Senior Consultant (Account Director), Health Public Affairs

We are looking for a Senior Consultant (Account Director) to join our successful and growing UK Health team, working across a range of international health sector clients including leading pharmaceutical, biotech, life sciences and HealthTech companies as well as trade and professional associations.

The ideal candidate will have a solid background in healthcare public affairs and government relations, ideally gained in an agency environment. They will have a sound understanding of UK health policy and be well versed in the workings of Whitehall and the NHS. Prior experience working in health product communications, market access, patient advocacy and disease awareness campaigns is also an advantage. They will be familiar with the pharma compliance (ABPI Code) and comfortable devising communications strategies that can navigate this. Although international experience is not essential, the ideal candidate will have an interest in working on pan-European and international as well as UK clients.

Responsibilities

• Leading UK accounts and campaigns
• Leading the UK component of multi-market assignments
• Managing, training and mentoring junior team members
• Formulating public affairs, government affairs and integrated communications strategies and campaigns, including working with political media
• Building trusted relationships with clients, Parliamentarians, NHS stakeholders and other decision makers
• Developing messaging and narratives for clients
• Producing high-quality written materials including policy briefings, thought leadership, stakeholder plans and digital content
• Coming up with creative ideas for how to improve services to our clients
• Playing an active role in new business, marketing and internal APCO initiatives
• Playing an active role in the UK, European and global health practice

Qualifications

• Someone with healthcare agency experience who is passionate and knowledgeable about UK health policy, public affairs, political campaigning and health communications and wants to play a role in growing a shaping our London healthcare team (target experience range: minimum of 5-7 years experience).
• Someone with a strong understanding of UK health policy, parliamentary processes and the wider political landscape
• Someone who understands the workings of the NHS and HTA process (e.g. NICE)
• Experience of and an aptitude for managing junior team members
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• A sound understanding and/or interest in learning about European and global health policy
• An active interest in digital/social media, including digital analytics

We are recognised as one of the best agencies to work for in our industry, providing:

• The opportunity to work on a diverse range of clients and projects with some of the industry’s best and brightest
• A collegial and collaborative working environment, where you will work closely with colleagues from around the world
• Significant opportunities to develop professionally, with extensive training and personal development programmes
• A competitive compensation and benefits package, including private medical insurance and mental health support
• An enhanced Parental leave policy for all our employees from day one
• A paid opportunity each year to contribute to your community as part of our APCO Gives Back scheme
• Annual health, wellbeing, and fitness allowance
• Industry-leading global exchange program

Through our recruitment, hiring and retention efforts, APCO is committed to building teams to bring the best possible expertise and robust perspectives to our clients. We embrace differences in experience, viewpoint and ideas, starting with our values and extending to our behaviours, policies and practices. We aim to create a positive work experience and welcoming environment where everyone feels they belong and can thrive.

About APCO In London

APCO London has over 140 staff working with more than 100 clients and sits at the centre of the agency’s global operations. Thanks to a diverse and multilingual team, APCO London leads on many of the agency’s most dynamic global assignments.

With a growing client base in the most pressing issues facing the world today such as the transition to Net Zero and access to healthcare, APCO has been a fixture of the UK communications market since 1996 and continues to be at the forefront of the seismic changes facing economies and societies today.

We are a truly integrated agency, with deep expertise and experience across the full range of communication offerings including corporate communications, public affairs, digital strategy and paid media, as well as capital markets thanks to our recent acquisition of Camarco.