Head of Innovation in Mental Health

Salary: £158,500

Closing date: Thursday, 29 May 2025

Contract type: Permanent

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

We plan to spend £16 billion over the next ten years, funding new discoveries in life, health, and wellbeing, and taking on three global health challenges: Infectious disease, Climate and Health, and Mental Health.

This is an exciting opportunity to play a key part in transforming mental health innovation globally.We are looking for a Head of Innovation in Mental Health at Wellcome to lead a team of 8 people focused on finding, trialing and scaling new and improved interventions that can advance our mission to create a step change in early intervention for anxiety, depression and psychosis. Thiscovers pharmacological, digital and non-pharmacological interventions.We have an existing portfolio of over 60 innovative investments at different stages of the translation pipeline.

The team you lead is dedicated to ensure science advances through the translation pathway to have real impact. One of our ambitious goals is to have at least one new pharmacological, digital and non-pharmacological intervention trialed and rolled out at scale reaching those in need including in low and middle income context.

We are specifying the need for the Head to have pharmacological expertise because this expertise is needed to complement the existing skill set of the team. You must also have a strong interest, and ideally substantial experience, in non-pharmacological and/or digital interventions.

Your role will be to oversee and shape the full portfolio ensuring we take bold choices for maximum impact balancing innovation with equitable access. You will alsolead on our cutting edge work to engage more effectively with the private sector to advance our goals including new models of investment and partnership beyond a grant-making model working closely with the Wellcome-wide Innovation and Access team.

Your team sits within a wider mental health team of around 40 people. You will be a key member of the seven person Mental Health Leadership team working alongside Heads leading on:funding and convening research to develop the evidence on how these conditions develop persist and resolve (MH Evidence team), building the field to ensure mental health science is more coherent, collaborative and focused (MH Knowledge and Measurement team), making best use of data science (MH data for science team), policy work to ensure take up of new and improved interventions (MH policy team), advocacy work to ensure a more positive narrative on what new innovations can do (Communications Team) and bringing to bear lived experience expertise on all our work and that of those we fund (Lived Experience Team). Our work is also supported by a global team of Lived Experience advisors.

In this role you will:

• Be a key member of the mental health leadership team
• Provide expertise and leadership to develop strategy for the Mental Health at the portfolio level.
• Lead on scoping and due diligence for new opportunities in product development and innovation for Mental Health (leverage resources in the I&A team to provide supporting analysis)
• Engage and develop new approaches with industry to advance product development and innovation for mental health.
• Identify and manage external technical level product development expertise for the programmes.
• Represent Wellcome at Board and on other governance structures for where required.
• Develop a strategic approach with co-funders where relevant.
• Contribute to the creation and development of a high performing and inclusive culture across the organisation that attracts top talent.

To be successful in this role you will have:

• Extensive experience of leading innovation and/or product development teams.
• Substantial experience of working in the pharmaceutical industry.
• Leadership of implementing strategies, programmes and operating plans.
• Experience of managing budgets, headcount, and leading positive, high performing teams and inclusive working cultures.
• Ability to think strategically in the context of product development.
• Strong interpersonal skills, collegiate with high integrity and committed to the highest ethical standards.
• Strategic thinking coupled with a pragmatic approach.

Wellcome has appointed i-Pharm Consulting to support this search. To apply for this role, please email your CV and a covering letter in support of your application (no more than 500 words) to Fay Stanger at Wellcome@i-pharmconsulting.com Please note that applications submitted in any other way will not be considered.

Interview dates: w/c 16th June

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 jobs@wellcome.org .