Associate Director, Equity Lab

Salary: £120,800 

Closing date: 9th November

Contract type: Permanent 

Interview dates: 24th and 28th November

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

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.

Where will I be working?

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.

For Equity to achieve the desired impact, Wellcome needs to keep track of available of evidence on what works, contribute to filling evidence gaps and promote the uptake of effective interventions into policy and practice. 

We aim to centre communities most affected and lived experience for transformative impact on our mission through high-quality evidence on what works for health equity, workplace equity, equitable research practice and equitable research ecosystems.  

What is Equity Lab?

We are establishing a centre for learning and innovation to support research generation and synthesis and promote evidence uptake to improve equity within Wellcome and the research ecosystem.

Equity lab will also play a leading role in delivery of a Wellcome-wide approach to monitoring and evaluating how well our work delivers on our Equity Framework ambitions and ensure we know both the human and health impact of Wellcome's activities. 

Equity lab will have a key role in socialising evidence and insights, not just for uptake within Wellcome, but externally as a global public good centring the voices of those  we collaborate with.  

What will I be doing?

Reporting into the Executive Director of Equity, the Associate Director will manage a diverse portfolio across the synthesis, generation, dissemination and uptake of evidence, as well as monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL). They will lead a team that will drive and unlock meaningful shifts in the health research ecosystem by using high-quality evidence on what works for research equity, health equity and workplace equity. 

They will be authority on evidence-based practice and represent the Equity Lab to senior external stakeholders, embedding a culture of learning and knowledge-sharing across Wellcome, and overseeing the Lab's core functions   

This role will also support the organisation's coordination in relation to identifying evidence gaps related to equity, generating and commissioning research, supporting uptake of equity-evidence, MEL and creating a culture of knowledge sharing across the organisation and the research ecosystem to deliver against Wellcome's Equity Framework.  

Through commissioning and generating evidence, including reimagining and experimenting with partners and approaches, this role will support evidence led decision making with measurable impact across the entire Wellcome portfolio through the lens of the equity framework. 

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 strategic and influential leader, with the ability to drive and manage a portfolio of evidence and knowledge transfer and translation activities to support evidence-based practice  

• An established and credible academic / researcher, with broad networks, exceptional problem solving and research acumen, and deep expertise across evidence synthesis, primary research, knowledge translation, and ideally MEL 

• Deep and sophisticated understanding of structural inequities in science and health, able to identify desired changes and strategically prioritise evidence and activities to unlock them

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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