External Affairs and National Policy Lead

**Make your mark for patients**

We are looking for **an External Affairs and National Policy Lead **who is insightful, proactive and a leader to join our **Access, Pricing and External Engagement (APEX)** department based out of our office in **Slough, United Kingdom.**

**About the Job**:
You will Lead development and delivery of the UK External Affairs strategy driven by external insights and internal input from business leaders across PVUs (Imm/Neuro/Rare) and broader PVO functions (APEX/R&D). Lead development of UCB relationships and activities with functional partners such as comms agencies, think tanks and system partners. You will also lead UCB activity with eco-system stakeholders such as Government, NHS, Trade Associations and Business Groups. You will Implement strategy to raise UCB profile, position UCB as a Top 5 Life Sciences R&D investor and champion of the Life Sciences Vision, and to positively influence the operating environment in the UK.

**Who you’ll work with**

You will work closely with external affairs, communications and the access team. You will also have 2 direct reports and be responsible for overseeing their work, coaching and development.

**What you’ll do**:

- Lead the development of the External Affairs strategy by engaging relevant leaders from Research, global and local APEX colleagues and BIILT.
- Lead the delivery of the UK External Affairs strategy: run bi-monthly ‘inform and shape’ meetings, orchestrate UCB representation on various trade and business groups, and lead UCB engagement activities that positively influence the external operating environment
- Responsible for proactively tracking; measuring & reporting the impact of the External Affairs strategy/tactics to the BII LT & other internal stakeholders.
- Work with policy and government stakeholders to optimise external operating environment for UCB through influencing evolving legislation, generating consensus on healthcare policy and mobilising political and policy stakeholders to support UCB position on critical issues
- Establish role as UCB expert on political and healthcare system and provide strategic counsel to UCB BII, EU and Global leadership teams
- Work closely with global colleagues in APEX to contribute to global projects and ensure affiliate alignment and one UCB view when engaging with national system stakeholders
- Work closely with Director of Market Access and External Engagement on the pricing and market access strategy for new treatments to help shape development of launch plans
- Manage Patient Engagement and Policy (PEPL) team, supporting them with the delivery of their PVU objectives, projects and relationships
- Keep abreast of key policies impacting the UK health & life science industry, highlighting implications for UCB and proposing timely recommendations for action

**Interested? For this position, you’ll need the following education, experience, and skills**:

- Bachelor’s degree or above in related field
- Minimum 4 or 5 years working in External Affairs (Agency, Government or Pharma)
- Strong knowledge of Government and Life Sciences
- Ability to lead others

Are you ready to ‘go beyond’ to create value and make your mark for patients? If this sounds like you, then we would love to hear from you

**About us**
UCB is a global biopharmaceutical company, focusing on neurology and immunology. We are around 8,500 people in all four corners of the globe, inspired by patients and driven by science.

**Why work with us?**
At UCB, we don’t just complete tasks, we create value. We aren’t afraid to push forward, collaborate, and innovate to make our mark for patients. We have a caring, supportive culture where everyone feels included, respected, and has equitable opportunities to do their best work. We ‘go beyond’ to create value for our patients, and always with a human focus, whether that’s on our patients, our employees, or our planet. Working for us, you will discover a place where you can grow, and have the freedom to carve your own career path to achieve your full potential.

UCB and its subsidiaries encourage diversity and inclusion in the workplace; we are an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race/color/religion/sex/national origin/veteran/disability/age/sexual orientation/gender identity.