Regional Mobilisation and National Advocacy Consultant - Digital PrEP

Company: Elton John AIDS Foundation
Role purpose
The Regional Mobilisation and National Advocacy Consultant will accelerate the adoption of digital PrEP across England. The postholder will build commitment through regional public health and commissioning networks, develop a pipeline of areas ready to implement, and influence the national policy and leadership environment needed for sustainable scale.
Working closely with the UK PrEP Programme Manager, the role will provide regional reach, senior stakeholder engagement and national influencing capacity. The role will require active area-to-area mobilisation, working directly with individual local systems to identify readiness, secure senior buy-in, address practical barriers and move areas from interest to implementation. It will help translate learning from UK PrEP pilots into practical implementation support, stronger commissioning cases and wider adoption.
Programme context
Across the UK, PrEP pilots have focused on two complementary ways to widen access. Digital direct-to-consumer (DTC) PrEP enables people to access PrEP through a predominantly remote, digitally supported pathway. Other pilots have integrated, or bundled, PrEP into clinical services that people already use, including women's health hubs.
Together, these approaches are building practical evidence about how PrEP can be made more accessible, embedded within existing care pathways and implemented sustainably across different local systems. This role will focus primarily on scaling digital PrEP in England while ensuring that learning from both models informs regional mobilisation and national advocacy.
Key Responsibilities
Regional mobilisation
Lead targeted city-to-city mobilisation across priority areas, tailoring engagement to each local system’s commissioning context, stakeholder landscape, unmet PrEP need and implementation readiness
Build and maintain relationships with senior stakeholders, including Directors of Public Health, Association of Directors of Public Health networks, Fast-Track Cities and relevant commissioning networks.
Prioritise engagement using national PrEP data, needs assessments and local intelligence, with a focus on areas where new access routes could address unmet need or inequalities.
Undertake stakeholder and power mapping to identify decision-makers, influencers, potential allies and barriers within each local system.
Identify and support local champions, assess readiness to adopt digital PrEP and agree the next steps needed to build local commitment.
Develop and manage a pipeline of areas progressing from initial interest to commitment, implementation planning and delivery.
Convene regional and cross-system discussions that bring together public health, commissioning, sexual health, primary care, women's health and voluntary and community sector partners.
Connect interested areas with the digital PrEP implementation support offer, drawing on the London toolkit and learning from UK PrEP pilots.
Develop locally relevant cases for adoption by translating evidence into clear benefits, requirements and practical options for commissioners and providers.
Identify recurring barriers to adoption, including governance, commissioning, procurement, workforce, data and pathway issues, and explore regional or collaborative solutions.
Share regional intelligence, progress and learning with the UK PrEP Programme Manager and implementation partners to strengthen the wider programme.
National advocacy and influence
Identify and engage influential national champions for digital PrEP and innovative PrEP delivery models.
Build and maintain relationships with the Department of Health and Social Care, UK Health Security Agency, NHS England and other national HIV, sexual health and public health stakeholders.
Ensure that evidence, outcomes and implementation learning from digital direct-to-consumer PrEP and integrated clinical pilots are visible and accessible to national decision-makers.
Position digital PrEP and integrated delivery models as complementary contributions to the HIV Action Plan, including commitments to improve remote PrEP provision and scale effective innovation.
Identify and pursue opportunities to influence national policy, guidance, commissioning approaches and investment decisions that could enable wider adoption.
Translate programme evidence and local intelligence into clear, persuasive messages tailored to different national audiences.
Work sensitively with national and voluntary and community sector partners, recognising different roles, priorities and organisational dynamics.
Represent the programme in relevant national and regional meetings, networks and forums.
We are looking for a credible and influential senior public health professional who can build commitment across complex systems and turn strategic interest into practical action.
Essential experience and knowledge
Strong credibility with Directors of Public Health, commissioners and regional or national health leaders.
Established professional networks across several English regions, extending beyond London.
Experience of influencing national health policy and engaging senior stakeholders.
A strong understanding of local authority public health commissioning and decision-making, including budgets, governance, procurement and the commissioning of new services.
Knowledge of sexual health, HIV prevention and PrEP, including the barriers that affect equitable access.
Experience of spreading, scaling or implementing innovation across organisations or systems.
Experience of interpreting data and evidence and translating it into clear, compelling arguments for change.
Understanding of how health inequalities and service design affect access to prevention services.
Skills and attributes
Strong stakeholder and power-mapping skills, with the ability to navigate competing agendas and complex organisational dynamics.
Excellent relationship-building, facilitation and communication skills.
Confidence and judgement to engage senior stakeholders and bring the right people together.
A pragmatic, proactive and energetic approach, with the ability to maintain momentum across multiple relationships and workstreams.
Political sensitivity and the ability to work constructively across statutory, clinical and voluntary and community sector partners.
Ability to collaborate, exercise sound judgement and operate with a high degree of autonomy.
Desirable experience
Experience of digital or remote health pathways, direct-to-consumer services or digital transformation.
Experience of integrating prevention interventions into existing clinical services, such as primary care or women's health hubs.
Experience of working with voluntary and community sector organisations and people with lived experience.
Experience of developing or delivering implementation support, toolkits or spread-and-scale programmes.
Indicative deliverables / success measures
Mobilisation pipeline established for 4 - 5 priority cities/local systems, with rationale, readiness status, key stakeholders and agreed next steps.
Active mobilisation delivered in at least 3 – 4 priority areas, including senior stakeholder engagement, follow-up actions and connection to the digital PrEP implementation support offer.
2 - 3 areas progressed from interest to a practical next step, such as implementation planning, development of a local adoption case, senior sign-off or formal consideration through commissioning routes.
Stakeholder and power mapping completed for priority areas, identifying decision-makers, champions, blockers and routes to secure commitment.
Key barriers to adoption summarised, with proposed solutions or escalation routes for regional or national consideration.
National advocacy support delivered through briefings, messages or presentations for senior stakeholders, including DHSC, UKHSA, NHS England and relevant national partners.
Regular progress reports provided to the UK PrEP Programme Manager, c