Senior Advocacy Specialist

Job Title
Senior Advocacy Specialist

Vacancies
1 current vacancy

Location
Vancouver, BC | Ottawa, ON | Calgary, AB | Halifax, NS | St John’s, NL | Kelowna, BC | Prince George, BC
Location details:

Work Model
Hybrid Work Model

Salary Band
5 ($56,000 - $64,000 CAD)

Contract Duration
Full‑time contract ending February 2028

About the Canadian Cancer Society
The Canadian Cancer Society works tirelessly to save lives, improve lives and drive collective action against cancer. Together with patients, volunteers, donors and communities across the country, we raise funds to invest in transformative cancer research, provide a caring support system for everyone affected by cancer, and advocate to governments to create a healthier future for all.

Join an Exceptional Team of Advocacy Professionals
As one of the top health lobbyist organizations in Canada, CCS has been shaping mandatory public health policy for decades. You will help drive progress to save lives and improve the health of all Canadians.

Impact
Reporting to the Director of Advocacy (Public Engagement), this role supports the public engagement portfolio. You will lead CCS’s footprint in drug approval submissions in Canada and support patient and clinician engagement across advocacy priorities.

Responsibilities
Health Technology Assessment Tasks

Lead the delivery of the HTA program, coordinate and develop patient submissions to pan‑Canadian bodies under the direction of the Director of Advocacy.

Monitor all CDA/INESSS open calls for patient feedback on drug reviews relevant to CCS’s mandate.

Conduct research and liaise with internal and external stakeholders to develop a strong knowledge of the drug under evaluation and its clinical context.

Develop patient surveys and interview questionnaires aligned with the cancer type, indication, and drug under review; support dissemination of related calls to action.

Evaluate qualitative and quantitative data from surveys and interviews, and synthesize findings into draft patient submissions for review and approval.

Build and maintain relationships with senior staff at patient organisations and health charities to support collaboration and resource sharing.

Sustain and build relationships with senior patient engagement staff at pharmaceutical companies to generate contacts for clinical trials patients and develop an awareness of similar drugs available on the market and funding status.

Promote the work of CCS in HTA to external partners.

Liaise with CDA/INESSS staff regarding CCS‑led or partner HTA submissions and track outcomes.

Evaluate the success of each submission and the number of patients engaged to contribute to advocacy KPI.
Maintain program data and tracking tools for performance measurement.

Develop and submit all patient submissions within defined time frames to ensure CDA and INESSS have required information.

Advocacy Tasks

Support the establishment of advocacy priorities for non‑elected, pan‑Canadian bodies involved in assessment, approval, and price negotiation of new drugs and health technologies.

Support design and implementation of advocacy and public engagement plans to implement these priorities.

Seek opportunities to improve patient input into approval processes.

Build and maintain relationships with target public‑sector and private‑sector stakeholders.

Coordinate and sustain a community of practice among patient groups to share information on upcoming submissions, promote education and best practices, and build capacity in the HTA space.

Evaluate progress according to focus areas and KPIs set out in the CCS strategic plans.

Work closely with the Advocacy Content team on identified priorities.

Patient and Clinician Engagement in Advocacy

Conduct CCS patient and clinician engagement in advocacy more generally, ensuring needs are reflected.

Support the design of engagement frameworks, tactics, and implementation of public engagement priorities.

Support the Director of Advocacy with integration of the advocacy department into broader CCS mission.

Lead the development of self‑advocacy toolkits on various issues to support patient engagement.

Track, examine and evaluate advocacy and mission integration activities.

Lead and maintain…