Senior PPIE Lead - School of Psychology - 102653 - Grade 7

Position Details

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade: 7

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to March 2031

Closing date: 4th February 2026

Interviews will take place either week commencing 23rd February 2026 or 2nd March 2026

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do. The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success. We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector‑leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential.

With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University. We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries. The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state‑of‑the‑art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Role Summary

The School of Psychology is expanding its Patient and Public Involvement Team. This is an exciting opportunity for an effective Public Involvement and Engagement Manager to shape and deliver the Public Involvement and Engagement Strategy and continue to develop a positive culture for public involvement and engagement throughout the IMH and the wider School. The post holder will lead and develop the involvement of patient and public in the Institute for Mental Health (IMH) and will be responsible for further developing the Institute’s existing youth involvement activity. The post holder will develop, support, and facilitate various methods for involving people with lived experience in the work of IMH/School so that their input shapes future activities. This will be achieved in partnership with young people and families/carers and will also draw on good practice in involving the public in research. The post holder will work collaboratively and provide essential liaison to support the active involvement of participants to research projects. The role will involve working closely with researchers from across the Institute for Mental Health, the School of Psychology and beyond. The role will also involve collaborating with other PPI facilitators/Leads and will report directly to the School of Psychology Head of Operations. The post holder will deal with people at all levels of University staff and external affiliates of the IMH.

Key elements of this role will include:

• Ensuring experts by experience with lived experience of mental health difficulties have meaningful and rewarding involvement in the work of the IMH and the School of Psychology.
• Providing leadership to members of the IMH and School of Psychology (researchers and public contributors) on all matters relating to public involvement and engagement.
• Leading on the development of the existing infrastructure to support experts by experience to be actively involved in the work of the Institute for Mental Health and the School of Psychology.
• Engaging with and contributing to local, regional and international PPIE networks; working collaboratively with other groups involved in participation to promote opportunities and share learning.
• Developing new ways of working with public contributors, which help embed principles and features of co‑production.

Main Duties

• Leading the development of an Involvement Strategy focused on the IMH activities; outlining strategic aims for involvement of young people in its activities and a delivery plan.
• Supporting the involvement of experts by experience in the IMH/School of Psychology activities (e.g. recruitment, dissemination, governance).
• Contributing to outputs, including conference presentations, articles, such as blog pieces, project reports and funding applications.
• Being the point of contact for people with lived experience of mental ill health and supporting influential, meaningful and rewarding involvement in the work of the IMH/School.
• Helping to identify and develop progression routes for interested people with lived experience of mental ill health to empower and enable them to become future leaders in mental health science.
• Assisting in the development of support and training activities related to involvement in research design and delivery, and contribute to delivery of these.
• Building and maintaining relationships with diverse groups of patients and carers, patient and carer organisations and key stakeholders to have meaningful PPIE that informs research and ultimately healthcare provision.
• Co‑ordinating work with external organisations to ensure that involvement and participation agendas are linked.
• Contributing to the development of good practice in research, enhancing co‑production, co‑design, involvement in governance and fostering research led by people with lived experience of mental ill health.
• Supporting the communication and promoting awareness of activities being undertaken by local research initiatives to improve youth engagement with research through the development of webpages and other communication channels.
• Disseminating information to researchers and ensuring benefits of involvement are published to as wide an audience as possible.
• Ensuring that people with lived experience of mental ill health are engaged in decision making processes, and that their voices are heard across the IMH/School of Psychology.
• Identifying barriers to public involvement and developing inclusive strategies to overcome these barriers.
• Developing and maintaining a strong and up‑to‑date knowledge of developments in service user involvement and disseminate information to members of various research initiatives, as deemed appropriate.
• Representing the IMH/School of Psychology at regional events.
• Informing regular reporting activities for PPIE activity and carrying out appropriate evaluation activity to identify and track the impact of any changes as a result of PPIE.
• Working with colleagues to develop coherent and achievable strategies relating to internal development and external funding; assisting with the identification of appropriate funding opportunities and informing the preparation of both major and routine funding applications.
• Supporting other schools i.e. Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences on PPI when required.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Educated to Degree level (honours degree or equivalent qualifications). Where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a similar role will be required.
• Significant practical experience in a similar role, particularly working with people with lived experience of mental ill health and a knowledge and understanding of diversity in local communities.
• Relevant experience of engaging/involving public in the work of organisations.
• Experience of working within the Mental Health field.
• Experience of working in a medical research environment and an understanding of scientific/medical terminology.
• Proven experience of supporting the planning, management and delivery of projects involving multiple agencies and individuals.
• Understanding of PPIE in research‑active organisations.
• Experience of working in complex, long‑term, multi‑partner projects.
• Experience working alongside academics to promote research.
• Knowledge and direct experience of appropriate governance requirements around working with various publics.
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to analyse information and data.
• Highly proficient IT skills, including the wider MS Office suite of programmes including Excel and PowerPoint.
• Ability to understand policy, processes and procedures, but also to recommend improvements and implement changes.
• Excellent analytical skills used to produce reports, identify issues and resolve them decisively.
• Excellent interpersonal, organisational, negotiation and multi‑tasking skills to deal effectively with wide‑range stakeholders including, patients and the public, healthcare professionals and NHS management, academics and researchers.
• Clear and articulate communication of complex information and high‑level interpersonal skills.
• The post holder must inspire confidence and command authority with a range of colleagues and provide excellent service at all times.
• A high degree of professionalism, tact, and diplomacy, and the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information/issues.
• A high degree of initiative, personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self‑motivating approach.
• Ability to work effectively in a large, complex organisation, and to develop a good understanding of how the University and higher education institutions work.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.
• DBS required.

The University is committed to safeguarding and we promote safe recruitment practice, therefore all associated pre‑employment checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed. Due to the nature of the work undertaken in this role all successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory DBS clearance prior to appointment.

Informal enquiries to Mandy Dhaliwal, email: m.k.rana@bham.ac.uk

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We believe there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy.