Director, Public Relations and Issues Management

About this role

We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 25 Aug 2026   Careers that change lives start here. Medtronic is a global leader in healthcare technology with a Mission to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life. Our 95,000 employees work across more than 150 countries to put patients first — developing innovative medical technologies that improve the lives of 72+ million patients each year. Your unique talents will help shape the future of healthcare while building a career grounded in purpose, growth, and impact.

A Day in the Life The Global Communications and Corporate Marketing function is responsible for protecting and advancing Medtronic’s reputation among key stakeholders worldwide. This team partners across business units and corporate functions to strengthen trust, manage enterprise issues, and elevate awareness of the company’s impact, innovation, and leadership in healthcare. The Director, Public Relations & Issues Management serves as a key advisor across the organization, helping navigate complex reputational challenges while driving proactive media engagement and corporate storytelling.

This position is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and operates in an onsite work environment. Travel requirements are expected to be limited and aligned with business needs.                     The Director, Public Relations & Issues Management leads enterprise reputation initiatives through a combination of strategic issues management, crisis communications, and proactive public relations. This role partners with senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders to assess and manage reputational risk, develop communications strategies for complex business situations, and strengthen external visibility through earned media and thought leadership opportunities.

Primary Responsibilities • Lead enterprise issues management strategies for reputational, operational, regulatory, product, policy, and business-related risks.

• Advise senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders during emerging issues, incidents, and crisis situations, providing strategic communications counsel and response recommendations.

• Develop and execute crisis communications plans, preparedness programs, simulations, tabletop exercises, and response protocols.

• Create executive briefings, messaging frameworks, stakeholder communications, FAQs, holding statements, and issue response plans.

• Partner with business units and corporate functions to support communications planning related to product recalls, quality events, litigation, cybersecurity incidents, workforce matters, and regulatory actions.

• Establish and maintain monitoring processes to identify and assess potential issues across media, social media, regulatory developments, litigation activity, public policy, and industry trends.

• Develop and execute public relations strategies that support enterprise priorities and strengthen awareness of the company’s impact, expertise, and innovation.

• Build relationships with media, industry influencers, and external stakeholders while securing opportunities that enhance visibility, credibility, and trust.

Required Qualifications • Bachelor’s degree with 10+ years of communications or corporate communications experience working across cross-functional teams, or advanced degree with 8+ years of communications or corporate communications experience working across cross-functional teams.

• 7+ years of managerial experience leading people, programs, or complex strategic initiatives.

• Demonstrated expertise in media relations, public relations, strategic communications, and reputation management.

• Experience serving as a company spokesperson and representing an organization with external media audiences.

• Experience developing communications strategies and stakeholder engagement plans for complex business issues.

Preferred Qualifications • Experience managing issues and crisis communications for a large multinational organization operating within a regulated industry.

• Healthcare, medical technology, life sciences, or pharmaceutical industry experience within a global Fortune 500 environment.

• Experience advising senior executives and cross-functional leadership teams on reputational risk and communications strategy.

• Experience supporting communications related to regulatory actions, litigation, product recalls, cybersecurity incidents, or quality events.

• Demonstrated success working across highly matrixed organizations to drive alignment and execute enterprise communications initiatives.

For Baccalaureate degrees earned outside of the United States, a degree that satisfies the requirements of 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A) is required.

Physical Job Requirements

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this position, but they are not an exhaustive list of all the required responsibilities and skills of this position. 

The physical demands described within the Responsibilities section of this job description are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. For Office Roles: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to be independently mobile. The employee is also required to interact with a computer, and communicate with peers and co-workers. Contact your manager or local HR to understand the Work Conditions and Physical requirements that may be specific to each role.

U.S. Work Authorization & Sponsorship At Medtronic, we are committed to fostering an environment where employees can thrive and make a meaningful impact. In alignment with our enterprise-wide workforce planning approach, U.S. work authorization sponsorship (H-1B, TN, J, etc.) is offered exclusively for Pr

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