Associate Director, Internal Communications

Overview

The Associate Director, Internal Communications, is essential in cultivating a well-informed, engaged workforce and ensuring patients and families are well informed, supported, and confident—particularly throughout Dana-Farber’s clinical collaboration transition and in the lead-up and opening of the Future Cancer Hospital (FCH). This role, focusing on patient and family communications, strategizes, develops, and executes workforce and patient/family communication initiatives, leading governance, content development, and multi-channel execution to disseminate timely, accurate, and accessible information that supports Dana-Farber’s mission and enhances patient/family trust and experience through partnering with cross-functional stakeholders. This role supports the Communications and Marketing Department’s goal of positioning Dana-Farber as the partner, provider, employer and investment of choice.

Located in Boston and the surrounding communities, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a leader in life changing breakthroughs in cancer research and patient care. We are united in our mission of conquering cancer, HIV/AIDS, and related diseases. We strive to create an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment where we provide compassionate and comprehensive care to patients of all backgrounds, and design programs to promote public health particularly among high-risk and underserved populations. We conduct groundbreaking research that advances treatment, we educate tomorrow's physician/researchers, and we work with amazing partners, including other Harvard Medical School-affiliated hospitals.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Strategic Planning and Governance for Internal Communications: Direct strategic planning and governance of internal and patient/family communication channels, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives and key milestones (including the clinical collaboration transition and Future Cancer Hospital milestones). Manage editorial calendars and templates to maintain consistent information flow and adapt strategies to meet changing priorities. Maintain content standards for plain language, health literacy, accessibility, and translation/localization, and maintain incident communication protocols for disruptions and time-sensitive updates.
• Content Development and Execution: Lead /supervise creation, dissemination and ongoing maintenance of high-quality, engaging and culturally responsive content across workforce and patient-facing channels. Ensure materials are engaging and informative, supporting organizational goals and workforce engagement. Focus on continuous improvement for user experience across channels (e.g., intranet, mobile app, website, patient portal, email, printed materials, digital/wayfinding signage, and call-center/clinic scripts).
• Cross-Functional Alignment, Stakeholder Partnership, and Approvals: Build and steward partnerships with cross-functional stakeholders; define and maintain clear approval model to ensure accuracy, legal compliance, and timely delivery across both internal and patient/family communications amid shifting timelines and priorities.
• Compliance, Privacy, and Risk/Incident Communications: Embed HIPAA/PHI protections and institutional policies into patient communications; oversee rigorous review and version control practices; and maintain ready-to-activate playbooks for service disruptions and other incident communications to protect patients and preserve trust.
• Training and Support for Content Contributors: Provide training and support to staff and content contributors responsible for updates across channels, ensuring adherence to style, best practices, and (for patient-facing work) health literacy, accessibility, and approved messaging. Develop reusable toolkits, scripts, FAQs, and communication playbooks to drive consistency across sites and departments as systems and processes evolve.
• Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity Partnership: Collaborate with the Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity office to promote inclusivity through communications. Ensure related content is well-represented and adapt strategies to reflect evolving diversity and inclusion priorities. Incorporate accessibility, culturally responsive communication, and translation/localization standards in patient/family communications.
• Measurement, Insights, and Continuous Improvement: Define KPIs and dashboards for workforce and patient/family communications and use analytics to iterate messages, channels, and timing, and to inform operational partners of communication-driven outcomes.
• Supervises Staff: Hires, develops, and manages staff to achieve organizational goals. Sets clear expectations, delivers feedback, and monitors performance for quality, efficiency, and compliance with policies and procedures. Mentors staff, fosters career growth, and cultivates a positive and productive work environment.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Writing and Editing Proficiency : Strong skills in crafting, editing, and proofreading content to ensure clarity, conciseness, empathy and alignment with organizational style and voice. Ability to translate complex medical and operational information into patient- and workforce-appropriate communications (e.g., talking points, FAQs, emails, multilingual materials).
• Project Management : Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and to lead complex cross-functional initiatives with multiple dependencies, ensuring timely completion and adherence to deadlines.
• Interpersonal Skills : Capability to effectively collaborate with diverse stakeholders, including senior leaders, clinicians, researchers, and administrative staff, fostering productive relationships.
• Strategic and Creative Thinking : Demonstrated experience developing and executing multi-channel, innovative communication strategies for largescale change that align with organizational goals and enhance workforce engagement and the patient experience.
• Content and Analytical Skills : Skilled in using content management systems, patient-facing platforms (e.g., Epic MyChart, email, digital signage) and analytics tools to plan, target, and evaluate communications, with an understanding of analytics to interpret data trends and adjust content strategies for optimal reach and engagement.
• Inclusion and Equity Awareness: Deep expertise in health literacy, culturally responsive communication, accessibility standards (WCAG/Section 508), and translation/localization best practices
• Discretion and Diplomacy : Ability to handle confidential information with sensitivity and professionalism.

Minimum Job Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Journalism, Public Relations or a related field preferred.
• 6+ years of experience in communications with a focus on internal communications, stakeholder and content management required.
• Experience in the healthcare industry or a related field preferred.

License/Certification/Registration Required:

• None

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Communications Specialist, Communication Managers, Communications Senior Managers, Managing Editors & Editors.

Patient Contact:

• Yes, Standard non-clinical. On Occasion in person, by phone or email. No patient care.

At Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we work every day to create an innovative, caring, and inclusive environment where every patient, family, and staff member feels they belong. As relentless as we are in our mission to reduce the burden of cancer for all, we are committed to having faculty and staff who offer multifaceted experiences. Cancer knows no boundaries and when it comes to hiring the most dedicated and compassionate professionals, neither do we. If working in this kind of organization inspires you, we encourage you to apply.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is an equal opportunity employer and affirms the right of every qualified applicant to receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, national origin, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, age, ancestry, military service, protected veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law.

Pay Transparency Statement

The hiring range is based on market pay structures, with individual salaries determined by factors such as business needs, market conditions, internal equity, and based on the candidate’s relevant experience, skills and qualifications.

For union positions, the pay range is determined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).