Director of Public Relations and External Communications

The Director of External and Public Relations for the Splenda® Brand will be responsible for driving a positive perception of the Splenda brand.

The Splenda Brand is the #1 Brand within the sweetener category, the #1 recommended sweetener brand among doctors & dietitians, has strong market share leadership and a growing consumer base that use Splenda every day.

Our mission is to help people live happier, healthier, and longer lives by making it easier to reduce sugar.

The Director will be accountable to lead Splenda Brand Marketing to healthcare professionals, partner organizations, and to develop and implement our public relations strategies and initiatives.

In this role, you will be the Splenda Brand leader of our external PR strategy; defining the scope of work and tactics that will grow Splenda brand evangelism, and the leader of our HCP Marketing Strategy;

enabling the Splenda brand to continue to be the #1 recommended sweetener brand among doctors & dietitians. The person in this role will have strength in strategic planning, driving media interest in our brand, developing communications that authentically integrate the brand’s mission into consumer and professional marketing content, creating content to support our retail sales teams’ communications to customers.

This position requires close cross functional partnership with internal stakeholders including Marketing and Sales colleagues, and Legal Counsel.

This role reports to the Senior Director of Consumer and Healthcare Marketing, has two direct reports, and will partner with a range of business partners internally and externally.

As a leader within the marketing function the person in this role will have broad exposure to senior management and need to build strategic recommendations to create a more positive brand perception.

We are looking for an initiative-taking professional with experience marketing to health professionals and in public relations, who can independently manage multiple projects with a high sense of accountability and urgency.

The Splenda Director of External and Public Relations will be responsible for the following :

• Develop and implement comprehensive health professional-facing strategies to support Splenda brand goals, enhance branded recommendations and relationships with key stakeholders, including healthcare providers, healthcare organizations, health-oriented partners, health professional governing bodies and regulators.
• Enable self and team to cohesively implement health professional marketing programs across conferences, webinars, sampling programs, partnerships, digital, print, podcasts, etc to maintain claim #1 Recommended Sweetener Brand.
• Creates communications assets in coordination with Splenda Brand RDN to promote health professionals to recommend Splenda by brand name, opt-in to sample kits, drive awareness of brand and category benefits and enhance perceived safety of our brand.
• Identifies and courts additional partners to optimize and / or create incremental relationships.
• Lead PR brand marketing strategies and implementation in support of share and revenue growth goals.
• Includes creatively developing opportunities to promote paid marketing programs in consumer, professional and AFH channels;
• developing, pitching, and securing investment for PR campaigns and brand stories that will grow our Splenda brand and support goals, creating and releasing press release communications;

securing and facilitating media interviews with internal spokespeople.

• Create and manage strategy and communications about category and brand perceived safety to media and external entities, including professional organizations, regulatory bodies by developing communications assets, influencing professional and regulatory organization LNCS position statements, and collaborating to integrate content into consumer communications calendars.
• Can include offensively leveraging Splenda Stevia Farms, scientifically and morally defending brand against media allegations, representing our brand mission, and more.
• Lead team to superior implementation of Splenda Brand and internal events.
• Can include channel customer conference exhibits and activations, consumer event activations, internal sales and marketing meetings, internal townhall events, and more.

Desired Skills & Required Experience

• Heartland’s culture is fast, flexible & innovative. The applicant must possess these traits and be willing and able to operate with a rapid, iterative, continually learning mindset.
• Solution focused mindset, demonstrate ability to operate with a business ownership mindset.
• Collaborative attitude, work harmoniously with internal and external cross functional partners.
• BS / BA in business, marketing or related discipline required.
• Requires experience with Public Relations and Healthcare Channels.
• Requires experience leading direct reports.
• 5+ years previous experience with background health-focused products.
8 days ago