Head of Research and Involvement

Type: 2 years fixed term

Location: Head office, Bethnal Green E2

Hours: 1 FTE (37.5 hours per week) 

Do you want to help McPin develop and thrive for another 10 years?  Are you a leader that is passionate about lived experience expertise, teamwork and strengthening collaboration between the academic and voluntary sectors? 

We are recruiting to a new Head of Research and Involvement to play an important role in leading our growing research and involvement team.  The post holder will join the senior leadership team, help to shape the strategic direction of the charity and manage a team of researchers and involvement specialists. It is a role that will suit a leader who thrives on team-work, and supporting colleagues to succeed and flourish. 

They will work on existing projects and proactively build a portfolio of research and involvement studies and evaluation contracts through bid writing and additional income generation strategies.  Developing peer research, patient and public involvement and McPin's coproduction methodologies is a key aspect of this role.  They will manage relationships with funders, university partners and other sector leaders in the field of mental health research.  

We are looking for someone: 

• with a demonstrable commitment to excellence in research, and the positive impact research can have on the lives of people living with mental health issues
• with an interest in working across the spectrum of research, including the biomedical and psychosocial fields
• with the ability to place individual pieces of research into their wider context and to effectively disseminate research findings to a range of specialist and lay audiences
• who enjoys actively incorporating both their leadership skills and their research and involvement skills in a dynamic role
• who is excited by collaboration and the opportunity to develop your team of involvement specialists and researchers 

Our team is committed to transforming mental health research through collaboration, inclusion and a belief in equity and anti-oppressive behaviour.  We strongly encourage applications from Black people, People of Colour, people who are LGBTQIA+, those with a disability and those who identify themselves in marginalised groups, as well as people with lived experience of mental health issues.

We offer benefits including a competitive salary, hybrid/flexible working, a NEST Pension scheme with 6% employer contribution, wellbeing support and mentoring scheme, an individual training budget and access to an Employee Assistance Programme and healthcare cash plan with Hospital Saturday Fund.  You can find out more about us at www.mcpin.org.

The closing date for applications is Thursday 2^nd July 2026, 9 am

To apply please click on the 'Apply' button above to download the job description and application form.  In line with our values, McPin does not use AI in its recruitment processes, all application will be read by our team.

For any queries please contact Vanessa Pinfold, Research Director, at vanessapinfold@mcpin.org to discuss the post.

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