(Archived) Director, Community Affairs

As a leading global animal health company, Elanco delivers innovative products and services to improve the health of pets and farm animals around the world because we believe making animals' lives better, makes life better. Since 1954, we have provided solutions that support veterinarians, farmers and pet owners to advance our vision of Food and Companionship Enriching Life. Elanco's promise to employees: Together, we foster an inclusive culture where everyone can make a difference, encouraging ownership, growth and well-being.

Elanco Animal Health is seeking an outstanding Director of Community Affairs to join this highly innovative and growing business. The successful candidate will be responsible for leading local public affairs, stakeholder relations, and local corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagements in the Indianapolis area for Elanco Animal Health. The director will be Elanco’s primary liaison to state and local officials, local associations, and related stakeholders in Indiana. They will also be responsible for coordinating, executing, and tracking CSR engagements for Elanco in Indiana.

As Elanco prepares to move its headquarters to Indianapolis, this is great opportunity for an established public affairs leader to actively develop impact-oriented relationships and local engagements to shape the experience around this new campus. The director will champion CSR engagement among local Elanco colleagues and support the development of long-term relations with key community stakeholders. It is also expected that this role needs to identify and develop opportunities at the state and local levels to increase thought leadership on public policy priorities of Elanco. Finally, the director is expected to protect the business’ freedom to operate and identify opportunities to grow value through the development and execution of state and local public affairs.

The director’s responsibilities will include:

• Preparing and implementing clear plans for state and local public affairs and corporate social responsibility (CSR) priorities of the company in Indiana.
• Developing community relationships and executing assigned community programs, and volunteer events. This will include working closely with associations and community organisations to advance Elanco’s priorities for Indiana.
• Enabling extraordinary experiences for customer and prospective employee visits to Indianapolis.
• Enroll key business leaders in public affairs and shared value actions.
• Monitor and identify important relevant state and local government/stakeholder developments, risks, and opportunities for Elanco.
• Coordinating Elanco priority CSR initiatives in and around Indianapolis.
• Training and facilitating awareness among site personnel of local public affairs developments.
• Developing strategies to attract and retain high quality businesses in and around the new HQ.
• In coordination with global government affairs and legal, coordinate annual priorities for Elanco’s state government affairs.
• In coordination with the global ESG lead, develop local priorities for Elanco’s CSR.
• Execute public policy advocacy in a legally compliant, transparent, and ethical way.
• Delivery of objectives within agreed budgets.

Success in the position will be measured by:

• The ability to design and execute a consistent, local public affairs and state government affairs strategies within agreed budget and timelines.
• The visibility provided to the Elanco business, site leads, and key functional leaders on priorities, developing issues, and progress to achieve objectives.
• The ability to identify and deliver outcomes that improve Elanco’s operating environment – with U.S. state and local constituencies.
• The awareness, engagement and participation in local CSR priorities of the company.
• The effort to identify, manage, and develop talented individuals, contractors, or address non-performance as well as effectively manage the resources provided to the office.

Minimum Qualification (education, experience and/or training, required certifications):

• BS/BA degree or equivalent required (preferred fields: agriculture, science, business, journalism, or political science encouraged), advanced degree in law, vet medicine, or business welcomed.
• 6+ years in public affairs, government relations, communications, or similar work experience.
• Demonstrated success in delivering public policy affairs objectives in Indiana.
• Strong understanding of industry trade associations and NGOs (i.e. how they work and function).
• Exceptional and concise verbal and written communication skills.
• Knowledgeable of modern agriculture production practices, pet care, and/or food industry.
• Outstanding teamwork, leadership, and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent organizing talents with ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks.
• Proven capability of interacting with multiple levels of contacts, especially with senior officials.
• Recognized ability to work within diverse cross-functional teams.
• Position will require travel (approx. 5%), must have a valid passport.

Elanco is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status