Position Overview
The Director of Health Promotion is a senior leadership position responsible for driving Action Canada’s direct service and health promotion work, with a focus on advancing equitable access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services across Canada. This role leads a dynamic team, oversees strategy and operations for the Access Program, and builds collaborative partnerships with healthcare providers, health institutions, researchers, and community organizations to support systemic change toward improving access to sexual and reproductive health services.
Working in close collaboration with the Executive Director and fellow Directors, the Director of Health Promotion ensures that the team’s strategies and day-to-day work reflect Action Canada’s commitments to anti-racism, anti-oppression, and reproductive justice. This includes advancing approaches that factor in the economic, social, and environmental conditions that shape individual and community health and inform access to health care. The Director leads efforts to engage other teams within the organization as well as partners across sectors to take this broader view and co-develop interventions to improve people’s sexual and reproductive health outcomes. A key part of the role involves identifying systemic barriers to care, mobilizing resources to address them, and supporting collective action to advance equity-driven, low-barrier access to health services.
As a member of the senior leadership team, the Director contributes to the overall health and sustainability of the organization while championing low-barrier, trauma-informed, and equity-driven health services within the team and across the broader healthcare ecosystem in Canada.
Who We Are
Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights is a progressive, pro-choice charitable organization committed to advancing and upholding sexual and reproductive rights in Canada and globally. To achieve our mission, Action Canada engages in health promotion, legal and policy advocacy, campaigns, and movement-building.
We believe in a world where every person controls their sexuality, reproduction, gender expression, and health. In our fight for sexual and reproductive rights for all, Action Canada challenges the systems that create unequal access to information, health care, and rights.
For more information, visit www.actioncanadashr.org
Job Duties and Responsibilities
Health System Engagement and Capacity Development
- Monitors national trends and emerging issues related to abortion and sexual and reproductive health care access, with a focus on healthcare systems, service delivery barriers, and regional inequities.
- Builds and maintains strong relationships with healthcare providers, health researchers, partner networks, and allied sector organizations to surface real-time challenges and opportunities to address health inequities.
- Identifies opportunities for partnerships with institutions, professional colleges and associations, researchers, academic, and frontline organizations for the purpose of expanding access to SRH services for all people in Canada.
- Actively seeks opportunities to translate program data and insights into actionable knowledge, sharing with partners to drive improvements in sexual and reproductive health.
- Collaborates with healthcare partners to identify access barriers and co-develop responses - such as applied research, shared tools, or service-strengthening initiatives.
- Supports efforts to identify and secure resources - including funding - to address priority needs surfaced by partners (e.g. commissioning research, creating sector-wide guidance).
- Shares relevant insights internally and with partners to inform advocacy, program strategy, and public communications, in alignment with the leadership of the Policy and Advocacy team.
Program Management and External Representation
- Develops strategy and establishes objectives and goals for the Health Promotion team.
- Develops and oversees budgets specific to the Health Promotion team.
- Drives the success of the Access Line program, related health promotion activities, and key domestic partnership functions related to the issue of access to sexual and reproductive health information and services in Canada for Action Canada.
- Develops and maintains relationships with external stakeholders, builds alliances with other organizations, and represents Action Canada in various spaces.
- Oversees the gathering of program data as well as analyzes and interprets program data to help the team and organization understand wider trends and changes.
- Oversees grants specific to the Health Promotion team, including maintaining strong relationships with granting bodies and other donors, and overseeing timely reporting.
- Identifies new opportunities for grant funding, writes grant applications as needed, and collaborates with other teams on funding applications.
- Works with the Program Manager and Program Coordinator to sustain and strengthen the Access Line and Access Fund infrastructure.
- Represents Action Canada’s Health Promotion team in external meetings with partners and funders as well as media.
Team Leadership and Management
- Supervises and directs members of the Health Promotion team, including administering the full cycle of the performance management framework.
- Ensures alignment between team workplans and goals, and the organization-level workplan and strategic plan.
- Stewards ongoing efforts related to Access Program sustainability while prioritizing team well-being, low-barrier care, and anti-oppressive practice.
- Supports growth and development of Health Promotion team members.
Organizational Leadership
- Collaborates with the Executive Director and the management team to identify opportunities for continuous improvement in organizational processes and collaboration, advancement of the strategic goals of the organization, and implementation of ARAO principles and practices in Action Canada's internal and external work.
- Collaborates with other teams and Directors to identify opportunities for leadership and engagement in external spaces with the goal of advocating for expanded access to Sexual and reproductive health services and information and other Action Canada priorities.
- Other duties as may be assigned by the Employer.
Qualifications
- Degree, diploma, or equivalent experience in a related field, such as Health Promotion, Public Policy, Public Health, or Political Sciences.
- Minimum five years’ progressive experience in public health or community health and/or health promotion, with a focus on abortion care and/or the sexual and reproductive health being an asset. Experience of direct service context is a strong asset.
- Minimum of three years in senior management with direct staff/team supervision.
- Demonstrated ability to lead on health promotion and health system advocacy initiatives, data translation and knowledge mobilization, partnership development and stewardship, and on strategic planning to advance organizational goals and systemic change.
- Proven leadership in developing and implementing strategy.
- Knowledge, understanding, and commitment to reproductive rights and a person’s right to determine their own reproductive choices, anti-racism and anti-oppression, intersectional feminist policy and practice, and the mission and values of Action Canada.
- Superior interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills in English, with the ability to communicate effectively to build and foster solid relationships with a broad range of stakeholders.
- Strong decision-making skills and effective goal-setting.
- Demonstrated commitment to anti-racism and anti-oppression principles and practices.
- Relational skills, effective communication, and public speaking abilities.
- Demonstrated ability to understand and analyze complex, interconnected systems at the local, national, and international levels. This includes recognizing how economic, social, environmental, cultural, and political factors intersect to influence health and well-being, and applying this understanding to design strategies and solutions that are responsive, equitable, and scalable. Individuals with strong global thinking skills anticipate emerging trends, collaborate effectively across sectors and geographies, and bring a broad, equity-centered perspective to decision-making and problem-solving.
- Ability to engage critically with data and research, and reasoning with information to effectively build and implement strategy as well as communicate effectively to various audiences.
- Experience with grant writing and reporting a strong asset.
- French/English bilingualism an asset.
- Experience working/managing/supervising in a fully remote environment a strong asset.
- Experience working/managing/supervising in a unionized environment an asset.
- Eligible to work in Canada
Hours, Compensation and Benefits
This is a full-time (37.5 hours per week), permanent salaried position. Starting salary for this position is $95,000 per year. Action Canada also provides a generous benefits program, including extended health and dental benefits, leave allowances, and RRSP contributions.
Location
Action Canada's offices are based in Ottawa, Ontario. Candidates for this position may be based in Ottawa (and may work either from the office or from a remote work location, e.g. home office) or elsewhere in Ontario. All candidates must be legally able to work in Canada
To Apply
Please submit your application using the form on Action Canada’s website by 11:59pm EST on Thursday, October 2, 2025. You will be asked to submit your cover letter (1 page maximum), CV, and answer a few short questions.
Should you have difficulties with the application form, or should you require any accommodations or assistance, please email jobs@actioncanadashr.org.
Please ensure all application components are submitted, as incomplete applications will not be reviewed. You may submit your cover letter and CV as a Word documents or PDF, as one document naming it in the following format: Firstname_Lastname.
Hiring Process and Timeline
Applications will be accepted until Thursday October 2, 2025. Interviews will be held the week of October 13, with a start date in November depending on the successful candidate’s availability.
The hiring process will include a one-hour panel interview to take place over video conference (Zoom). We will provide the interview questions by email, one hour before the interview. Candidates will be asked to provide three references, and those moving to the next round will have references checked.
Action Canada is committed to working within an anti-racism and anti-oppression framework and dismantling the white supremacy inherent to the SRHR movement. We are explicitly inviting women and gender diverse members of Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities to apply and self-identify in your cover letter. We welcome applications from people living with disabilities; please let us know if you require accommodations at any stage of the recruitment process.
We thank all applicants in advance, however, only those invited for an interview will be contacted.
We sincerely appreciate your time and interest in Action Canada.