Food and health research officer jobs

The Development Office at Oundle School is looking for Deputy Director of Development who will be instrumental in advancing our philanthropic goals and will support the management and running of its driven and friendly team.

THE ROLE

The Deputy Director of Development will play a key part in helping us achieve our philanthropic goals. This role provides a real opportunity to make a tangible difference: devising and shaping strategy, driving forward our stewardship and legacies programme, building key relationships with major donors, and working closely with the Director of Development on the next advances in this vital area of the school’s work.

This is an exciting opportunity for a dynamic relationship manager who is highly motivated, creative, and intellectually curious, with experience of working within a fundraising or relatable field. We are looking for a dedicated colleague who will enjoy working across a vibrant constituency within a beautiful architectural setting to deepen philanthropic relationships between the school and its alumni and parent body.

While this role is 40 hours per week, year round, we are open to discussion about working arrangements including hybrid working to attract a candidate who can help us achieve our ambitions.

THE SCHOOL

Oundle and Laxton Junior Schools have long been associated with the very best of modern independent education, especially boarding. The Schools take seriously their responsibility to pupils so that they can emerge as decent, open-minded adults; ambitious about what they can go on to achieve and contribute. Over 1400 pupils are on roll at the School, of whom 840 are full boarders. Academic results are steadfastly excellent. 

A team of around 800 staff, both academic and support, ensure an education of the highest standard is in place across the Schools with the efforts of the whole team focused on this fundamental aim.

LIVING IN OUNDLE

We are fortunate in our location at the heart of a beautiful market town. School and town are part of the same community and our pupils take their place within this community, not isolated from it. The town has a spirited cultural life, with an annual international festival, literature festival, and frequent performances of nationally touring shows at the School’s Stahl Theatre.

TO APPLY

Full details of the role, including hours of work and salary, can be found in the Job Description. If you are excited by this opportunity, please complete and return an application form and supplement to the application before the closing date.

Please note CV submissions cannot be accepted.

Application closing date: Wednesday 21 January 2026, 9am.

Interviews will take place week commencing 2 February 2026 and 9 February 2026.

Oundle School and Laxton Junior School are proud to be equal opportunity employers and we welcome applications from all. We aim to ensure that all applicants are provided with the same opportunities during the recruitment process, and we endeavour to comply with the duties placed upon us to make reasonable adjustments as prescribed by the Equality Act 2010. Should you need to request a particular adjustment to enable you to participate fully in the recruitment process, please ensure that this is made known, to the HR Department

Both Schools are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Applicants will be required to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Recruitment Agencies

The Corporation of Oundle School has an internal recruitment department, but where agency support is required, we will engage our trusted partners. Our adverts are intended to encourage direct interest from potential applicants, not recruitment agencies. Speculative CVs sent from sources other than directly from a candidate, will not be acknowledged or considered.

The Public Affairs Lead sits within our Policy and Advocacy Team, working to build support for The Food Foundation’s work amongst Parliamentarians and to influence the government to help deliver policies that will transform the food system. This is an exciting opportunity to join a small organisation delivering big impact on the political agenda around food.

The Public Affairs Manager reports to our Head of Policy and Advocacy and will be responsible for planning and delivering our public affairs activity. This includes: 

• Political engagement: meeting MPs and Peers in parliament and building relationships with their teams with a view to identifying potential new supporters 
• Policy and research: working closely with colleagues to share perspectives on which priorities it may be tactical to pursue and to understand what evidence is available to inform engagement.
• Networking: working with public affairs professionals in other organisations to deliver joint programmes of engagement work which leverage respective organisational strengths.
• Monitoring: You will have excellent political instincts and a strong interest in policy developments,
  monitoring closely what is going on in Parliament and in Government,in order to identify opportune moments to maximise political attention and to galvanise support for policy change.
• Communicating: building compelling narratives targeted at different political stakeholders about the impacts of the food system on our diets, our health and our planet, and the need for evidence-based solutions. 
• Developing briefing materials and reports for policy audiences and formulate responses on behalf of the organisation to policy development processes and Parliamentary inquiries.
• Events: ensuring our messages and priorities are noticed and heard by policy-makers in a very crowded policy space, including by working closely with our events manager to deliver impactful parliamentary events.

You will bring a learning mindset to the role, assessing the impact of our policy engagement approaches in order to make continuous improvements.

A week in the job

Meeting with a Peer that is new to our work to brief them on evidence we have published and our current political priorities, completing a political stakeholder mapping exercise for a new campaign on sustainable diets to identify a shortlist of MPs to engage with, spending an afternoon in parliament to engage informally with passing MPs, pitching a new idea for a
parliamentary inquiry to parliamentary staff from the Health and Social Care Committee, drafting an MP briefing for an upcoming debate on the Government’ s obesity prevention priorities, reviewing next week’s parliamentary calendar to spot opportunities for engagement, attending a roundtable to share intelligence and discuss priorities for political party manifestos with other NGOs working on food issues, ringing round parliamentary offices to confirm attendance for
an upcoming parliamentary reception, meeting with an MP that is closely involved with The Food Foundation’s work to refine messaging for an upcoming campaign.

Your experience
You will have a strong knowledge of the UK political landscape and be comfortable and confident in engaging with stakeholders in Whitehall and in Parliament across the political spectrum. Ideally you would also have a knowledge of policy related to the food system, public health or the environmental crisis.

Your skills

• Proven ability to influence decision makers
• Strong knowledge and experience of the mechanics of the UK policy-making landscape
• Ability to work diplomatically and professionally with external stakeholders
• Significant experience working in a role with a major focus on external engagement in a policy/public affairs setting
• A confident networker who enjoys building connections and relationships with new people.
• Strong written communication skills, with the ability to explain complex and highly nuanced subject matter in plain English.
• Confidence in working as part of a team, with experience of working collaboratively with colleagues to share ideas, find solutions and help ensure the successful delivery of projects.
• Proactive and independent worker with strong organisational and project management skills and demonstrable experience of delivering on competing priorities within a timepressured environment.
• Close attention to detail and ability to accurately monitor policy developments, stakeholder views and engagement activity.
• You have a commitment to building equitable, diverse and inclusive policy.
• An existing network of relationships with MPs, Peers, advisors and policy officials.

We are seeking a Community Development Officer to lead a major in-progress project improving recognition, support, and care for people with smell and taste disorders at a local level across England. 

This three-year, volunteer-led programme, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund has achieved significant success in its first eighteen months. We are now recruiting a new postholder to take this strong foundation forward through the next phase of delivery. 

Over the past eighteen months, we have recruited and established a thriving network of volunteers and local groups across England. This momentum is expected to continue. The Community Development Officer will work closely with existing volunteers and groups, primarily remotely, while also attending in-person events and meetings in different parts of England as needed. 

The postholder will lead the ongoing recruitment, training, and support of volunteer groups, working with them to identify opportunities for local outreach and engagement. Together, you will ensure that more people affected by smell and taste disorders access the information, support, and recognition they need, while continuing to raise awareness of these often-unrecognised sensory impairments. 

Our volunteer groups bring together people with lived experience alongside experts from the food, beverage and fragrance sectors, and other relevant fields. 

We are looking for a motivated, forward-thinking individual with experience in leading and inspiring others. You will bring energy, creativity, and excellent communication skills to drive the project forward and help build an innovative, sustainable programme of volunteer-led activity, supporting our volunteers to influence change within their communities. 

You will empower volunteers to play an active role in transforming public understanding of how essential smell and taste are to our lives, whether they are running peer support groups, organising local events, delivering talks in community settings, or representing the charity at information days. 

You will join a small, friendly and ambitious team committed to your professional development as the charity continues to grow. 

If you are passionate about making a difference, enjoy working with people, and want to contribute to a pioneering and collaborative organisation that values and empowers its community, we would love to hear from you. We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences. 

The Senior Fundraising & Grants Manager will lead the development and delivery of Bite Back's fundraising strategy with a primary focus on trusts, foundations and institutional grants. You’ll oversee the organisation’s grants pipeline, coordinate funding applications and reports, and ensure excellent standards of funder stewardship and compliance. You’ll also play a role in developing early-stage public fundraising activities to diversify income and support the long-term sustainability of Bite Back’s youth-led mission.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Senior Fundraising and Grants Manager is accountable for:

Fundraising Strategy & Planning

• Design, deliver and monitor a values-aligned fundraising strategy, with a primary focus on trusts and foundations.

• Set annual income targets, track progress against goals, and report performance to senior leadership and trustees.

• Identify new income opportunities to support Bite Back’s strategic growth and impact.

• Develop and maintain a 12–24 month grant pipeline to forecast income and manage funding cycles.

• Ensure all fundraising activity complies with the Code of Fundraising Practice, GDPR, and Bite Back’s ethical standards.

Grants from Trusts and Foundations

• Lead the processes for securing income from trusts, foundations and institutional funders, from prospect research through to submission, reporting and renewal.

• Research, identify and prioritise funding opportunities aligned with Bite Back’s youth-led mission and programmes. Collaborate with internal teams to conduct due diligence to ensure funding sources are aligned with our values.

• Prepare and submit high-quality, evidence-led, and compelling grant proposals in collaboration with the CEO, Director of Finance & Operations, Monitoring & Evaluation Manager, and programme leads.

• Coordinate grant management and tracking: maintain accurate records of deadlines, deliverables, and reporting requirements.

• Work with the finance team to develop accurate project budgets and ensure financial reporting meets funder expectations and our operational needs.

• Produce and submit clear, engaging progress reports to funders that highlight impact, learning, and youth voices.

• Monitor grant income and expenditure, ensuring compliance and timely claims against restricted funding.

• Work with the Operations and Contracts Manager and the Monitoring and Evaluation Manager to develop and improve systems for grant tracking and data integrity within the CRM (Salesforce).

Donor Stewardship and Relationship Management

• Work closely with the CEO to build and maintain strong relationships with existing and potential funders, ensuring high-quality engagement and stewardship.

• Coordinate communications, updates, and thank-you processes for donors to encourage repeat and multi-year funding.

• Lead workstreams, working closely with the Brand Manager and leadership team for support, in order to deliver meetings, presentations, and reports to funders.

• Represent Bite Back at relevant events, funder briefings, and networking opportunities.

• Promote a culture of fundraising awareness and collaboration across the organisation.

Fundraising Development

• Work with the Communications and Operations teams to explore and pilot small-scale public fundraising initiatives (e.g. individual giving, online campaigns, web donation tool).

• Work with the CEO and Communications team to develop a new strategy to build a strong and committed donor network of high net worth individuals aligned with Bite Back’s values

• Develop systems, messaging, and supporter journeys that reflect Bite Back’s youth-led identity.

• Explore opportunities for revenue from the public sector.

• Test new public fundraising channels and evaluate their return on investment to inform future strategy.

Other

• Champion Bite Back’s values - Fresh, Resilient, Respectful, Energetic, and Real - in all fundraising work.

• Collaborate with the youth activism, communications, and policy teams to translate programme outcomes into fundable opportunities and compelling narratives.

• Stay informed about trends in the fundraising and grant-making sectors and share learning across the team.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE 

We will be looking for applications that demonstrate experience in at least some of these, and evidence of capacity to build skills in other areas. Please don’t be put off applying for one of our jobs because you can’t demonstrate every skill. If you're passionate and excited about working for us, and possess the main skills and experience we are looking for, go ahead and apply. You could be just what we are looking for!

The ideal candidate would have the following:

Essential

• Proven experience in securing income from trusts and foundations, ideally within the non-profit or campaigning sector.

• Track record of developing and managing a grant pipeline and meeting income targets.

• Excellent written communication skills with experience producing high-quality funding applications and impact reports.

• Strong organisational and project management skills with the ability to meet multiple deadlines.

• Understanding of budgeting and financial management for grant-funded projects.

• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder engagement skills.

• Experience using CRM systems for tracking income and reporting (ideally Salesforce).

• Knowledge of fundraising regulations, GDPR, and ethical standards.

• Commitment to Bite Back’s youth-led, systems-change mission.

Desirable

• Experience of developing public fundraising initiatives (individual giving, digital, community).

• Familiarity with youth-led or campaigning charities.

• Experience managing cross-team collaboration on proposals and reports.

• Understanding of impact measurement and evaluation in fundraising contexts.

• Confidence presenting to funders or representing the organisation externally.

In this new role the Impact and Evaluation Manager will be critical to helping Bite Back demonstrate and strengthen the difference we make for young people, funders, partners, and wider society. You will lead the organisation’s approach to measuring, evaluating and learning from our work – ensuring that youth voice is at the heart of how we design, assess and communicate our impact.

You will manage Bite Back’s relationships with external evaluators, develop and track organisational KPIs, and work closely with programme and fundraising colleagues, trustees and funders to ensure we can evidence our outcomes clearly and compellingly. This role will also develop creative ways to tell the story of our impact – from robust evaluation reports through to case studies that bring young people’s voices to life.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Impact and Evaluation Manager is accountable for:

Strategy and Theory of Change

• Working closely with the CEO to lead Bite Back’s organisational impact strategy, including refining and maintaining our theory of change.

• Translating our theory of change into clear outcomes, indicators and learning questions that guide programme design, campaigns and organisational priorities.

• Designing and overseeing Bite Back’s impact measurement framework.

Data Systems and Standards

• Leading on the collection, analysis and reporting of both quantitative and qualitative data, ensuring that youth voice and lived experience shape Bite Back’s evaluation approaches.

• Supporting the development and monitoring of KPIs across the organisation, providing clear insights and recommendations to the Leadership Team.

Donor monitoring and evaluation

• Working with fundraising and programme teams to design robust monitoring, evaluation and learning plans for funding bids, including developing outcomes frameworks, indicators, and evaluation budgets that align with Bite Back’s broader organisational impact framework.

• Working closely with the Senior Grants and Fundraising Manager to ensure Bite Back meets its impact and reporting commitments to funders.

• Leading on the development of Bite Back’s annual impact report and supporting the production of  other compelling case studies, impact reports and evaluation outputs to communicate Bite Back’s effectiveness to funders, trustees, partners, the media and wider audiences

Building a Learning Culture

• Managing relationships with external evaluators, ensuring projects are delivered on time, on budget and to a high standard.

• Building evaluation capacity across the team, providing tools, training and support to colleagues to embed a culture of learning and continuous improvement.

• Embedding equity, diversity and inclusion principles in Bite Back’s impact and evaluation work, ensuring methods are inclusive, accessible and reflective of the communities we work with.

• Acting as a champion for a learning culture, communicating clearly and accessibly about impact, data and evidence, and supporting colleagues through changes to systems and ways of working.

• Staying up to date with best practice in youth-led evaluation, impact measurement and social change movements, and bringing innovative approaches into Bite Back’s work.

The role

At Ability Consultants, we specialise in helping charities, community groups, schools, social enterprises, and CICs to grow and make a bigger impact. From homelessness and health to youth work, arts, disability, and international development, our clients work across some of the most important themes in society. We provide the fundraising expertise so they can focus on delivering life-changing work.

Ability Consultants is proud to be a Real Living Wage Employer, Disability Confident Committed, and a VONNE Membership Plus Organisation. We’re also SHINE accredited - reflecting our commitment to fair, inclusive, and supportive employment practices.

As a Bid Writer: Trusts and Foundations, you’ll play a vital role in securing the income that keeps this work possible. You’ll research opportunities, develop compelling cases for support, and write high-quality funding applications on behalf of our clients. You’ll also help to build strong relationships with funders and ensure excellent stewardship, so that income is sustained and grown.

You might already have proven experience writing successful funding applications, or you could be looking for your next step if you have the skills, passion, and drive to learn. Either way, you’ll be someone with strong writing ability, great attention to detail, and the confidence to work directly with clients to tell their story in a persuasive and impactful way.

In return, you’ll join a supportive and ambitious team that works across the UK and internationally, making a measurable difference every day. If you’re ready to use your talent to help non-profits thrive, we’d love to hear from you.

Important Information

How to Apply: You can visit our website to download an application pack. Please apply by sending us a copy of your CV and a covering letter (optional) to the email address in the job pack with the subject heading ‘Recruitment – Bid Writer: T&F. If you have any difficulties accessing our documents please get in touch with us.

Closing Date: 19/12/2025, 23:59

Role: Bid Writer (Trusts & Foundations) | Hours: 40 Hours Per Week | Salary: £28,000 - £29,000 | Period: Permanent

Interviews: Week commencing 5th January 2026 (provisional)

Sifting will take place on an ongoing basis, if successful at sifting stage, we may decide to invite you to an initial virtual call, and if successful a face to face interview may follow. 

Got a question?

If you would like an informal discussion about the role, please email us. 

About Ability Consultants

At Ability Consultants, we support our clients everyday to thrive and deliver their vital work, while trusting us with their fundraising and income generation needs. We work across all four nations of the UK and internationally, including partnerships in East Africa.

Our expertise spans a wide range of themes, including homelessness, equality and diversity, sport, suicide prevention, addiction, youth work, disability, health, food poverty, the arts, hospice care, international development, and schools. From bid writing and funding strategies to senior management support, and organisational development, we give charities, CIC and community organisations the tools and capacity they need to succeed.

The Vacancy

Islamic Relief UK (IRUK) is actively recruiting for the position of ‘Challenges Lead’ to be based from anywhere in the UK that Islamic Relief has an office. These office locations include; London (Whitechapel/Waterloo), Leicester, Birmingham, Manchester, Bradford and Glasgow.

Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) is a faith-based humanitarian relief and development organisation working to save and transform the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people.  Established in 1984, with an active presence in over 45 countries, we strive to make the world a better and fairer place for those affected by poverty, conflict and natural disasters. IRUK’s focus is strengthening effective funding, mobilising for change through advocacy and awareness-raising, and strengthening programme development and delivery. IRUK works with various partners and institutions, from governments, non-governmental organisations and local authorities to grassroots communities.

Job Purpose:

• To coordinate the development and delivery of Fundraising Challenges Events, nationally and internationally, with the objective of engaging the community on a grass-roots level in line with the IRUK fundraising strategy
• To work closely with the Community Fundraising team to promote the mass participation of events that will lead to participation and fundraising
• To deliver stewardship journeys for participants and supporters
• To successfully project manage multiple national fundraising initiatives.

The successful candidate must have:

• Proven experience in challenges coordination and/or management
• Significant experience of fundraising through organising and delivering challenges, and/or mass participation activities
• Experience of the development, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of plans and budgets
• Experience of delivering exceptional donor/customer care
• Experience in supporter stewardship
• Experience of using a range of effective communication channels to promote fundraising activities
• Experience in negotiating and managing contracts with vendors and suppliers
• Experience of managing own workload effectively, planning and organising work to meet deadlines
• Experience of working effectively without close supervision dealing with problems as they arise
• Experience and comfortability of working within a fast-paced environment
• Experience working with and supervising volunteers
• A thorough understanding of the different types of fundraising challenges
• Good understanding of charity law, policy and regulatory environment within the charity sector
• Knowledge of the Fundraising Regulators code of practice
• Able to work flexible hours (including unsociable hours and weekends)
• Proficient use of Asana, Trello or other project management tools
• Excellent event/challenge management skills – from conception, promotion to production and delivery
• Excellent attention to detail and ability to produce correspondence to a high standard
• Creative thinking skills
• Able to exercise diplomacy where required
• Excellent communication skills – written, oral and listening with the ability to communicate sensitively and effectively with a diverse range of individuals who may be supporters, participants, donors or volunteers
• Strong project management and team coordination skills, including the ability to use planning tools
• Strong networking skills
• Proven organisational skills with the ability to work on multiple activities at one time
• Excellent administration skills – able to keep thorough, accurate and up to date records
• Competent user of Raisers Edge, Microsoft D365 or other relationship management databases
• Understanding and experience of health and safety regulations and risk assessments in relation to organising events and challenges
• Educated to ‘A’ level or equivalent
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office software in particular, Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook

For more information, please click on the Documents tab above to view the full Job Description.

If you are talented, reliable, service-minded, resilient and a highly motivated professional looking for a meaningful career, with a strong commitment to IRW’s mission and values of sincerity, excellence, compassion, social justice and custodianship, please apply by completing our online application form.

For more information on the excellent company benefits we offer our employees, please visit our website.

PLEASE NOTE: Interviews are expected to take place on an ongoing basis until a suitable appointment is made. We therefore may close the advert sooner than the advertised date.

Pre-employment Checks:

Any employment with Islamic Relief will be subject to the following checks:

• screening clearance
• proof of eligibility to live and work within the UK
• receipt of satisfactory references

Please note, for UK-based roles, we are only able to accept applications from candidates who are eligible to work in the UK. We are unable to progress applications which would require sponsorship.

Our values and commitment to safeguarding

IRW is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people, adults and beneficiaries with whom IRW engages. IRW expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

The post holder will undertake the appropriate level of training and is responsible for ensuring that they understand and work within the safeguarding policies of the organisation.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records checks. IRW also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.

In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment.

By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Islamic Relief is an equal opportunities employer