At Gilead Sciences Canada Inc. we take pride in being recognized as one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employer 2024. Click here to find out why Gilead Sciences Canada is a top employer!
Chez Gilead Sciences Canada Inc., nous sommes fiers d’être reconnus comme l’un des meilleurs employeurs du Grand Toronto pour 2024. Cliquez ici pour en savoir plus sur les raisons de notre succès.
At Gilead, we’re creating a healthier world for all people. For more than 35 years, we’ve tackled diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer – working relentlessly to develop therapies that help improve lives and to ensure access to these therapies across the globe. We continue to fight against the world’s biggest health challenges, and our mission requires collaboration, determination and a relentless drive to make a difference.
Every member of Gilead’s team plays a critical role in the discovery and development of life-changing scientific innovations. Our employees are our greatest asset as we work to achieve our bold ambitions, and we’re looking for the next wave of passionate and ambitious people ready to make a direct impact.
We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfil their aspirations. Join Gilead and help create possible, together.
Job Description
Reporting to the Head of Public Affairs Canada, this role is accountable for shaping and delivering Gilead’s public affairs strategy across Canada.
The Associate Director leads integrated communications and stakeholder engagement —particularly in HIV - ensuring Gilead’s external engagement is credible, aligned and grounded in the needs of patients and the healthcare system.
This role operates at the centre of cross-functional teams in Canada and collaborates closely with regional and global colleagues to drive impact, support access to innovation and strengthen Gilead’s reputation.
Key Responsibilities / Accountabilities
Strategic Communications & Campaign Leadership
- Leads the development and delivery of integrated public affairs and communications programs across priority therapy areas, with a focus on HIV treatment and prevention
- Designs and implements creative, patient-centric disease awareness and communication campaigns
- Supports product launch communications (regulatory and reimbursement), ensuring alignment with brand and enterprise strategy
- Translates complex scientific, clinical and policy topics into clear, credible and impactful narratives across channels
Stakeholder & Patient Engagement
- Builds and maintains strategic relationships with patient organisations, advocacy groups and key healthcare stakeholders
- Leads patient advocacy initiatives and co-created, multi-channel engagement programmes
- Develops strategic partnerships and community investment initiatives that address unmet patient needs, advance health equity, and strengthen care delivery
- Represents Public Affairs within cross-functional brand teams and governance forums
Media Relations & Issues Management
- Leads proactive and reactive media engagement, building strong relationships with healthcare and national media
- Oversees development of high-quality communications materials (e.g. press releases, leadership content, presentations)
- Manages media enquiries and coordinates interviews with Gilead and external spokespeople
Policy & External Environment
- Partners with Government Affairs and Market Access to advance advocacy and policy that improve access to our medicines and health system readiness
- Translates important external context (patient needs, stakeholder sentiment, health and policy priorities, industry developments) to inform business decisions and strategies
- Supports engagement with federal and provincial stakeholders to help shape the healthcare and access environment
- Ensures external activities are aligned to broader policy priorities and grounded in patient need
Cross-functional Leadership & Execution
- Drives alignment across Medical, Market Access, Commercial and Government Affairs to ensure consistent messaging and coordinated delivery
- Leads internal communications on pipeline developments, access milestones, and the external environment, ensuring colleagues and leaders are informed and prepared to respond.
- Partners with regional and global teams to ensure alignment with corporate strategy and guidance
- Leads agency engagement, providing strategic direction and ensuring high-quality execution
- Manages multiple programmes, timelines and budgets to deliver against agreed objectives
Governance, Compliance & Operational Excellence
- Ensures all activities comply with Canadian regulations, internal policies and external codes
- Applies strong understanding of communications requirements within a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company
- Ensures consistency and quality across all external communications and engagement activities
Knowledge, Experience & Capabilities
Experience & Technical Expertise
- 8+ years experience in public affairs, communications or government relations ideally within pharma or healthcare
- Experience in or strong understanding of the HIV landscape in Canada
- Strong experience in media relations and issues management, including knowledge of Canadian healthcare media environment
- Experience developing and executing integrated, multi-channel communications and social media campaigns
- Experience supporting product launches, including regulatory and reimbursement phases
- Strong understanding of the Canadian healthcare, policy and access environment
Skills & Capabilities
- Ability to translate complex information into clear, compelling communications
- Strong stakeholder engagement capability, particularly with patient organisations and advocacy groups
- Strong project management skills, including managing multiple priorities, budgets and timelines
- Excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills
- Confidence engaging senior leaders, external experts and high-profile stakeholders
Leadership & Ways of Working
- Demonstrates strong ownership and accountability for delivery
- Collaborates effectively across functions and geographies to achieve shared outcomes
- Exercises sound judgement in a complex and evolving external environment
- Maintains strong external focus, understanding what matters for patients and the healthcare system
- Delivers with pace, clarity and consistency
Why this role
This role offers the opportunity to play a leading role in shaping Gilead’s external engagement in Canada.
The Associate Director will contribute not only to effective communications, but to meaningful engagement that supports patients, strengthens the healthcare system and advances access to innovation.
For Current Gilead Employees and Contractors:
Please apply via the Internal Career Opportunities portal in Workday.
The salary range for this position is CAD $158,355 - $204,930 annually. In addition, this role is eligible for a discretionary target annual bonus. Gilead determines base compensation by considering factors such as experience, qualifications, and geographic location. As a result, actual compensation may vary.AI Clause
We use AI-enabled tools to support our recruitment process. All hiring decisions are made by our recruitment team.
Skills Required
- 8+ years of experience in public affairs, communications, or government relations
- Experience in or strong understanding of the HIV landscape in Canada
- Strong experience in media relations and issues management
- Knowledge of the Canadian healthcare media environment
- Experience developing and executing integrated, multi-channel communications and social media campaigns
- Experience supporting product launches, including regulatory and reimbursement phases
- Strong understanding of the Canadian healthcare, policy, and access environment
- Ability to translate complex information into clear, compelling communications
- Strong stakeholder engagement capability, particularly with patient organisations and advocacy groups
- Strong project management skills, including managing multiple priorities, budgets, and timelines
- Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills
- Confidence engaging senior leaders, external experts, and high-profile stakeholders
Gilead Sciences Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Gilead Sciences and has not been reviewed or approved by Gilead Sciences.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is considered competitive and fair relative to roles, frequently cited as a standout strength. Feedback suggests compensation compares well within biotech and is a notable reason employees feel valued.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Stock awards and an employee stock purchase program are consistently described as meaningful parts of total compensation. Equity components are seen as accessible and enhance long‑term wealth building.
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Retirement Support — A strong company 401(k) match with immediate vesting is often singled out as a differentiator. This support is perceived to significantly boost long‑term financial security.
Gilead Sciences Insights
What We Do
The way we see it, the impossible is not impossible. It’s simply what hasn’t been achieved yet. For more than 30 years, we’ve pursued it, chased it down, tackled it for answers and surrounded it for a way in. We have worked tirelessly to bring forward medicines for life-threatening diseases. Creating Possible drives everything we do. It’s evident in our mission and core values. This is how we built a culture of excellence that is fueled by a passion for improving lives of people around the world. For us, nothing is impossible – because of the people we work with, the communities we stand with and the partners we push forward with. Our ~12,000 employees band together through science, grit, compassion and courage to prove the impossible wrong. At Gilead, the tangible results of your contributions are evident. Where every individual matters. Where all employees can enhance their skills through ongoing development. And where we start every day with one question: “What’s next?” Social Media Guidelines: https://gilead.inc/3t1m7d5
