Head of Strategy, Engagement & Inclusion | Barts Health NHS Trust


Company:	Barts Health NHS Trust
Salary:	£75,328 - £86,114 Per annum inc
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	London, E14 5HJ
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	22 Jul 2026
Closing date:	19 Sept 2026

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Summary

This is an exciting opportunity to play a key leadership role in shaping and delivering the strategic development agenda for the North London RRDN, while also contributing to national programmes of work across the NIHR Research Delivery Network. The post holder will lead the regional delivery of key NIHR Research Delivery Network strategic plans, with a particular focus on strategy, stakeholder engagement, communications, public engagement, study participation and research inclusion.

The successful candidate will provide senior leadership across a complex regional health and care research system, working with NHS organisations, non-NHS providers, voluntary, charity and community sector partners, the NIHR Research Delivery Network Coordinating Centre and wider NIHR infrastructure.

The role will be pivotal in ensuring that engagement and inclusion opportunities are considered strategically and delivered in a coordinated way across North London. The post holder will provide intelligence to support the strategic development of RDN services and will help ensure that the North London RRDN contributes effectively to the delivery of national research priorities across all specialties and settings.

For further information about this role, or to arrange an informal discussion with Reggie Pestininkas, Strategic Development Director, please contactsandra.shaw@nihr.ac.uk

The Head of Strategy, Engagement and Inclusion will have overall responsibility for coordinating and delivering regional responses to key RDN strategies, ensuring all engagement and inclusion opportunities are considered synergistically, supported and optimised for all stakeholders. This role will be pivotal in leading a consistent approach to engaging participants and communities with the vision of the RDN and providing intelligence to support the strategic development of RDN services. The Head of Strategy, Engagement and Inclusion will have the opportunity to work at national and supraregional level to ensure the function of a single RDN organisation in providing a consistent experience for stakeholders. This role will be pivotal in developing regional strategies to deliver key national research in health and care priorities and analysing data underpinning increased capacity and capability in research delivery, across all specialties and settings.

This role will have oversight of Strategy, Communications, and Study Participation Inclusion (stakeholder engagement, Public Engagement, Digital Engagement and Research Inclusion) domains, and line management of the Study Participation Inclusion Senior Manager, the Communications Manager and Corporate Services Manager. Line management of staff members will include undertaking staff reviews to identify training and development needs, and establishing how those needs will be met, and managing performance against agreed objectives.

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are underrepresented within Barts Health at this band.

We are dedicated to being an outstanding place to work and will work with you to get the best experience. We know flexible working is not a one size fits all and will mean something different to everyone. We are inclusive, so if you are interested in flexible working, please speak to the recruiting manager.

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.

This advert closes on Wednesday 2 Sep 2026

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