Vice President, Influencer Strategy, DIG, Ruder Finn

Ruder Finn is seeking a Vice President, Influencer Strategy to join our growing Digital (DIG) practice, supporting our healthcare and pharma clients. In this role, you will be a strategic, client-facing leader responsible for developing and overseeing influencer strategies and programs across multiple clients. The VP will be accountable for the strategic and operational excellence of influencer programs, quality of client service, account profitability, organic growth and new business development.

This individual will bring deep healthcare and pharma experience, with a clear understanding of how influencers, HCPs, patients, caregivers, and online communities influence health conversations and decision-making. They will understand how influencer strategy connects with social, earned media, paid media, digital, experiential, partnerships, content and broader integrated communications. They will provide senior-level counsel across the full influencer lifecycle, including audience and cultural insights, creator strategy and identification, vetting, creative development, content strategy, activation, amplification, optimization and measurement.

As a VP, you will lead and develop teams, strengthen Ruder Finn's influencer capabilities and collaborate closely with colleagues across strategy, creative, media relations, social, digital, analytics, paid media and other specialty areas.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior client contact, consistently providing excellent client/stakeholder management

• Provide senior level influencer strategy counsel across assigned client relationships

• Develop and oversee strategic influencer and creator programs that connect client priorities to audience needs, communities, brand narratives and measurable business objectives

• Translate complex client challenges into clear social and influencer strategies, providing a strong point of view on the role creators and communities can play within broader integrated communications programs

• Lead the development of branded and unbranded influencer strategies involving HCPs, KOLs, patients, caregivers, advocates, experts and relevant health communities, and provide senior oversight for campaign-based, always-on and ambassador-style creator programs

• Demonstrate a deep understanding of clients' businesses, audiences, competitive landscapes, industries and key stakeholders in order to provide proactive and relevant counsel

• Lead senior-level client meetings, confidently presenting and defending recommendations while influencing decisions and guiding clients through complex or changing situations

• Partner closely with MLR and communication stakeholders to guide influencer programs through appropriate review and approval processes

• Maintain working knowledge of relevant FDA, FTC, adverse event reporting, privacy and platform considerations as they relate to influencer programs

• Help establish client program goals, success measures and strategic frameworks and manage teams against those expectations

• Provide senior guidance on creator identification and selection, evaluating strategic relevance, credibility, audience composition and quality, engagement, content fit, cultural alignment and potential impact

• Build and maintain relationships across the creator and talent ecosystem, including creators, agents, managers, representatives, platform partners and other relevant industry contacts.

• Provide senior oversight across creator outreach, relationship development, briefing, content development, activation and campaign optimization

• Guide the development of creator briefs that establish clear brand, communications and business objectives while preserving the authenticity and creative flexibility necessary for effective creator storytelling

• Oversee approaches to creator deliverables, compensation, usage rights, exclusivity, content approvals and paid amplification in partnership with appropriate internal and client stakeholders

• Partner with analytics team to define meaningful KPIs and evaluate audience quality, engagement, content performance, conversation, awareness, consideration, traffic, conversion and other relevant outcomes

• Translate campaign performance into clear client insights, articulating what worked, what was learned, what should change and how those learnings should inform future strategy

• Provide leadership for influencer campaigns, creator-led events, product launches, brand experiences and other integrated programs

Qualifications

• A minimum of 8+ years working in the influencer strategy space with significant experience in the healthcare and pharma industries

• Bachelor’s degree in advertising, communications, public relations, marketing, or a related field preferred

• Deep expertise in influencer and creator strategy, with a strong understanding of the creator ecosystem, social platforms, audience behavior, cultural trends, creator identification, brand safety, content strategy, amplification, and measurement, and the unique considerations of healthcare and regulated communications

• Proven ability to serve as a strategic counselor to clients, translating complex business and communications objectives into clear, integrated influencer strategies and confidently presenting recommendations to senior stakeholders

• Demonstrated success leading complex, multi-channel influencer programs for healthcare, pharmaceutical, consumer health, or related clients, with the ability to connect creator marketing to earned media, social, paid, digital, experiential, partnerships, and broader integrated communications

• Commercial and entrepreneurial mindset, with a track record of identifying opportunities to grow existing business, contributing to new business development, shaping compelling proposals, and balancing creative ambition with scope, budget, and profitability

• Proven ability to navigate healthcare and pharmaceutical content review processes in partnership with medical, legal, regulatory, compliance, and communication stakeholders.

The anticipated salary range for this position, at the time of posting, is $120,000 - $145,000. The salary of the applicant selected for this role will be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, education, internal equity, geography, relevant years of experience, certifications, skills, abilities of the selected applicant, and other job-related qualifications. In addition, a range of medical, dental, vision, disability, 401(k) matching, paid time off, and/or other benefits also are available by the company.  

Ruder Finn provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, military and veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Ruder Finn will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. Ruder Finn believes that diversity and inclusion among our employees is critical to our success as a global company, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.