Lived Experience Advisory Board Coordinator (0.5 FTE)

About us:

If you are passionate about embedding the involvement of those with lived experience in mental health research, the ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health would like to hear from you. We are recruiting a Lived Experience Advisory Board Co-ordinator to help us work in partnership with people with lived experience.

About the role:

As the Lived Experience Advisory Board Coordinator, the post holder will coordinate and champion the activities and participation of our Lived Experience Advisory Board (LEAB) in the Centre, and more broadly in King’s. This will include strengthening the identity of the LEAB and ensuring that all members are strongly connected to, and impact, the work of the Centre and King’s more broadly. The postholder will also share responsibility for managing the LEAB’s budget to meet the priorities of both the LEAB and the Centre, and will help deliver LEAB-initiated projects. We also hope that the postholder will work with us to champion lived experience involvement within and beyond King’s College London, drive innovative practices in this area, and communicate insights in ways that lead to change.

All shortlisted candidates will be offered the opportunity to meet some LEAB members in an informal, online meeting, and to come and visit the Centre for Society and Mental Health.

We would welcome applications both from people from marginalised communities with lived experience of inequalities, and/or with direct lived experience in an area/areas relevant to the work e.g. of trauma, violence and abuse, (ref)using mental health services, mental distress, neurodivergence, as the coordinator will be coordinating the involvement of people with these experiences.

This is a part-time post at 0.5 FTE and you will be offered a contract until the end of April 2028.

About you:

Essential criteria

1. Experience of empathetically and effectively supporting, working with, or facilitating the active engagement of lived experience groups and/or a strong understanding of the value of lived experience involvement.
2. Understanding of values-based practice and the ethics of involving people from marginalised communities and with direct lived experience.
3. Experience and demonstrable skills in co-producing research and projects with people with lived experience of marginalization or mental distress.
4. Experience of coordinating or managing the involvement of advisory groups, and addressing barriers to involvement (including meeting individual access needs and adapting organisational processes)
5. Demonstrable commitment to promoting innovative inclusion and involvement for individuals and groups that have been subject to marginalisation and exclusion.
6. Excellent written, oral and interpersonal skills with an ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, with sensitivity to individual preferences and confidentiality, and in ways that can lead to change.
7. Experience of activism and advocating for change, and an ability to articular the relationship between organisational culture and lived experience.

Desirable criteria

1. Experience of developing and maintaining successful working relationships with community groups, researchers, and practitioners.
2. Ability to follow an agreed plan of work, as well as having an ability to work independently and under own direction
3. A passion for change in lived experience and mental health research, and an ability to champion the importance of involvement in mental health research.
4. Strong understanding of research in the field of society and mental health and the ethics of conducting research / working with marginalised communities.

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