Director, Government Relations and Health Access

Parkinson Canada•Toronto, ON

2d•CA$110,000 - CA$130,000•Remote

About The Position

Reporting to the VP, Mission, this role leads the development and execution of Parkinson Canada’s health policy, government relations, and advocacy priorities across Canada. The Director will shape the future of Parkinson’s care by building relationships, influencing decision-makers, and driving strategies that improve access to treatment, services, and support for people living with Parkinson’s and their care partners. This role involves navigating complex systems, building momentum across diverse stakeholders, and turning strategy into action. The Director will work across government, healthcare, advocacy, research, and industry environments to identify opportunities, align priorities, and move initiatives forward in a fast-moving environment where relationships, influence, and execution matter. This is an existing remote vacancy with occasional travel as needed for in person meetings.

Requirements

Experience navigating government and healthcare systems, influencing stakeholders, and driving complex initiatives forward, potentially from consulting, public affairs, advocacy, government relations, or healthcare strategy backgrounds.
Understanding of the nuances of working within and alongside public sector environments.
Experience navigating complex stakeholder environments and building alignment across groups with different priorities, perspectives, and motivations.
Ability to influence decision-makers, move initiatives forward, and create momentum around shared objectives.
Ability to translate strategy into action, taking broad organizational or advocacy priorities and turning them into clear plans, stakeholder strategies, and measurable outcomes.
Comfort operating with accountability and balancing long-term priorities with evolving opportunities and timelines.
Strong communication skills to build credibility quickly and engage effectively across governments, healthcare organizations, advocacy groups, researchers, industry partners, and senior leaders.
Ability to navigate nuanced conversations, align stakeholders, and represent an organization with professionalism, confidence, and sound judgment.
Ability to thrive in fast-moving environments where priorities evolve, opportunities emerge quickly, and not everything is fully defined on day one.
Comfort working through ambiguity, shifting direction when needed, and maintaining momentum while balancing multiple priorities and stakeholders.
Ability to bring people together around a common direction, create clarity, establish accountability, and work cross-functionally to advance initiatives and deliver results.
Highly collaborative but also comfortable taking ownership and helping drive work forward.
Successful completion of a criminal background check and references.

Responsibilities

Lead advocacy and government relations strategy, developing and advancing priorities that strengthen access to care, treatment, and support for people living with Parkinson’s across Canada.
Identify opportunities, build momentum around key initiatives, and help position Parkinson Canada as a trusted and influential voice within the healthcare ecosystem.
Drive high-priority national initiatives forward, translating broad organizational and advocacy goals into actionable plans, stakeholder strategies, and measurable outcomes.
Navigate complex healthcare and policy environments, balancing long-term priorities with evolving opportunities and external dynamics.
Build and activate relationships across governments, healthcare organizations, advocacy groups, researchers, industry partners, and community stakeholders to align priorities and advance shared objectives.
Facilitate productive conversations, identify areas of collaboration, and help create pathways for progress across diverse stakeholder groups.
Lead cross-functional collaboration with internal teams across Mission, Partnerships, Marketing and Communications, and Insights to ensure alignment of advocacy strategies, campaigns, stakeholder engagement efforts, and external initiatives with broader organizational priorities and community needs.
Oversee the development of briefing materials, policy positions, advocacy messaging, stakeholder presentations, and engagement strategies that support organizational priorities and strengthen Parkinson Canada’s external voice and influence.
Provide leadership, coaching, and direction to team members and external partners, fostering accountability, momentum, collaboration, and strong execution across initiatives and priorities.
Monitor healthcare, political, funding, and policy developments, using insights, stakeholder feedback, and emerging trends to refine priorities, identify opportunities, and help shape future advocacy and access strategies.