Programme, Research and Impact Assistant

About the role:

Working across all three of our movements, you’ll play an important role in supporting a range of cutting-edge community action projects and campaigns, helping us build the evidence base for our work and ensuring that our programme, impact and fundraising data and systems are accurate, organised and useful.

Reporting into Research and Impact Officer you will work closely with them and colleagues across our Campaigns, Comms and Fundraising teams to:

1. Support social research and evidence gathering

Support the design of new campaigns, tactics and policy recommendations by gathering, organising and analysing evidence from a combination of:

• Primary social research, including supporting the design and delivery of surveys, interviews, focus groups and other qualitative and quantitative research.
• Secondary research, including reviewing scientific papers, policy reports and other sources and summarising key findings.
• Supporting practical aspects of research including participant recruitment, scheduling, research materials, note-taking/transcription, data cleaning and organisation, and maintaining accurate research records.
• Bringing curiosity and confidence in working with different types of information and data, and being able to investigate new questions and present findings clearly to colleagues.

2. Support the delivery of our community action activities and campaigns

Through a variety of activities including:

• Supporting the delivery of in-person and online workshops, research activities and events.
• Recruiting and stewarding participants such as schools, community groups and individuals taking part in our activities and research.
• Preparing communications, programme resources and materials.
• Coordinating logistics and providing administrative support for meetings, workshops and events.
• Collecting and maintaining accurate data to monitor project delivery, participation, outcomes and reporting requirements.

3. Support impact measurement and evaluation

Support the evaluation of our community action activities and campaigns by:

• Collecting, cleaning, organising and analysing quantitative and qualitative evaluation data.
• Setting up and administering surveys and other routine data-collection processes.
• Supporting smaller project evaluations and defined elements of larger evaluations, under the guidance of the Director of Research and Development or relevant Project Manager.
• Helping identify useful findings, stories, quotes and case studies that demonstrate the impact of our work.
• Supporting the preparation of clear findings and outputs for funders, partners, the public and other audiences.

4. Maintain high-quality impact, programme and fundraising data and systems

Help foster a culture of consistent, high-quality data collection and outcome measurement across the organisation by:

• Maintaining our central repository of impact metrics, participation data, case studies and supporting evidence.
• Supporting colleagues to collect and record data consistently and accurately, and helping identify gaps or inconsistencies.
• Supporting the development and maintenance of effective workflows for recording programme, impact and fundraising information in organisational systems, including Salesforce.
• Maintaining accurate fundraising data and records, including information relating to funders, prospects, applications, reporting requirements and donor/funder engagement.
• Supporting routine data checks, reporting and analysis across programme, impact, financial and fundraising data.
• Working closely with the Fundraising team to ensure evidence of our impact is readily available for funding applications, reports and stewardship communications.

5. Support effective fundraising processes and stewardship

Working with the Fundraising team to:

• Support the administration and coordination of fundraising processes, including maintaining accurate records of prospects, funders, applications, deadlines and reporting requirements.
• Help prepare information and evidence for funding applications, reports and funder updates.
• Support good funder and donor stewardship by helping maintain accurate records of relationships, communications, commitments and follow-up actions.
• Help ensure deadlines, reporting requirements and agreed actions are tracked and followed up.
• Help bring together programme, impact and financial information needed to demonstrate how funding has been used and the difference it has made.

What we are looking for:

Required experience/ability:

• Communication skills – Ability to engage with people to gather insights and communicate information and findings clearly and engagingly to different audiences, through written summaries, reports, case studies, presentations and other materials.
• Organisational skills – Ability to plan and manage your own workload within agreed priorities and deadlines, maintain accurate records and follow established processes reliably.
• Social research skills – Some experience of, or a strong interest in, social research and using qualitative and quantitative methods such as surveys, interviews and focus groups. Confidence engaging with research participants and accurately capturing, organising and summarising what they tell us.
• Working with data – Confidence working with different forms of data and information, including quantitative and qualitative research data, programme and impact data, and financial or fundraising information. Comfortable using Excel or similar tools to organise, check and undertake straightforward analysis of data.
• Research and curiosity – Ability to investigate a new topic or question, identify relevant information and evidence, and summarise findings clearly. You don’t need to be an expert in all the issues we work on, but you should be curious and comfortable working across different types of evidence and data.
• Systems and data management – Ability to maintain accurate and well-organised records and follow agreed processes. Comfortable learning and using databases and CRM systems such as Salesforce.
• Relationship building and participant engagement – Confidence communicating with a wide range of people, including recruiting and stewarding participants and supporting their involvement in research, programmes and events.
• Research and evaluation support – Ability to support research and evaluation projects within agreed timelines and responsibilities, including administering surveys, collecting data and helping assess and communicate project outcomes.
• Team working – Ability to work collaboratively, communicate progress, flag problems or competing priorities and provide reliable support to colleagues across different teams.

Desired:

• Experience of supporting qualitative or quantitative social research, particularly interviews, focus groups or surveys.
• Experience working with databases, CRM systems or fundraising systems such as Salesforce.
• Experience supporting fundraising administration, funder reporting or donor/funder stewardship.
• Experience working with young people or other audiences where accessible and appropriate engagement and safeguarding are important.
• Experience working with community organisations, businesses, schools or local authorities.
• Experience or an interest in campaigning, policy or social and environmental change.
• Understanding of EDI and the importance of ensuring that people and communities most affected by the issues we work on are represented in our research and programmes.
• A focused interest in one or more of our three movement areas: climate and health, online influence/regulation, or environmental education/youth climate action.

About us:

Global Action Plan has been taking action on our climate and ecological crisis since 1993. Our vision is a world where connected and resilient communities are actively shaping a just and sustainable planet.

The climate and ecological crisis is not separate – it’s a symptom of deeper, connected problems. Extreme inequality, disconnection from nature, toxic online spaces, overstretched health systems, and weakened democracy all drive the crisis and limit action on it.

Together, we can take on the systems behind the crisis – and build a fairer, healthier, more sustainable future. Global Action Plan exists to confront those systems head-on, with clarity, collaboration, and vision.

We do this by taking action to influence – building people-powered pathways to systemic change – combining bold research, grassroots mobilisation, innovative partnerships and high-impact advocacy. Whether we’re equipping young people to lead community transformation through their schools, influencing national policy on clean air, or holding Big Tech to account, we act as both a catalyst and connector: turning insight into action, and action into long-term change.

Over the last year alone our reach extended to over one million people across the UK and beyond, with tens of thousands actively engaging in campaigns, events, and learning, and five thousand individuals mobilised to take action. Crucially, these aren’t just numbers – they represent real shifts in attitudes, behaviours, and policy commitments.