of factors when determining base compensation, including experience, qualifications, and geographic location. These considerations mean actual compensation will vary. This position may also be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, discretionary stock-based long-term incentives (eligibility may vary based on role), paid time off, and a benefits package. Benefits include company-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans*.

For additional benefits information, visit:

https://www.gilead.com/careers/compensation-benefits-and-wellbeing

* Eligible employees may participate in benefit plans, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans.

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