About us

Money and Mental Health is an independent research charity, committed to breaking the link between financial difficulty and mental health problems. We were set up in 2016 by Martin Lewis CBE to create a world in which the vicious cycle of money and mental health problems is broken. 

Money and Mental Health wants everyone to have an equal chance of financial security, regardless of our mental health; and a world in which everyone’s mental health can flourish, regardless of their financial circumstances.

The work we do here at Money and Mental Health leads to real change, which can make a huge difference for people with mental health problems. We carry out research on the links between money and mental health problems and develop practical policy ideas and solutions. We also campaign to make that change a reality – working with government, policy-makers, regulators, businesses and health professionals. 

The role

Our Research Community of experts by experience is at the heart of everything we do. It is a group of nearly 5,000 people who have either personally experienced mental health problems or who have cared for someone who has. They shape and drive our work in various ways, from taking part in surveys and focus groups, developing and testing policy or product ideas, suggesting topics we should explore and campaigning with us, to speaking at events we run or in the media. 

We are now looking for a compassionate, highly-skilled communicator to join the team as our Research Community Officer. The successful candidate will help grow, support and listen to the Research Community’s membership, as well as working closely with the rest of the Money and Mental Health team to boost its impact. The role-holder will have the unique opportunity to manage one of the largest communities of experts by experience in the UK, channeling their views and insights into our public-facing work, giving them new platforms to be heard, and, ultimately, making a real difference to the lives of people living with mental health problems across the country. 

Key objectives of the post include: 

• Day-to-day management of the Money and Mental Health Research Community, including supporting its members and navigating the platform we use to manage it

• Driving efforts across the organisation to grow the Research Community’s membership and boost engagement levels among members

• Making the Research Community more representative of people with mental health problems, with a focus on increasing representation of those in minoritised ethnic groups

• Being an advocate for the views and value of the Research Community within Money and Mental Health in its day-to-day operations and planning for research and external activity, including press, public affairs and consultancy.

Job description

Research Community management

• Oversee the day-to-day management of the Research Community, responding to emails from members, keeping them up to date with news and campaign wins and handling queries from colleagues as appropriate

• Working with the platform provider to ensure the smooth running of the Research Community and supporting the rest of the team with technical queries

• Drive collaboration and progress across the organisation to implement Money and Mental Health’s strategy for the Research Community, using project management skills to monitor progress against key targets and play a central role in updating it as needed

• Lead efforts to grow the Research Community, including by liaising with stakeholders in other organisations 

• Along with External Affairs team colleagues, working to maximise the effectiveness of our website, social media content, advertising and other promotional activities in boosting growth and showcasing the Community’s value

• Monitoring and maintaining the high satisfaction levels within the Research Community and working to improve the experience of less engaged groups in order to minimise drop out

• Driving efforts to make the Research Community more representative of people with mental health problems, with a focus on ethnicity, gender and age. A particular priority this year will be ensuring that our Community is an inclusive environment for those from minoritised ethnic groups, that our research always meaningfully reflects their diverse experiences, and increasing the representation of people from these groups within the Community’s membership.

• Along with Research and Policy team colleagues, lead efforts to make Money and Mental Health’s research with the Research Community more innovative, including exploring options around different platforms, research approaches and tools, as well as opportunities to further deepen the Community’s involvement in the organisation and our work

• Ensure Money and Mental Health’s policies around areas like data protection, privacy and further use of information, remuneration of research participants and the terms of engagement in the Community are easy to understand and communicated clearly with the Community.

• Being an advocate for the views of the Research Community within Money and Mental Health in its day-to-day operations and planning for research and external activity, including press, public affairs and consultancy.

Organisational   

• Collaborating with the Strategic Partnerships team to ensure our work with essential services firms is deeply informed by lived experience from the Research Community and that insights are used effectively and innovatively in their projects

• Work closely with the External Affairs team to assist with media and press work, including identifying and supporting case studies and joining up Research Community views and experiences with our outward communications

• Contribute to the organisation’s growth and planning   

• Provide support for any other activities as required by the Senior Research Officer.

Person specification

We’re looking for a candidate with the compassion, emotional intelligence and communication skills to support our Research Community, as well as a passion for meaningful participatory research, policy-making and campaigns work that truly values lived experience. Money and Mental Health is committed to developing and training staff, so candidates need not have experience of every single point below, particularly those listed as ‘desirable’.

Experience, skills and abilities:

• A passion for enabling those with lived experience of mental health problems to meaningfully participate in, and ideally coproduce, research, policy-making and campaigns

• A compassionate approach to supporting people with mental health problems

• A commitment to equality and diversity, including ensuring that people from minoritised ethnic groups are well-represented in every aspect of our work

• Confident written and verbal communication skills, including presenting complex information in easy-to-understand language

• Intellectual curiosity and the ability to think creatively and innovatively

• Problem-solving skills

• An ability to work independently

• Confidence to represent Money and Mental Health with external stakeholders

• Demonstrable interest in or knowledge of at least some of the areas in which Money and Mental Health works

• Strong organisational skills to meet deadlines reliably and plan work effectively 

• The skills and emotional intelligence to work cooperatively and collaboratively with team members on projects

• A strategic mindset that can spot opportunities and balance competing ambitions for the Research Community

• A high level of computer literacy, including the ability to learn how to use new digital tools and platforms and to teach others

• Willingness to undertake a basic criminal record check - this role involves unsupervised contact with vulnerable adults. If this presents a cause for concern please do contact us. Suitable applicants will not be refused posts because of offences which are not relevant to, and do not place them at or make them a risk in, the role for which they are applying.

Also desirable:

• Experience of managing online communities, recruiting research participants or other online engagement activity and / or experience of building and maintaining relationships with a diverse range of people and organisations, particularly those working closely with minoritised ethnic groups

• Basic knowledge of social research methods and ethics

• Personal experience of mental health problems, financial difficulty or the other issues represented in our research.

Other info:

• Location: Money and Mental Health’s central London office OR suitable for a home-worker who is able to travel to London on a regular basis (minimum twice a month).  Please note, that salary is inclusive of London weighting, and we do not remove this for remote workers, but remote workers are expected to self-fund transport to the office.

• Hours: This role is offered as both full-time (37.5 hours over 5 days) or part-time (minimum 30 hours over 4 days a week). The charity has a flexible working policy with core hours of 10am - 3pm and remaining contracted hours distributed throughout the week flexibly.

• Contract type: Permanent

• Holidays: 28 days per year (including 3 days of annual leave between Christmas and New Year when the office is closed) plus bank holidays

• Pension: Opportunity to be enrolled in the work pension scheme (subject to meeting standard auto-enrollment qualifying criteria). After auto-enrollment the charity will make a monthly contribution to the scheme equivalent to 5.5% of the monthly gross salary you receive, subject to you making a minimum contribution of 2.5% of the monthly gross salary you receive.

• Other benefits: Every member of the team has a personal training budget with many internal training opportunities too. We offer cycle to work and season ticket loan schemes. The charity provides enhanced maternity/paternity/parental leave terms at an equal rate. All employees eligible for Statutory Maternity/Paternity/Shared Parental Pay receive 90% of their earnings for up to 12 weeks. 

• Interviews: online 7 and 8 June