Patient Research Ambassador

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Leeds; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 31,000; Part time

Job summary

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Leeds is seeking a Patient Research Ambassador to join the Research & Development team on a fixed-term basis. The role focuses on promoting patient and public involvement in research and coordinating service user involvement activities.

Part-time hours (15 per week) with a 12-month contract. You will work with service users, carers and researchers to make research more accessible and inclusive across the Trust.

Qualifications

• Lived experience of mental health services or research as a service user or carer, or as an advocate or representative.
• Experience in participating in research or knowledge of the research process is desirable.
• Good understanding of patient involvement and co-production in practice.

Responsibilities

• Promote patient and public involvement in research across the Trust.
• Coordinate involvement activities and chair groups for lived experience input.
• Engage with service users, carers, researchers and staff to improve accessibility of research.
• Support diversity in research and share best practices within the organisation.

Skills

Lived experience

Communication skills

Job description

Are you looking for mental health jobs in Leeds, York or with one of our regional services operating across the country? We have a range of NHS Job opportunities, placements and specialities in our clinical, research, and professional support teams across Leeds and York.

At Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT), we strive to provide high-quality mental health and learning disability services as an employer of choice. We can only achieve this by putting our staff and the people using our services at the centre of everything we do. This starts with the people we employ. We recruit based on values and qualifications (where required) and believe lived experience is an advantage. We look for potential, not perfection, and this means that together, we are as diverse as the communities we care for.

Simply put, we seek out people who care, act with integrity and have the right skills. We want to add to our incredible colleagues, students and volunteers who share these principles, with people like you, who find empathy comes easily and who treat everyone with respect without thinking. Search our latest jobs to start your journey with us.

Main area Research and Development Grade Band 4 Contract Fixed term: 12 months (Secondments also considered) Hours Part time - 15 hours per week Job ref 173-42426-COR

Site St Marys House Town Leeds Salary £28,392 - £31,157 Per Annum Pro Rata Salary period Yearly Closing 23/09/2026 23:59 Interview date 12/10/2026

Job overview

Are you passionate about improving healthcare through research and ensuring that patients, carers and service users have a voice in shaping research in a mental health trust?

Patient and public involvement in research is an essential part of the research process and is something we value at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. In practice, this means including the voices of service users, carers, staff and members of the community in how research is designed, carried out and shared.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and engaging Patient Research Ambassador to join our Research & Development team. This unique role will help promote research across the Trust, support patient and public involvement activities, and encourage participation in research studies. You will work closely with service users, carers, researchers and staff to improve the research experience and ensure research is accessible and inclusive.

Main duties of the job

The ideal candidate will have lived experience of mental health services or research as a service user, carer, advocate or representative, excellent communication skills, and a commitment to co-production and patient involvement. Experience of participating in research or knowledge of the research process is desirable.

As part of the Research and Development team, you will work alongside existing service user and carer groups within the Trust, as well as with third sector and community organisations to increase understanding and awareness of mental health research.

This is an exciting opportunity to make a real difference to mental health research and help shape future healthcare improvements for patients and communities.

The successful candidate will act as the main point of contact for service user and carer involvement in adult mental health research.They will chair and manage the Help from Experts by Experience for Researchers, a service user and carer lived experience group. Attendance at various internal and external meetings and events will be part of this role e.g. the Trust’s Service User Network.They will help to promote diversity in research by engaging with underrepresented groups within local communities. They will raise the profile of service user involvement in research by sharing best practice and engaging with the wider organisation.

Working for our organisation

The Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) is the main provider of Mental Health and Learning Disability services in Leeds. We also provide specialist inpatient services in York and some highly specialised services across the country. As a teaching trust with strong links to local universities, we are a centre of excellence for teaching, research and development.

There are many benefits of working for LYPFT including fantastic employee wellbeing support, 27 - 33 days annual leave, flexible working and remote working arrangements, the NHS Pension Scheme, coaching, support and opportunities for career development and training and education support alongside a range of exclusive discounts and payment schemes including for cars, extra leave days and more NHS Discount Offers.

We also have a bank department, offering variety of roles in nursing, allied health professions, healthcare support worker and administration clerical. Permanent employees are automatically added to bank.

Applicants should be aware that individuals requiring a visa to work in the UK, the Trust only provides sponsorship for registered healthcare practitioner roles(this does not include Healthcare Support Workers). This is an essential requirement, and the Trust is unable to offer you a role if you do not meet Trust requirements for sponsorship and Home Office requirements for a visa.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We recruit people based on their values and qualifications (where required) and believe that their lived experience is an advantage, this means that together we are as diverse as the communities we care for. Simply put, when we employ caring people who act with integrity and have the right skills, we can give those with mental health challenges, learning disabilities and neurodiversity high-quality care and support to live fulfilling lives, and make our staff feel purposeful, happy and valued.

Attached to this advert is our candidates guide to values-based recruitment and supporting guidance on how to make a successful application.

If you require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Recruitment Team or see the attached candidate guide to reasonable adjustments.

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you’ll need, look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading.

So that you’re even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you’ll need to take time to read the Candidate Guide to Values Based Recruitment. This document provides you with information to help you apply.

Person specification

Experience

• Lived experience of mental health services or research as a service user or carer, or as an advocate or representative of service users and carers.

Skills

• Excellent non-verbal and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to plan, manage & prioritise workload effectively.

Knowledge

• A good understanding of how service user involvement and co-production works in practice

Values

• Tell us about a time when you spotted something small going wrong and did something to stop it becoming a bigger issue.
• Tell us about a time when you realised a colleague or someone you know needed a bit of support and you offered to help.
• Tell us about a time when you showed someone kindness or understanding.

Applications are welcomed from candidates who wish to apply for a position based on a smarter (Hybrid) or flexible working arrangement. Where candidates are successful at interview, flexible working arrangement requests will be taken into consideration and may be accommodated where the needs of the service allow.

Fixed Term Contracts for existing NHS Employees – temporary contracts for employees of LYPFT, or colleagues joining from another NHS Trust, will be offered on a secondment basis wherever possible. In the event this is not possible, an FTC would be issued and this would require a break in service of two weeks.

The purpose of a temporary is role could be for maternity cover, temporary funding or some other reason. At the end of which the need for the temporary work will cease. Temporary roles can stop, be extended and/or made permanent at any point during the period of work. Should the role become permanent then the post-holder will be informed of the process to be followed to convert the position to a permanent one.

All new employees are required to subscribe to the DBS Update Service.

Patient Safety is a priority at LYPFT with a focus on system-based improvement and creating opportunities for learning. We will ensure compassionate engagement with all those involved in an incident and all incidents are met with a proportionate response. LYPFT is committed to upholding its’ statutory responsibilities in relation to safeguarding adults and children. Please refer to job description for further information.

LYPFT is a member of the Disability Confident scheme and is committed to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process.

As part of the Trust's commitment to its Gold Standard Armed Forces Covenant status, members of the Armed Forces Community are entitled to a guaranteed interview subject to meeting the role criteria.

We welcome applicants with lived experience of providing unpaid care and/or support to a family member or friend with a disability, health condition, frailty, mental health problem, addiction or other health needs.

Please note that the Trust reserves the right to close the vacancy before the closing date if enough applications are received. It is in the candidate’s best interest to apply as soon as possible. In submitting an application form, you authorize Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the ESR IAT process should you be appointed to the post.

In applying for a role please ensure that you only declare qualifications that are relevant to the role itself. We reserve the right to check all declared qualifications on an application form, whether they are directly relevant to the role or not.

Please note: The Trust does not offer reimbursement of interview expenses.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

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