Senior Communications Advisor

Responsibilities

• Serve as a strategic communications advisor to business leaders, bringing a point of view and recommending approaches that account for stakeholder, business, and reputational considerations.
• Develop and execute communications strategies, messaging frameworks, and engagement plans that advance enterprise priorities, influence outcomes, and position the business to navigate risk.
• Engage leaders and business teams early to identify risks, opportunities, and stakeholder implications; recommend approaches that help shape key initiatives, decisions, and organizational changes.
• Anticipate and assess developments across the business, health care industry, legislative and regulatory environment, media landscape, and stakeholder community to identify potential risks and opportunities before they escalate.
• Identify, assess, and triage emerging issues; recommend actions to mitigate risk, shape outcomes, and determine appropriate escalation based on business, stakeholder, and reputational implications.
• Serve as a central communications leader during significant issues, convening appropriate stakeholders, driving alignment, and helping lead a timely, coordinated response.
• Advise leaders on complex or sensitive topics, recommend communications approaches, and prepare them for media interviews, stakeholder discussions, public appearances, and other engagements.
• Develop issues management and response materials, including communications plans, holding statements, key messages, FAQs, and Q&A documents.
• Develop proactive communications, stakeholder-readiness, and narrative strategies that shape the external environment, reduce reputational risk, and help the business prepare for foreseeable high-impact moments.
• Create and oversee the development of clear, accurate, and strategically aligned communications for internal and external audiences.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or advanced degree (where required) and more than five years of experience in communications, public relations, journalism, marketing or a related field.
• In lieu of degree, 7+ years of experience in related field.

Preferred

• Experience in health care, health insurance, public policy, government affairs or another highly regulated industry.
• Experience supporting enterprise-wide initiatives involving multiple stakeholders.
• Familiarity with legislative, regulatory, and political issues affecting the health care industry.
• Experience developing communications strategies for high-profile or reputationally significant matters.
• You thrive in a fast-paced environment where priorities can shift rapidly, and complex issues require thoughtful, timely action.
• You bring order to ambiguity, anticipate potential risks, and exercise sound judgment about how to influence outcomes, mitigate risk, and escalate when necessary.
• You understand how business decisions and communications strategies can affect organizational reputation and stakeholder trust.
• You confidently bring a point of view, advise leaders, and help shape decisions in sensitive, high-profile, or rapidly evolving situations.
• You build credibility and alignment through strong relationships, collaboration, responsiveness, and consistently high-quality work.
• You remain informed about issues affecting the health care industry, Blue Cross NC, and its stakeholders, and you balance strategic thinking with a willingness to execute.

Benefits

• The opportunity to work at the cutting edge of health care delivery with a team that’s deeply invested in the community
• Work-life balance, flexibility, and the autonomy to do great work
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage along with numerous health and wellness programs
• Parental leave and support plus adoption and surrogacy assistance
• Career development programs and tuition reimbursement for continued education
• 401k match including an annual company contribution