Vice President, Public Affairs - Southern California

This role supports the Southern California Market as the senior-most Public Affairs leader, responsible for advancing and protecting Kaiser Permanente's reputation, mission, strategic priorities, and business objectives through integrated communications, media relations, community affairs, stakeholder engagement, local government relations, executive positioning, and issues management.

About the Role

Reporting directly to the Chief Public Affairs Officer and maintaining a dotted-line relationship to the Regional President, the Vice President serves as the primary Public Affairs advisor to market leadership. This leader operates at the intersection of enterprise strategy and market execution, ensuring enterprise Public Affairs priorities are effectively translated into market strategies while local market realities inform enterprise decision-making.

The Vice President serves as a member of both the Chief Public Affairs Leadership Table and the Regional Presidents leadership team, reinforcing the enterprise nature of the role while helping shape enterprise strategy and ensuring the market speaks and acts with One KP Voice. The role provides a single point of integration for market leadership, ensuring enterprise capabilities are effectively leveraged and market needs are represented across the Public Affairs function.

This leader works in close partnership with medical group leadership, health plan leadership, and enterprise centers of excellence across External Communications, State Affairs, Federal Affairs, Internal Communications & Engagement, Community Affairs & Engagement, Advocacy, Marketing, Legal, Policy & Regulatory Affairs, and Community Health.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership & Executive Counsel
  • Serve as the senior Public Affairs advisor to the Regional President and market leadership team.
  • Participate in the Chief Public Affairs Leadership Table and the Regional Presidents leadership team to ensure enterprise priorities, market perspectives, and cross-enterprise alignment are represented.
  • Shape enterprise Public Affairs strategies by providing market insights, stakeholder perspectives, competitive intelligence, and business context.
  • Advise leaders on communications, stakeholder engagement, reputation management, labor dynamics, public policy implications, and emerging issues.
  • Support executive decision-making through strategic counsel, risk assessment, stakeholder insights, and communications planning.
• Public Affairs Leadership & Coordination
  • Serve as the primary Public Affairs leader and point of contact for the Regional President, market leadership, medical group leadership, and health plan leadership.
  • Coordinate Public Affairs activities across Communications, Media Relations, Community Affairs, Stakeholder Engagement, Local Government Relations, State Affairs, Federal Government Relations, Advocacy, and enterprise centers of excellence.
  • Ensure market leadership has a clear, integrated Public Affairs strategy reflecting the full capabilities of the Public Affairs organization.
  • Convene and lead market Public Affairs planning and coordination efforts to ensure alignment and eliminate duplication.
  • Represent market priorities, stakeholder insights, and reputational considerations within enterprise Public Affairs planning.
• Market Reputation & Communications Leadership
  • Lead market communications and reputation strategies in alignment with enterprise priorities and business objectives.
  • Serve as the senior leader accountable for market reputation management, stakeholder trust, and coordinated execution of enterprise Public Affairs priorities.
  • Develop and implement market communications strategies that strengthen Kaiser Permanente’s reputation and support organizational goals.
  • Lead market workforce communications and change management tied to operational priorities, including quality improvement and care delivery transformation.
  • Ensure enterprise narratives are effectively localized while maintaining consistency with One KP priorities.
  • Identify and amplify market innovations, care delivery successes, community partnerships, and thought leadership opportunities.
• Media Relations & External Visibility
  • Oversee market media relations and earned media strategies in partnership with enterprise communications teams.
  • Serve as a spokesperson and representative of Kaiser Permanente within the market, including media interviews, public forums, and community events.
  • Support and prepare executives, physicians, and subject matter experts for media interviews and public-facing engagements.
  • Develop and maintain strong relationships with local, regional, and industry media.
  • Ensure market media activities align with enterprise priorities and support a One KP Voice.
• Community Affairs, Stakeholder Engagement & Local Government Relations
  • Lead market community affairs, stakeholder engagement, and local government relations strategies.
  • Build and maintain trusted relationships with community leaders, nonprofit organizations, employers, chambers of commerce, labor leaders, civic organizations, and local elected officials.
  • Cultivate market network relationships across the healthcare delivery system, including partnerships with care delivery leaders and physicians.
  • Partner with Community Health leaders to align community engagement, mission delivery, and stakeholder activities.
  • Support implementation of enterprise community engagement strategies, sponsorships, and mission-focused initiatives.
  • Ensure Kaiser Permanente maintains a visible, trusted, and credible presence in the communities it serves.
• Enterprise & Market Integration
  • Translate enterprise Public Affairs strategies into effective market execution.
  • Partner with State Affairs and Federal Government Relations leaders to align stakeholder engagement, advocacy priorities, and legislative activities.
  • Establish market operating rhythms and governance to support a coordinated One KP approach.
  • Ensure market teams leverage enterprise capabilities, tools, content, campaigns, and expertise.
  • Foster collaboration and information sharing across enterprise and market Public Affairs teams.
• Issues Management & Market Intelligence
  • Lead market preparedness and response for reputational issues, emerging concerns, and stakeholder challenges.
  • Maintain visibility into emerging market issues, stakeholder concerns, community sentiment, labor developments, and reputational risks.
  • Provide enterprise leaders with regular intelligence on stakeholder relationships, community dynamics, media trends, and local government developments.
  • Partner with enterprise Communications, Government Relations, Legal, and Issues Management leaders for coordinated responses.
• Team Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness
  • Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing market Public Affairs team.
  • Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, inclusion, innovation, and continuous improvement.
  • Align resources and priorities to support both market and enterprise objectives.
  • Support the development of future Public Affairs leaders and strengthen organizational capabilities.

Requirements

• Minimum fifteen (15) years of progressively responsible leadership experience in public affairs, communications, community affairs, media relations, government relations, stakeholder engagement, or related disciplines.
• Significant experience advising senior executives and leadership teams.
• Bachelor’s degree required.