Associate Director of Public Relations

San Diego, CA (Hybrid)

$156K/yr – $233K/yrSenior Level15+ years expFull time

Posted 8 days ago

Job Summary

Owns and leads Illumina's global public relations program, shaping strategy, media engagement, executive visibility, and cross-functional collaboration to drive brand moments and crisis readiness.

  • Drives proactive PR campaigns and media strategy
  • Builds journalist relationships and measurement-driven performance
  • Partners with marketing, IR, and R&D to ensure consistent messaging

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Design and implement bold and proactive public relations strategies aligned with Illumina’s business objectives, scientific leadership, and brand voice.
  • Lead Illumina's media program, including day-to-day media engagement, journalist relationship development, global enablement, and creative media strategy for opportunistic impact as well as formal company news.
  • Align our global PR impact for media and brand moments, including oversight, planning, and coordination with team members and agencies around the world.
  • Develop and track metrics that help motivate the team and drive momentum for the company.
  • Collaborate closely with the executive communications team to build drive visibility and eminence for Illumina executives and other leadership voices.
  • Develop and activate media materials, including press releases, pitches, executive briefing materials, and more.
  • Bring your innovative ideas and creativity to proactively drive storytelling and elevate our spokespeople.
  • Build and maintain relationships with key journalists, scientific media, influencers, and industry stakeholders across the biotech, healthcare, and business sectors.
  • Monitor media coverage of genomics, biotechnology, healthcare, and Illumina, analyzing PR campaign effectiveness, understanding the competitive environment, and delivering strategic insights to company leadership.
  • Support crisis communication planning and execution, providing direction to business leaders during sensitive situations.

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, Communications, Journalism, or a relevant scientific discipline.
  • Typically requires a Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 15 years of related experience in public relations, with 7+ years of Management experience - biotech, life sciences, or healthcare industry experience strongly preferred.
  • Outstanding written and oral communication skills, with the ability to translate complex scientific content for diverse audiences.
  • Proven track record developing and executing successful PR campaigns within a scientific or technology-driven organization.
  • Demonstrated expertise in issues management and strategic problem-solving.
  • Experience utilizing media monitoring tools and communications analytics.
  • Ability to manage multiple projects under tight deadlines within a dynamic, fast-paced industry.

Benefits

  • We offer a wide range of benefits as innovative as our work, including access to genomics sequencing, family planning, health/dental/vision, retirement benefits, and paid time off.

Illumina

3.5 Glassdoor

At Illumina, our goal is to apply innovative technologies and revolutionary assays to the analysis of genetic variation and function, making studies possible that were not even imaginable just a few years ago. These studies will help make the realization of personalized medicine possible. With such rapid advances in technology taking place, it is mission critical to have solutions that are not only innovative, but flexible, scalable, and complete with industry-leading support and service. As a global company that places high value on collaborative interactions, rapid delivery of solutions, and prioritizing the needs of its customers, we strive to meet this challenge. Illumina’s innovative, array-based solutions for DNA, RNA, and protein analysis serve as tools for disease research, drug development, and the development of molecular tests in the clinic.

Founded in 1998
San Diego, California, USA
9.3K employees (329 in marketing)
62% recommend to a friend
75% CEO approval

Salaries

Posted range

$156K/yr – $233K/yr

Taken straight from the job posting.

See all Illumina salaries

Marketing Team

Marketing Team Size
247 (3% of company)
Median Career Experience
16 years
Median Tenure
5.1 years
Marketing Roles Posted (Last 30 Days)
2

Funding

Total Funding
$1.3B
Last Raise
$500M
Post IPO Debt, 2 years ago

Funding History

  • Sep 2024
    Post IPO Debt • $500M
  • Jan 2023
    Post IPO Debt • $750M
  • Jan 2000
    Series Unknown • $28M

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
828K
Monthly Google Ads Budget
$27.5K
Traffic Source Mix
Search
46.3%
Direct
42.2%
Referral
9.4%
Social
1.2%
Paid
0.8%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~9.3K

Recent News

Associate Director of Public Relations

Illumina · San Diego, CA · Hybrid