At Roche you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections, where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Join Roche, where every voice matters.
External Affairs International (EAi), part of the Roche Pharma CEO Office, ensures the company can shape the policies, funding decisions, and market conditions that determine how healthcare innovation is valued and rewarded. We influence globally where strategic priorities are defined and enable locally where business impact is delivered. Through focused advocacy and a connected global network, EAi builds trusted relationships with governments, multilateral institutions, and global partners, develops third-party advocates, and forges alliances that protect and grow Roche’s business while improving patient access to innovation.
Reporting to the Head Global Policy & Advocacy, the Global Advocacy & External Engagement Lead role offers a unique opportunity to enable and drive execution and operational excellence across External Affairs International. In this role, you will focus on supporting the development and delivery of global-to-local Policy and System Shaping strategies and other high-impact strategic initiatives, ensuring that the company’s voice is influential across the global policy landscape. As a key strategist, you will lead cross-functional coordination with patient organizations, industry associations, multilateral bodies, and global health influencers to shape policy environments and support Roche’s broader objectives. You will role model the Pharma Operating principles, actively promote a diverse and inclusive culture, and take on external thought Leadership (up to 30% of your time) for selected topics while acting as a policy advisor for our Business Leaders. Main Responsibilities:
Develop and own the comprehensive global external-engagement and advocacy strategy, ensuring complete alignment with corporate objectives and therapeutic-area priorities while identifying high-value global platforms to amplify company positions.
Lead and coordinate sophisticated external-engagement initiatives across Roche Pharma and Diagnostics functions, establishing the necessary frameworks, processes, and guidance to ensure all global engagements are consistent, aligned, and fully compliant.
Drive the execution of integrated advocacy campaigns that ensure unified messaging across global, regional, and country-level engagements, effectively bridging the gap between high-level strategy and local implementation.
Represent the company as a primary point of contact in high-level forums, coalitions, and global policy discussions, building and maintaining robust relationships with global patient groups, NGOs, professional societies, and multilateral organizations like the WHO, OECD, and World Bank.
Act as a strategic counsel to senior leadership by preparing and briefing them for critical external meetings, while leading the development of detailed stakeholder maps, advocacy materials, and tactical engagement plans.
Support the continuous development of industry-leading policy capabilities within the Policy Chapter, helping to build a strong and diverse global policy network that enables talent flow and establishes a monitoring and reporting framework for continuous improvement.
Collaborate closely with other Chapters in EAi, GPS, and Pharma International to drive a culture of ownership, mastery, and innovation, acting as a trusted advisor to the business to ensure all policy efforts result in measurable outcomes and impact.
You possess 10+ years of professional experience in global policy, advocacy, government affairs, or related roles within the pharmaceutical and life science sector, or other highly regulated sectors, coupled with an advanced degree in International Relations, Political Science, Public Policy, or Economics.
You are a highly skilled advocate capable of synthesizing complex policy positions and presenting them persuasively and diplomatically to a wide variety of audiences, including senior-level stakeholders and global health influencers.
You have a deep, nuanced understanding of global health systems and policy trends, with a proven ability to set long-term strategies and lead complex, multi-stakeholder external-engagement efforts that result in sustainable policy change.
You are an expert relationship builder with established networks or the demonstrated ability to cultivate credibility quickly among global health stakeholders, allowing you to manage critical conversations and establish collaborative partnerships in a decentralized model.
You demonstrate the ability to bring agile ways of working and a creative mindset to life, possessing the strategic agility, political astuteness, and sound judgment required to operate effectively in fast-moving situations while maintaining a commitment to ethical and transparent engagement.
“Join us in our mission to advance science and deliver hope to those who need it most.”
A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.
Let’s build a healthier future, together.
Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer.