Overview:

The Research and Development Director will co-lead our R&D function, including matrix management of a large, interdisciplinary team of Portfolio Managers who invest around £5m a year on projects to better understand how to achieve health equity in Lambeth and Southwark, and beyond. In this team we work across a wide range of explorations, sone of which are intended to improve the delivery of our current programmes, some of which are designed to help us select the programmes we will run in the future.  Some of our current focus areas are: addressing structural inequities through funder practice; digital-first approaches to health and digital inclusion; safety and the role it plays in health equity; the development of a Future Cities framework, and the Trust Portfolio, which looks at how the levels of trust between communities and systems impacts health equity.  It’s our role to innovate, to spot issues and priorities for people in our place. That requires us to build relationships of trust with a wide range of groups and organisations. You will be part of a team where creativity and fresh approaches are encouraged, and where there is a high level of trust, among colleagues and with our partners.

About us:

Impact on Urban Health is part of Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation.  Our collective mission is to build the foundations of a healthier society.

As a member of the team, you have a real opportunity to shape our work and the impact we can have. This is fuelled by our desire to be more than the sum of our parts. We’re curious, we think big and we’re not afraid to take risks.

As part of our team, you will work alongside talented people from a mix of personal and professional backgrounds. We are a Living Wage employer and support flexible working, part-time roles and job shares. Though our ambitions are serious, this is a friendly place to work with lots of opportunities to meet and socialise with colleagues. We believe there is immense power in diversity and aim to recruit and nurture talent who think and act differently.

There is more information about working with us under our 'About us' section, where you can find out:

•           how we approach recruitment

•           our team, culture and values

•           the benefits of working with us

•           and our approach to diversity, equity & inclusion, health & wellbeing, and learning & development

Overall purpose of the role:

To co-lead the delivery of the Impact on Urban Health R&D Function, supporting innovation across the four main health programmes and leading the selection of future programmes

Key Responsibilities:

·         Lead the development of the R&D strategy and our ongoing learning

·         Lead and manage the R&D team

·         Oversee the R&D budget

·         Oversee the development of high impact projects and manage the formal governance of project sign-off

·         Build strong working relationships across Impact on Urban Health and the Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Foundation

·         Keep our board of trustees informed about and engaged in our R&D work, including reporting to the board and developing the R&D advisory committee

·         Build strong relationships with leading organisations in the fields of health equity and urban health, locally, nationally and internationally – including building funding partnerships

·         Keep up-to-date with the latest developments and trends in health equity and urban health

·         Help build Impact on Urban Health’s brand and reputation externally, including for our R&D work

·         Lead Impact on Urban Health as part of the leadership team and contribute to priority areas of development for Impact on Urban Health

Experience:

·         Experience of leading on impact-focused programmes to reduce inequalities/inequities

·         Experience of working on innovation in systems change programmes

·         Experience of working in venture philanthropy, social investing, or of deploying ‘grants plus’ approaches

·         Experience of managing grant funding or investment portfolios

·         Experience of working in or leading diverse teams to achieve impact

Skills, abilities, and knowledge

·         Ability to inspire and energise a team working on complex and challenging topics

·         Cultural competency and cultural awareness

·         Creative thinker – not afraid to take risks and comfortable with failure

·         Clear strategic thinker – able to manage a complex range of projects and competing priorities

·         Powerful influencer – able to interact with people across different sectors and levels of seniority to drive change

·         Strong interpersonal and management skills – with a proven ability to motivate and develop others

·         Effective stakeholder management skills – with the ability to obtain and maintain the trust of a range of both internal and external stakeholders

·         Good communication and presentational skills – with the ability to communicate convincingly to a wide range of audiences

Personal attributes:

An inclusive leader, who is thoughtful about their own biases