Job Overview

Job Title: NIHR Director of Maximising Impact & Public Partnerships

Contract: Permanent (full-time) 

Salary: Competitive

Location: London - Hybrid  

Application Closing Date: Sunday 30th November 2025

Job Purpose

The Director of the NIHR Maximising Impact and Public Partnerships (MIPP) team provides strategic leadership for NIHR’s work to strengthen partnerships with the public and to maximise the reach, uptake, and real-world impact of NIHR-funded research, supporting its mission to improve the health and wealth of the nation. The post-holder leads the MIPP team - part of the NIHR Coordinating Centre - of around 20 staff. They will drive a bold and ambitious programme that ensures NIHR research delivers demonstrable benefit and value to patients, service users, carers, the public, and the health and care system. They oversee the design, delivery, and continuous improvement of services that enable meaningful public involvement, inclusive participation, and effective mobilisation of research evidence, ensuring that NIHR’s research outputs are used, understood, and acted upon to meet DHSC priorities, in health, public health, and social care across the UK and beyond.

This work forms part of an NIHR function hosted by BMJ Group. 

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Provide overall leadership for the NIHR Maximising Impact and Public Partnerships (MIPP) programme, ensuring delivery of its objectives to strengthen public partnerships and maximise the reach and impact of NIHR-funded research
• Be a visible, creative and credible leader in the MIPP team, for the NIHR Coordinating Centre, and for the wider NIHR who understands and drives  the Public Partnerships and Maximising Research Impact agendas, setting the strategic direction and ensuring coherence and alignment with One NIHR and DHSC priorities
• Be an inspiring leader who can build confidence and deliver results, acting as champion of the Public Partnerships and Maximising Research Impact agendas with external audiences, including patients and service users, carers, the wider public, researchers and other partners, including industry, medical research charities and other public funders of research 
• Represent MIPP and BMJ at the Contract Management Board and other governance forums, ensuring effective collaboration, transparency, and delivery of agreed milestones and KPIs
• Oversee annual planning, reporting, and performance monitoring in line with contractual and financial requirements

Operational and Team Leadership

• Lead and develop a high-performing team of around 20 staff, including four direct reports, fostering a culture of excellence, inclusion, and accountability.
• Manage an annual budget of approximately £2.5 million, ensuring value for money, financial integrity, and compliance with DHSC and BMJ procedures.
• Direct the design and delivery of engagement and knowledge-mobilisation services - spanning capabilities such as publications, events, digital outputs, and researcher development
• Maintain robust governance, risk management, and data security standards across all operations.
• Deliver continuous improvements to the MIPP contract and its operations, driving innovation. 

Public Partnerships and Research Impact

• Provide visible leadership on patient and public involvement, participation, and engagement (PPIE), ensuring the public voice is embedded across NIHR’s research and policy activity, including that research is formed in partnership with diverse people and communities.
• Promote the UK Standards for Public Involvement and lead cross-NIHR coordination through the Public Partnerships Programme Board, working closely with the Deputy Director for Public Partnerships - in particular to drive implementation of the NIHR Strategic Commitments for Public Partnerships across the NIHR
• Understand how to get research evidence into policy and practice to maximise its impact. 
• Oversee and develop the knowledge-mobilisation/impact portfolio to position MIPP as thought-leader for research impact for the NIHR and more widely. Directing the Deputy Director for Maximising Impact to deliver a range of outputs including the levers to hardwire the use of evidence into policy and practice, ensure bodies of evidence are quality assured and available for use by busy practitioners, being creative to ensure the £1.7 billion of NIHR research and its back catalogue gets into use working with others in NIHR.
• Act as national and international ambassador for NIHR’s public partnerships and impact agenda, building strong relationships with funders, NHS bodies, charities, industry, and community partners.

Collaboration and Governance

• Work closely with NIHR and DHSC senior leaders, including those responsible for Research Inclusion, External Affairs, Communications, and Digital, ensuring strategic alignment and mutual reinforcement
• Contribute to NIHR-wide governance, including participation in the Centres Executive Board and Strategy and Engagement Board, contributions to the One NIHR agenda and otherwise ensuring MIPP supports the Coordinating Centre’s mission
• Build productive partnerships across the rest of BMJ Group, aligning MIPP with BMJ’s wider impact, analytics, and communications expertise
• Uphold high standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability, ensuring full compliance with contractual and statutory obligations

Skills, Experience & Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to degree level in a relevant discipline, and have a proven track record of significant senior-level experience in research uptake or public engagement
• Deep understanding of patient and public involvement, engagement, and participation in health and care research, and recognition of the importance of lived experience
• Deep understanding  of how to get getting evidence into use in policy and practice
• Demonstrated ability to translate strategy into delivery, overseeing complex programmes, meeting contractual milestones, and maintaining high performance against agreed KPIs while being creative and taking risks for high returns
• Proven success in leading large, multidisciplinary teams—motivating staff, managing resources, and building a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing culture.
• Strong programme and operational management skills, with experience in budget planning, performance reporting, risk management, and quality assurance
• Excellent influencing and stakeholder management abilities, with a track record of building productive partnerships across government, academia, health and care systems, and the voluntary sector
• Skilled strategic thinker able to connect ideas, people, and programmes across disciplines to deliver impact
• Exceptional communication skills, capable of engaging confidently with diverse audiences including senior policymakers, researchers, and members of the public
• Strong commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion, embedding these principles in leadership, operations, and programme design
• Comfortable working with ambiguity and complexity, exercising sound judgement and diplomacy in sensitive or politically nuanced situations
• Demonstrates resilience, adaptability, and problem-solving ability in leading teams through change and continuous improvement

Desirable

• Postgraduate qualification in a relevant field (e.g. public health, social policy, research management, communications, or leadership)
• Experience working within or in partnership with NIHR, DHSC, NHS, or other public sector research organisations
• Proven experience of financial oversight for multi-million-pound or multi-year programmes, ensuring value for money and operational efficiency
• Familiarity with government contracting and governance frameworks, including performance measurement, risk registers, and ISO 9001/27001 standards
• Experience representing organisations at national or international level, influencing research or policy agendas
• Understanding of and experience of evidence into use and maximising the use and impact of evidence within health and care research, including implementation science.
• Experience of leadership in the field of public engagement

Why work for us

Help us create a healthier world. We are a global healthcare knowledge provider. We publish The BMJ, one of the world’s most impactful medical journals and over 70 influential speciality journals. We offer digital tools to help health professionals worldwide tackle critical healthcare challenges. Find out more about us here.

Flexible Work and Workplace Perks

• We’re committed to flexible working that supports both your needs and the requirements of the role.

Generous benefits

• Generous double-matching employer pension contribution, up to 12%

• Discounted dental and travel insurance

• Seven x salary life assurance cover and a generous income protection package

• Discounted gym membership, cycle-to-work and season ticket loan

• Discounts for retail and leisure products through yourReward 

Work-life balance and wellbeing

• Twenty-five days holiday + bank holidays + a BMJ Day off.

• Additional holiday through long service; buy up to 5 additional days 

• Leave for moving house, volunteering or getting married

• Concierge service Seniorcare by Lottie

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion are not buzzwords to us, but fundamental company priorities

• We believe that a diverse workforce brings unique strengths and insights, enabling us to better serve our customers and drive positive change in our industry. 

• If you are from an under-represented or historically marginalised community, we are particularly interested in hearing from you. 

• Join our employee-led networks focusing on Gender, Race and Cultural Diversity, Sexual Orientation, Mental Health and Well-being, Parents and Carers and Age.

• Disability Confident Committed employer

Learning & Development

• Personal development plan 

• Mentoring scheme

• Career Coaching

• Opportunities to pursue professional development

• Strengths-based development