Community Engagement & Co-production Senior Officer Specialist role (NIHR Maternity Disparities Consortium)

Improving maternity and neonatal outcomes means understanding why some women, babies and families experience greater inequalities than others. It also means ensuring that the people and communities most affected have a meaningful role in shaping research.

This is an opportunity to bring your community engagement and co-production expertise to a major UK-wide research programme. You will work across sectors and with researchers, communities, Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations and health partners. You will help ensure lived experience informs research and support inclusive and meaningful approaches to engagement and co-production.

Groundwork London is looking for an experienced Community Engagement & Co-production Senior Officer to join the team delivering this work across the Maternity Disparities Consortium. You will work closely with the CECP Project Manager, Co-leads and partners across the UK. You will provide specialist expertise and help strengthen good community engagement and co-production practice across the Consortium.

About the Maternity Disparities Consortium

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Inequalities Challenge: Maternity Disparities Consortium is a £50 million national programme which brings together a diverse range of organisations with expertise in research, capacity building and working with people and communities to deliver a step change in maternity and neonatal outcomes. The research carried out by the Consortium will focus on inequalities before, during and after pregnancy. The programme is underpinned by an innovative and transformative capacity building programme of career development awards and opportunities, linked and embedded within the Consortium’s research areas to support the next generation of researchers working to address maternity inequalities.

The Community Engagement and Co-production (CECP) Core Function is jointly delivered by Queen’s University Belfast, Groundwork London, Community Development and Health Network and the University of Sheffield. It works across the Consortium to ensure women, families and communities, particularly those from Core20PLUS groups and those facing the greatest inequalities, can work as equal partners in shaping research.

The Role

In this role, you will:

•Coordinate national and regional VCSE partnerships and help connect community expertise with the wider Consortium
•Support Themes and Workstreams to build and strengthen relationships with VCSE organisations that reach and represent Core20PLUS communities
•Lead the development of practical CECP guidance, tools and resources, and provide specialist advice to support good practice across the Consortium
•Contribute to two Communities of Practice, bringing people together to share learning, challenges and effective approaches
•Contribute to capacity building, learning and communications so that CECP good practice and learning can be shared across the Consortium

Please contact us if you have experience in:

•community engagement and co-production, using inclusive and participatory approaches
•working with VCSE organisations and health or research partners
•building effective partnerships across different sectors and organisations within complex programmes
•working on programmes addressing health or social inequalities, or the needs of underserved communities
•developing practical community engagement and co-production guidance, tools or resources
•facilitating groups, workshops and learning activities with a wide range of stakeholders

About us:

Groundwork London works with communities across the capital to transform their lives and the places they live. We have been at the forefront of social and environmental regeneration in London for over 30 years, and today we have a simple mission: to create better places, improve people’s prospects, and promote greener living and working. We are passionate about creating a future where every neighbourhood is vibrant and green, every community is strong and able to shape its own destiny, and no one is held back by their background or circumstances.

Apply now!

Download a Groundwork London Careers Prospectus and Job Description & Person Specification in the vacancy files section below.

We welcome applicants to submit their applications in any of the following formats:
1. Application form (please press the ‘apply now’ button below)
2. CV and supporting statement
3. Audio application
4. Video application

If applying through a CV, audio or video, please send your application, quoting reference ‘1311/CECPSO’ to londonjobs@groundwork.org.uk.

If submitting a CV and supporting statement, audio or video application, please let us know if you would like your application to be considered under the disability confident scheme.

All shortlisted applicants will be asked about any accessibility requirements for the interview process by the Groundwork London HR team.

For further information and to discuss the role please contact Sarah Whitby via email: Sarah.Whitby@groundwork.org.uk

Please note because of panel commitments alternative dates unfortunately cannot be offered.

Groundwork London is committed to diversity and inclusion and welcomes applications from all members of the community

For more information on the NIHR Inequalities Challenge, please visit Home - NIHR Maternity Disparities Consortium. For more informaiton about the Community Engagement and Co-production (CECP) Core Function, please visit Community Engagement and Co-production (CECP) - NIHR Maternity Disparities Consortium using this link: https://mdc.nihr.ac.uk/our-research/core-function-community-engagement-and-co-production-cecp/

Vacancy Files

• Community Engagement & Co-production Senior Officer

Interview Details

Closing date for applications: 1 October 2026 Interview dates: - First stage interview: 14th October (online) - Second stage interview: 19th October (in person)