Job Title
Co-Design Lead Bradford Health Inequities Programme (Bhip)
JOB DESCRIPTION & PERSON SPECIFICATION
About Happy Healthy You
Happy Healthy You delivers a range of health and wellbeing activities and services across Bradford, working closely with Global Majority communities and people experiencing the greatest barriers to good health and health equity. We go to trusted places where people live, work and gather, working alongside communities to deliver culturally grounded activities and support. We listen to and ethically represent lived experience and community insight, while developing local capacity and leadership. We work with communities and partners to turn that insight into practical action, helping to shape services and contribute to lasting system change that improves health, wellbeing, and quality of life.
The Bradford Health Inequities Programme (Bhip)
Bhip is a five-year programme funded by the National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) and delivered jointly in partnership by Happy Healthy You (HHU) and Race Equality Network (REN). As part of the National Lottery Community Fund's National Collective, Bhip is one of nine health inequities programmes established nationally to address health inequities caused by structural racism and discrimination.
Working alongside Communities, Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations, the NHS, public services, and other partners across Bradford District, Bhip will co-design, test and evaluate community-led approaches that address health inequities driven by structural racism and discrimination, influence policy and practice, drive system change, and generate evidence and learning for Bradford while contributing to the NLCF’s National Collective.
As an innovative five-year programme, Bhip expects to evolve through community engagement, co-design, learning, and evaluation. The Bhip team members should therefore expect their roles to develop over time in response to programme learning, funding, and organisational requirements to achieve its aims.
About you
You will be an experienced, community-focused practitioner with a strong background in co-design, participation, community research or related approaches, and experience of working directly with Global Majority communities and people from different faiths, cultures and backgrounds.
You will be a skilled facilitator and listener, able to build trust, work sensitively with lived experience and use creative, culturally grounded approaches to involve people meaningfully.
You will be curious, practical and adaptable, confident working collaboratively while also taking the lead on developing and delivering Bhip’s co-design approach.
The Opportunity
This is an exciting and unique opportunity to help shape and lead an ambitious approach to community co-design within HHU and the Bhip Programme, working alongside Global Majority communities experiencing some of Bradford’s greatest health inequities.
You will work directly with people and communities to explore their experiences of clinical and community-based health and care, including where racism, discrimination and structural barriers affect access, experience and outcomes. Using co-design, participatory research, deep listening, storytelling and creative approaches, you will explore what matters, what gets in the way and what communities tell us needs to change.
A key part of the role will be developing culturally grounded and accessible ways of working, recognising that conventional consultation and research methods do not work equally well for everyone. You will have the freedom to test and develop different approaches with communities, including creative, visual, narrative and participatory methods, and share what we learn locally and through Bhip’s wider national lottery collective network.
You will lead the development of Bhip’s co-design methodology while remaining a hands-on practitioner. Working closely with the HHU Programme Manager, Bhip Programme Lead, Insight & Evaluation Lead and Community Engagement Facilitators, you will help connect community participation, research and lived experience to Bhip’s Story-to-System approach, ensuring that what communities tell us can contribute to practical learning, action and change.
You will also help build the confidence and capacity of the wider Bhip team to work in genuinely co-designed ways and, where people want to become more involved, support community members and lived-experience leaders to develop as co-designers, peer/community researchers or Story Stewards.
The role will evolve as Bhip develops. We do not expect every method or area of work to be predetermined. We are looking for someone with the experience, curiosity and judgement to work alongside communities, test ideas, learn from what works and help us develop approaches that are meaningful in Bradford and potentially useful much more widely.
Key Responsibilities
Co-design Leadership & Development: Lead and develop Bhip’s community co-design approach using an agile, test-and-learn way of working, adapting methods and priorities as community insight, programme learning and opportunities emerge.
Participation & Community Research: Design and deliver inclusive co-design and participatory research, including deep listening, community conversations, interviews, group work and place or issue-based deep dives where appropriate.
Culturally Grounded Innovation: Co-create, test and refine accessible and culturally grounded methods of participation, storytelling and research, using creative approaches that enable people with different experiences, languages and ways of communicating to participate meaningfully.
Story-to-System: Lead the community co-design elements of Bhip’s emerging Story-to-System approach, helping communities explore lived experience, identify recurring barriers and patterns, interpret what is being learned and shape priorities and potential responses.
Lived Experience & Community Capacity: Support community members who want deeper involvement to develop appropriate skills and confidence as co-designers, peer/community researchers, Story Stewards or lived-experience leaders, ensuring participation remains voluntary, supported and meaningful.
Bhip Team Capability: Work across HHU and Bhip to build understanding and capability in co-design and participatory approaches, working particularly closely with the HHU Programme Manager, Bhip Programme Lead, Insight & Evaluation Lead and Community Engagement team.
Evidence, Learning & Outputs: Work with the Insight & Evaluation Lead and communities to capture, interpret and share learning from co-design activity, contributing to practical tools, resources, prototypes, the developing Story-to-System methodology and wider Bhip learning.
Evolution & Wider Learning: In Year 1 and into Year 2, help develop, test and refine Bhip’s emerging co-design approaches and outputs, using learning to shape subsequent activity and sharing what works, what does not and under what conditions across Bradford and the National Collective.
General Responsibilities:
- Work in accordance with HHU and Bhip policies, procedures, ethical frameworks and agreed ways of working.
- Maintain appropriate records and contribute to learning, reporting, meetings and programme activity as required.
- Promote safe, inclusive and anti-discriminatory practice, maintaining appropriate professional boundaries, confidentiality and ethical, non tokenistic use of lived experience.
- Take responsibility for ongoing learning and professional development relevant to the role.
- Represent HHU and Bhip professionally with communities, partners and stakeholders.
- Undertake other duties appropriate to the level and purpose of the role as HHU and Bhip develop.
Flexibility Clauses:
The duties and responsibilities of this post may be reviewed and amended from time to time, following consultation with the post-holder, to reflect the evolving needs of HHU and the Bhip Programme. Any changes will be consistent with the level, purpose, and nature of the role.
HHU Co-Design Lead
Experience, Knowledge, Skills, Values & Behaviours & Qualifications
Experience
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Significant experience of co-design, co-production, participation, community research or similar approaches, working directly with communities to shape activity, services or change.
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Experience of working with Global Majority communities and communities experiencing socio-economic disadvantage, including people affected by health inequities, discrimination or barriers to participation and services.
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Experience of designing and facilitating participatory research and engagement, using qualitative, creative and accessible methods with individuals and groups.
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Experience of developing culturally grounded approaches, adapting methods around people’s language, culture, faith, literacy, accessibility and lived experience.
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Experience of facilitating deep listening and sensitive conversations, gathering lived experience ethically and maintaining trust, consent and appropriate boundaries.
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Experience of involving communities in interpreting learning and identifying themes, priorities and potential solutions, rather than simply collecting feedback.
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Experience of developing, testing and refining new approaches or resources, using feedback and learning to adapt what happens next.
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Experience of working collaboratively across community, VCSE, health, research or other partners, while maintaining meaningful community participation and influence.
Qualifications
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Relevant degree, professional qualification or equivalent demonstrable experience in co-design, community development, participatory research, health, social sciences or a related field.
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Training or qualification in co-design, co-production, participatory/community research, facilitation or qualitative research methods.
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Evidence of relevant continuing professional development, training or learning.
Knowledge
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Excellent understanding of co-design, co-production and participatory approaches, including principles of shared power and meaningful involvement.
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Good understanding of participatory and qualitative research methods, including ethical approaches to gathering, interpreting and using lived experience.
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Understanding of health inequities and the ways racism, structural discrimination and socio-economic disadvantage can affect access, experience and health outcomes.
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Understanding of culturally grounded and inclusive practice, including how language, culture, faith, literacy and accessibility can affect participation.
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Knowledge of approaches for translating community insight into learning, co-designed solutions and practical change.
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Knowledge of Bradford District and its diverse communities and community/VCSE landscape, OR experience of working with similar communities and the ability to develop local knowledge quickly.
Skills
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Highly skilled agile facilitator, able to engage individuals and groups and create safe, inclusive spaces for meaningful participation.
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Strong co-design and participatory research skills, able to plan and deliver accessible approaches using a range of qualitative, creative and community-based methods.
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Excellent listening and communication skills, able to explore sensitive lived experience and communicate effectively with people from different backgrounds and levels of confidence.
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Ability to adapt and innovate methods to be culturally grounded and accessible, responding to language, culture, faith, literacy, disability and different ways people communicate and participate.
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Strong relationship-building skills, able to establish trust and work collaboratively with communities, colleagues and partners.
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Ability to analyse and make sense of qualitative community insight, identifying themes and patterns while retaining the meaning and context of people's experiences.
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Ability to translate community learning into co-designed ideas, practical outputs and approaches that can contribute to change.
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Strong planning, collaboration and organisational skills, able to manage different strands of work, work independently and adapt priorities within an evolving, test-and-learn programme.
Values and Behaviours
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Collaborative, inclusive and empowering, supporting people to participate, contribute and develop.
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Resilient and adaptable, with the confidence and sound judgement to work independently in changing community environments.
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Curious, proactive and adaptable, willing to test new approaches, learn from what works and what does not, and respond positively to change.
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Community-focused and culturally aware, valuing lived experience, building trust and ensuring people have meaningful influence over work that affects them.
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Integrity, accountability and professionalism, taking ownership for actions and outcomes.
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Commitment to health equity, anti-racism, inclusion and anti-discriminatory practice.
Other
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Ability to work flexibly, including occasional evenings and weekends
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Ability and willingness to travel locally, regionally, and nationally as required.
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Commitment to personal and professional development.
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Commitment to safeguarding the welfare of others and the ability to identify and appropriately escalate safeguarding concerns.
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Driving Licence
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Own Transport (insured for business use)
Ready to help create lasting change?
Closing date for applications: 16 October 2026
Interview date: 29 October 2026