The Mental Health Foundation is recruiting for a Head of Research to lead our UK Research team.
Deadline: 5pm on Sunday 30th November
Location: Glasgow OR London
Salary: Starting at £52,166 rising to £58,687, plus London weighting of £4,000 where applicable
Hours: Full-time (32 hours per week)
Contract type: Permanent
This is an exciting new role with the UK’s leading public mental health charity. The Head of Research role is a fantastic opportunity to lead our UK research team to achieve social change. We are looking for research and management expertise, strategic thinking, operational delivery, and the ability to collaborate and communicate with a range of stakeholders including media, academics, policymakers and communities. You will be part of an outstanding leadership team committed to delivering change across the UK. The role will deliver our UK-wide research, reporting to the Director of Research & Lived Experience.
What does the role involve?
- Support the Director of Research & Lived Experience to develop and deliver a 5-year research strategy
- Lead our UK research team to deliver and commission studies and reviews to a high standard at pace
- Present research clearly and persuasively to media, governments, academics, funders and communities
What skills, knowledge and experience are we looking for?
- Excellent research skills, experience and credibility in health or social research
- Strategic thinker who can also effectively manage teams and projects
- Proven communication skills to different audiences
Safeguarding is Everyone’s business – Mental Health Foundation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the wellbeing of all its beneficiaries, those who surround them, its staff, volunteers, and anyone else who comes into contact with its services and expects all trustees, staff, and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful applicant will be subject to appropriate vetting procedures (proof of eligibility to work in the UK, proof of residency and satisfactory employment screening, including a Disclosure check and two most recent references) along with 3-year renewals of Disclosure checks. We are unable to provide sponsorship for this post, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the UK.
How to apply
If you think your skills match and you’d like to be part of a dynamic and growing organisation, please complete and submit your application via our website. Please ensure you attach an up-to-date CV and statement of suitability answering all points of the person specification. Applications will close at 5pm on Sunday 30th November and we are unable to accept late applications. Interviews are planned for week commencing 8th December.
We believe our people should represent the communities, organisations and individuals we work with. Diversity and inclusion is a strategic priority for us as an employer and mental health charity, and we are proud to be signatories of the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter and the Disability Confident Committed Scheme. Applications from under-represented sections of the community are actively encouraged.
If you have a disability, require any additional support or have any questions regarding the role, please contact us. We make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process and during employment. Disabled candidates who meet all the essential person specification criteria will be offered an interview. Therefore, please do ensure you tick the relevant box on the application form and clearly indicate in your application/covering letter if you consider yourself to meet the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 / Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
We are currently operating mostly digital recruitment (including interviews via video conferencing). We have moved to a hybrid working model of a minimum of 2 days per week in the office and the rest working from home.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Registered Charity
101 - 500
Our vision is good mental health for all.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
About the opportunity
As Accounts Assistant focusing on Treasury and Accounts Receivables, you'll play an important role in delivering a high-performing, efficient financial transactions operation with partnership and improvement at its core. This is both an operational and developmental role, offered with the possibility of pursuing a formal qualification such as a financial accounting apprenticeship or another appropriate finance or administration-related qualification.
You'll be part of our Finance & Assurance directorate, reporting to the Financial Transaction Team Officers and working alongside other assistants and trainees. Focusing specifically on Treasury and AR activities, you'll gain broad experience across cash management, income processing, and receivables. From recording and processing financial transactions to supporting month-end and year-end processes, you'll monitor daily communications and role-model brilliant partnership and customer service, support reconciliations and audits, and work in an agile way across multiple projects and workstreams.
This is a role where your success is built on strong collaboration across multiple teams. You'll have opportunities to undertake specific improvement projects, identify ways to enhance processes, and support colleagues across the organisation to operate within best practice when it comes to financial transactions.
About you:
You're someone with a willingness to learn and develop on the job, sharing your learnings with colleagues to foster whole-team development. You have a working interest in quality improvement and an enthusiasm for a career in finance with ideas to help us constantly improve. You have experience with problem-solving, preferably in a financial environment, and you're willing to proactively reach across to colleagues in different teams.
You'll have:
- Willingness to learn and develop on the job (including undertaking specialist training), sharing those learnings with colleagues.
- Working interest in quality improvement in processes, analysis, communications, or customer service, and experience supporting it.
- Enthusiasm for a career in finance and ideas to help us constantly improve.
- Experience of problem-solving, preferably in a financial environment, and willingness to proactively reach across to colleagues in different teams.
- Good grasp of data and how it can be analysed and presented to improve understanding, engagement, and performance.
- Experience of developing basic financial reports and performing simple bank reconciliations.
What you’ll focus on:
- Supporting the effective running and performance of the Financial Transactions team, with a specific focus on Treasury and Accounts Receivables activities.
- Undertaking specific projects to demonstrate or drive improvements across Treasury and AR processes.
- Monitoring and responding to daily communications from colleagues and role-modelling brilliant partnership and customer service.
- Recording, processing, and filing financial transactions in line with internal procedures, including completing reconciliations.
- Assisting in month-end and year-end closing processes, including preparing for and supporting audits.
- Identifying ways to improve processes and making recommendations to senior colleagues.
- Supporting colleagues across the organisation to operate within best practice for financial transactions.
- Role-modelling working in ways that always adhere to internal policies, procedures, and compliance requirements.
- Liaising with suppliers and other third parties where appropriate.
- Supporting officers and managers with reconciliations, reports, and analysis related to cash management and receivables.
Could your enthusiasm for finance and quality improvement help strengthen our Treasury and Accounts Receivables operations? Are you ready to develop your skills while gaining qualifications in an environment where learning and collaboration are valued? If you're looking for a role where development meets meaningful purpose, we'd love to hear from you.
Important Dates
The deadline for applications is 23:59 on Sunday 9th November 2025.
Interviews will take place on W/C 17th November 2025.
About Alzheimer's Society
Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer. One in three people born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime.
At Alzheimer’s Society, we’re the UK’s leading dementia charity and the only one to tackle all aspects of dementia by giving help and hope to people living with dementia today and in the future. We give vital support to people facing the most frightening times of their lives, while also funding groundbreaking research and campaigning to make dementia the priority it should be.
Together with our supporters, we’re working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives.
Our values make sure that our focus is clear for the challenges and opportunities ahead and remind us of what we all stand for.
Our commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
We need to ensure the voices around our table better reflect and understand the communities we exist to serve. We strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Alzheimer's Society.
We want everyone we work with, as a colleague, volunteer, supporter, or someone we support, to feel included and that they belong at Alzheimer's Society.
Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy here along with our internal employee forum and Employee Lived Experience network groups help us promote inclusion and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people.
Our hiring process
During your recruitment process we want to make sure that you bring your whole self and can be at your best. We are working hard to ensure our recruitment process is as inclusive as possible, so please do inform us of your experience and anything you think we could do better by completing our candidate survey when you apply. Please also contact Alzheimer’s Society Talent Acquisition Team via [email protected] for application support or any adjustments you might need.
To ensure fairness and consistency to select the best candidate for this role, all our applications are anonymised up until an interview has been confirmed. We recognise the benefits of AI, but if you're considering using it to submit your application, we encourage you to reflect on the value it truly adds. AI tools often lack the personal touch and authenticity that set candidates apart. We want to hear your unique perspective, experiences, and skills, so we encourage you to showcase them in your own voice.
We try to avoid closing roles early where possible, however if we receive a high volume of applications, we may close earlier than the advertised closing date. Should this occur, we will aim to provide you with at least 48 hours' notice.
We are committed to safer recruitment and ensuring the welfare of those we work with, due to the nature of some of our roles, we might need to carry out a DBS check at the relevant level.
Giving back to you
Our employees work hard every day to make a true difference in people's lives. We are proud to support them with a range of benefits, recognition and many options for working agilely, all contributing to a strong work life balance. We also have various learning programmes to support you in your development and help you grow to realise your potential and shape a career with Alzheimer's Society.
You can also visit our Working for Us pages, which give you more information about what it’s like to be an employee at the Society.