Head of Equity Partnering, Mental Health

Salary: £94,700

Closing date: 18th August

Contract type: Permanent

Interview dates: W/C 8th Sept

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation. We improve health for everyone by funding science, leading policy and advocacy campaigns, and building partnerships.

We plan to spend £16bn over the next ten years, funding new discoveries in life, health, and wellbeing, and taking on three global health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health.

Wellcome's vision is a healthier future for everyone and we work towards it by supporting science to solve urgent health challenges. To achieve the most impact from our mission, we focus on how we can best benefit the people and communities who are most affected by the health challenges we take on.

The Equity Department ensures that we engage thoughtfully with the right people at the right time, enabling and investing in the most impactful research, and influencing changes in policy and practice, so that:

• the people whose health has most to gain from new advances can access them with trust, and be confident that they meet their needs.

• partners and communities are engaged in an equitable way, so their voices and experiences help to shape the work we support.

• research can draw on the broadest range of talent and expertise to unlock more impactful discoveries and solutions.

• our own organisation is an inclusive place to work.

We are now recruiting for a Head of Equity Partnering, Mental Health to lead the development of programmes partnering with the Mental Health team to embed equity across their strategy, funding and research activities, to drive delivery against the Equity Framework.

Wellcome's mental health mission is to transform early intervention for anxiety, depression and psychosis. This requires new insights, new interventions and new routes to uptake. Science alone isn't enough. We must engage policymakers and decision-makers to ensure solutions are adopted and implemented effectively. This requires an innovation ecosystem that can turn exciting new discoveries into practical applications, especially in low-resource settings. We support this through our work with non-governmental organisations, governments, and public, philanthropic and commercial sectors. If this has the impact we strive for, we hope to see new digital, pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions developed and in use by 2032, including in low-resource settings, and with increased recovery rates. . By fostering new relationships and advocating for new approaches, we can address mental health inequalities worldwide. We are seeking an Equity Partner who can help us achieve this ambition.

The Head of Equity Partnering will embed as a senior member of the Mental Health leadership team to shape its overall strategic direction, providing senior-level guidance and advice. They will also be accountable and responsible for coordinating, managing and drawing upon wider resources in the Equity Department to drive delivery against Mental Health strategy, developing its strategic vision and building an evidence base to deliver against Wellcome's Equity Framework. This will involve working closely as a peer with the other nine members of the mental health leadership team including our Head of Lived Experience who leads at team to ensure that those with lived experience of mental health problems inform all we do and fund.

To apply for this role please submit an up to date CV and answer 2 application questions to demonstrate that you meet the minimum requirements for the role. The minimum requirements of the role are:

• A senior and strategic expert with significant experience as a researcher or research funder in the Global South, resulting in deep understanding of research and funding in these contexts

• A credible expert, with a strong and broad understanding of equity in research/funding contexts, and a demonstrated ability to practically deliver excellent research and drive systemic change via embedding equity across the research and funding value chain

• Strong, demonstrated ability to partner, build productive relationships and influence senior stakeholders to deliver strategic, measurable impact

• Demonstrated experience and understanding of delivering equitable global research/health partnerships

• Topic expertise in Mental Health as it relates to Global Health Equity, Equitable Research Funding and Inclusive Research methods

You can view the full job description on our website

You can read more about the benefits we offer our employees on our website

Our Hybrid Way of Working

We understand that our colleagues have commitments and personal interests outside of work and we strive to build a flexible working environment, in which people can perform at their best.

At Wellcome we have a hybrid way of working which is 3 days in our Euston Road offices (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) with the remaining 2 days working either remotely or in the office.

Diversity and Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do

Diversity and Inclusion is a priority at Wellcome. We are committed to cultivating a fair and inclusive environment, where everyone can be themselves and thrive. We are happy to discuss flexible working options for all roles. We work to ensure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible to everyone. This includes making adjustments for people who have a disability or long-term condition. Please visit our website for more information on adjustments and accessibility, or contact us at

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