Associate Director, Corporate External Affairs, External Innovation & Business Development
About this opportunity
CSL is seeking an influential communications leader to shape and elevate our reputation as a partner of choice for innovators developing therapies for rare and serious diseases. Working at the intersection of Corporate Affairs, Research & Development, Search & Evaluation, Business Development and Commercial teams, this role will develop and execute a global external innovation communications strategy that strengthens CSL's visibility, credibility and appeal among biotech founders, researchers, investors and potential partners.
This is a unique opportunity to directly support CSL's growth strategy by driving thought leadership, executive visibility, media engagement and innovative communications programs that help create high-quality partnering opportunities and strengthen CSL's position across the biotechnology ecosystem.
Key Responsibilities
Develop and execute CSL's external innovation and business development communications strategy
Build and amplify a differentiated "partner of choice" narrative across key therapeutic areas and innovation platforms
Partner with senior R&D, Search & Evaluation, Business Development and Commercial leaders to enhance strategic positioning and visibility
Lead executive thought leadership programs, including keynote presentations, speaking engagements, articles, media interviews and industry events
Drive proactive media relations strategies that position CSL leaders as trusted voices across biotechnology and scientific communities
Develop integrated digital, social media and content campaigns that increase engagement with target audiences, including innovators, investors and prospective partners
Create compelling content such as executive communications, partner success stories, scientific capability profiles, conference materials and website content
Maximise the impact of CSL's participation at major scientific, partnering and biotechnology conferences
Lead the enhancement of CSL's partnering and innovation digital presence, including partner-facing web content and experiences
Establish performance metrics and reporting to measure reputation, awareness, engagement and communications impact
Qualifications, Skills & Experience
Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing or a related discipline
Advanced qualifications such as an MBA or Master's degree in Communications are advantageous
Demonstrated experience working within biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare or related industries
10+ years' experience in corporate communications, healthcare communications, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals or a related sector
Proven success supporting senior executives and scientific leaders in global organisations
Strong expertise in thought leadership, corporate reputation and executive communications
Established media relations experience, ideally within life sciences or healthcare
Experience designing and delivering integrated, multi-channel communications campaigns
Exceptional writing, storytelling and content development capabilities
Ability to translate complex scientific concepts into engaging and accessible narratives
Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to work effectively across highly matrix environments
Commercially minded with a strategic approach to communications and reputation building
Excellent judgement, project leadership and presentation coaching capabilities
Creative, collaborative and results-oriented, with a passion for innovation and storytelling
This role can be based in any of the following locations: Melbourne Australia, King of Prussia/Waltham US or Zurich Switzerland
Closing date for Applications: Friday 23rd October 2026
About CSL Behring
CSL Behring is a global biotherapeutics leader driven by our promise to save lives. Focused on serving patients’ needs by using the latest technologies, we discover, develop and deliver innovative therapies for people living with conditions in the immunology, hematology, cardiovascular and metabolic, respiratory, and transplant therapeutic areas. We use three strategic scientific platforms of plasma fractionation, recombinant protein technology, and cell and gene therapy to support continued innovation and continually refine ways in which products can address unmet medical needs and help patients lead full lives.
CSL Behring operates one of the world’s largest plasma collection networks, CSL Plasma. Our parent company, CSL, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, employs 32,000 people, and delivers its lifesaving therapies to people in more than 100 countries.
To learn more about CSL, CSL Behring, CSL Seqirus and CSL Vifor visit https://www.csl.com/ and CSL Plasma at https://www.cslplasma.com/ .
Our Benefits
For more information on CSL benefits visit How CSL Supports Your Well-being | CSL .
You Belong at CSL
At CSL, Inclusion and Belonging is at the core of our mission and who we are. It fuels our innovation day in and day out. By celebrating our differences and creating a culture of curiosity and empathy, we are able to better understand and connect with our patients and donors, foster strong relationships with our stakeholders, and sustain a diverse workforce that will move our company and industry into the future.
To learn more about inclusion and belonging visit https://www.csl.com/careers/inclusion-and-belonging
Equal Opportunity Employer
CSL is an Equal Opportunity Employer. If you are an individual with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, please visit https://www.csl.com/accessibility-statement .
Job details
How this role compares
Computed from every other active BD&L & Strategic Planning role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 129 comparable Associate Director BD&L & Strategic Planning roles across 41 biopharma companies.
Salary context
45 of 129 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)
Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 129 comparable roles
+ 19 more countries
Seniority mix
129 of 129 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
16 of 129 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
Similar opportunities
The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.
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How we calculate "similar"
No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.
Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.
0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.