College Lead for Mental Health Equity

Overview of the role

The College Lead for Mental Health Equity will provide senior clinical leadership to drive, coordinate, and champion the College’s work on mental health equity, ensuring fairness and respect for all. The postholder will work on leading and supporting development, and implementation of existing and new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives to ensure EDI is embedded in the work of the College. This will include prioritising the action to address mental health stigma, discrimination, and prejudice which affects people with mental disorders in many areas, including both engagement with other clinical specialties and experience of care within mental health services. 

 

Key responsibilities

• Provide strategic clinical leadership to position the College as a national leader in advancing mental health equity, working collaboratively with senior officers, Trustees, staff, and lived experience representatives.  
  • Work closely with the CEO, Director of Strategic Communications, and the Head of EDI Strategy, to provide strategic leadership and advice on EDI matters. 
  • Report annually to the Board of Trustees on progress, challenges, and next steps, supporting a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. 
• Lead on developing and implementing the college’s work to advance mental health equity, building on existing initiatives (e.g. Act Against Racism, LGBTQ+ Commitments, Disability and Women’s Mental Health strategies). This should embed EDI principles across education, training, and policy.
• Support the delivery of work to address mental health discrimination 
• Support the delivery of work to improve attitudes to mental disorders among key groups including 
  • Policymakers
  • Funders, commissioners, and managers
  • Health professionals including mental health professionals
  • The public
• Embed equity and inclusion in College activity across Devolved Nations, Divisions and Faculties, promoting consistent best practice. 
• Champion allyship and fairness, fostering an inclusive culture that enhances belonging and psychological safety for members and the patients they serve. 
• Build networks and partnerships with stakeholders and organisations aligned to EDI initiatives to raise awareness of the importance of equity to mental health and influence positive outcomes. 
• Be the clinical lead for the development of new programmes of work and funding for equity initiatives.
• Advisor on equity issues to the College Officers, College Lead for Global Mental Health and other college leaders as required  

How to apply

Please see attached the full JD for this role.

College Fellows, Members, Affiliates and Associates in good standing are eligible to apply. If you would like to be considered for this post, please submit a CV and a covering letter demonstrating experience to ruth.adams@rcpsych.ac.uk.

For any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Ruth Adams, Head of EDI Strategy ruth.adams@rcpsych.ac.uk.

Closing date: Friday 13 March 2026 6pm GMT

Interview date: Tuesday 7 April 2026 via Microsoft Teams/Zoom

Interviews are likely to be around 30 minutes and it is unlikely that we would be able to offer an alternative date.

The College values a diverse and inclusive workforce and welcomes applications from all sections of the community, reflecting the population it serves.