Hiring: UnitedHealth Group Media Relations Director

By
Amy Mannarino
Published: November 4, 2009Posted in: Jobs
UnitedHealth Group Media Relations Director-315937
Description

 

Director – Media Relations
 
This position reports to the Vice President, Media Relations and offices in Washington, DC.
 
At UnitedHealth Group, we are a healthy, growing business. We are a Fortune 25 company that has been honored in a number of ways. UnitedHealth Group was ranked number 14 on the 2008 “BusinessWeek 50 Rankings,” a list of top performing companies in each of the 10 sectors that make up the Standard & Poors 500 and named “America’s most admired company for health care innovation” in Fortune’s most recent survey. Our UnitedHealthcare business has received accolades, too. UnitedHealthcare was named South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 2007 Healthcare Provider of the Year and recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance for helping reduce health care disparities for its Asian-Language Provider Directories. These honors serve as a reminder of the many people at UnitedHealth Group whose talent and dedication are helping to make health care work better, and underscore the Company’s work to advance social responsibility initiatives. 
 
The Associate Director, Media Relations supports UHG’s strategic direction for both proactive and reactive national media relations, and assists in the overall coordination of external contacts with major media outlets.   
 
This position is in the Corporate Communications group which is charged with enhancing and protecting the company’s corporate reputation and communicating internally and externally with all company stakeholders including but not limited to: employees (current and future), patients, medical professionals, elected officials and related staff, local civic and community leaders, academia, the scientific community, regulators and governmental agencies and officials.
  • Implement the company’s media relations activities, including areas such as financial communications, legal communications, product communications, crisis communications, corporate philanthropy, human resource issues and key national and local issues.   
  • Coordinate interviews with senior executives; provide supporting documentation and materials to ensure UHG’s preparedness and key message penetration.
  • Coordinate activities to support external communications and media activities for the company’s key corporate reputation initiatives, and respond to media inquiries resulting from company-specific or industry-related issues. 
  • Develop and improve relationships with key journalists and media outlets.
  • Assist in developing briefing documents to inform colleagues and gain consensus on key messages.  Support corporate litigation, national crisis communications, major company meetings and corporate initiatives. 
  • Implement new strategies to ensure communications are in concert with rapidly changing technologies, including web-based technologies. 
  • Work closely with corporate, regional, divisional and local site representatives to ensure broad understanding of external communications strategies.  
  • Participate in the implementation of communications and PR strategies to support and advance the strategic priorities of the Company.

Qualifications

 

  • Bachelor’s Degree.
  • Strong health insurance and health care background preferred.
  • 8+ years experience in communications, media relations and/or public affairs for a major corporation.
  • Proven media relations skills and relationships with top-tier media; experience as a corporate spokesperson.
  • Extraordinary initiative and flexibility, with the ability to get things done in a highly regulated environment.
  • Demonstrated ability to provide candid counsel to C-level executives on business and communications issues.
  • Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to interface with all levels of management.
  • Ability to project a confident image to executives, peers, and business associates.
  • Possess excellent communications and presentation skills.
  • Ability to travel nationally as necessary.
 
Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: equal opportunity employer M/F/D/V
UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace.  Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment. In addition, employees in certain positions are subject to random drug testing.
 

Job Communications Specialists and Management
Primary LocationUS-DC-Washington
Organization Communications
Schedule Full-time
Number of Openings 1
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About the Author

Amy Mannarino Amy Mannarino is the Manager of Public Relations at the Walters Art Museum, one of a few museums worldwide to present a comprehensive history of art from the third millennium B.C. to the early 20th century. She is responsible for supervising media relations and publicity campaigns for exhibitions, education programs, special events and museum news. She has worked on public relations committees with the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts to promote Free Fall Baltimore and with the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association on a citywide Festival of Maps. Mannarino holds a Graduate Certificate in Arts Management and a Bachelor of Arts from American University in Washington, D.C. She served as Co-chair for the Membership Committee of the Baltimore Public Relations Committee from April 2008 through March 2009 and has been on the board as a Member-at-Large since 2006. She is also a member of the Public Relations Society of America, the American Association of Museums and the Mount Vernon Cultural District. Mannarino can be reached by email at amannarino@thewalters.org or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/amannarino.