Investor research manager jobs in Manchester

Overview

We’re looking for a strong bid writer to join our successful national Business Development Team as a Business Development Officer. This is an excellent opportunity to grow your career in business development within a successful team that prioritises social impact, development and progression. We’d particularly like to hear from people that have experience of writing high-scoring drug and alcohol service bids.

Location: London, Brighton, Manchester or Leeds.

Salary: £37,184.91 – £39,891.91 per year. If you’re based in London, you’ll receive an additional £4,133.14 per year - Inner London Weighting.

Contract: Permanent.

Responsibilities

About the role

Change Grow Live is a health and social care charity. Across the country, we support people to make positive changes in their lives, including around drug and alcohol use, smoking, homelessness and criminal justice.

As a Business Development Officer, you’ll play a key part in helping us secure new contracts and deliver high‑quality services for adults, children and young people. You’ll work with colleagues across the organisation to develop excellent written material for bids and proposals. This role offers a great opportunity to learn and develop while using your established skills, and you’ll be encouraged to take on more responsibility as you progress.

Your day-to-day will include:

• Writing and editing multiple complex bid responses within live tenders
• Working with colleagues across the organisation to gather information and evidence
• Project managing smaller bids and proposals with support from a Senior Business Development Officer or Business Development Manager
• Completing online research, analysing data and collating evidence
• Creating presentations, diagrams and reports
• Helping improve how we do things.

About you

We’re looking for candidates with proven experience of writing tenders, proposals or grant applications, or writing in other professional or academic environments, for instance journalism, research or marketing.

You are:

• A highly competent communicator with excellent writing skills
• Able to analyse data and interpret evidence, with good IT and research skills
• Solution-focused, creative and proactive
• Happy to give and receive challenging feedback
• Collaborative and contribute to a positive culture team
• Ready to work hard to deliver on CGL’s values and mission.

What we offer

You’ll be able to access structured training, development and mentoring as part of a supportive team. There’s a clear progression pathway within the team, from Officer to Senior Officer, Manager, Senior Manager, Deputy Director, and Director. Several of our current Seniors and Managers were previously in the Business Development Officer role.

We also offer:

• The option to work from home for some of the week
• Wellbeing support, including an employee assistance programme and an hour each week for wellbeing activities of your choice (find out more here).

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we work with. We pride ourselves on an inclusive and supportive workplace, evidenced through our Investors in People silver status.

We’re happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that you need to be successful. Please let us know in your application or at any stage of the process if you would like to discuss this.

Before you apply

In the application portal, there’s a section called ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’. This is your chance to tell us about why you’re a good fit for this job – we won’t be able to consider your application unless it’s filled in. Please explain how you meet each of the person specification criteria (listed at the end of the job description). Use clear examples of your experience (this link contains some useful guidance). As guidance, written statements should not exceed 1,000 words. You can address multiple criteria together where you think it makes sense.

Interviews will be held 16th – 23rd February 2026 via MS Teams. We’ll also ask shortlisted candidates to complete a written task online during this timeframe, at a time of your choice. We may hold a pre-qualification stage task (e.g. presentation) depending on the number of applicants.

We encourage applications from individuals who may not meet every requirement but are excited about the role. We value lived experience of substance use, homelessness, and/or multiple disadvantages.

We’re a Disability Confident Committed employer. Under our Disability Confident interview scheme, we will offer an interview to disabled candidates where they meet our selection criteria in their application. Some of our roles attract a high volume of applications and in some circumstances where it is not practicable or appropriate, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled candidates. Please confirm in the ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’ part of the application if you are applying under this scheme. We will provide reasonable adjustments as needed.

Check the job description and team explainer for more information. You can contact Yasmin Gilders to discuss this role further.

What our people say

Kitty, Business Development Officer:

“What was your route into your current job? I graduated with an English Literature degree in 2019 and started out as an Editorial Assistant in publishing. Furloughed during the pandemic, I took the opportunity to complete a master’s in English Literature before moving into medical communications, where I also worked as an Editorial Assistant. While I enjoyed the work, I wanted a role that allowed me to get more involved in the research and writing, which led me to join CGL as an Assistant Business Development Officer in 2023. After gaining bid writing experience, I started as Business Development Officer in 2024.

What are your favourite parts of the job? I love how varied the job is. One day I might be deep in research, whether that’s desk-based or visiting a service in person, while the next I’m writing and editing responses for a live bid or even creating visuals. No two days are the same, and variety keeps the job exciting.

How would you describe the team? The team is incredibly lovely and supportive. There’s always someone ready to offer help, share advice, or even just have a quick chat, which makes it a really positive and collaborative environment to work in.

What were your highlights from last year? Being part of the team that won the Blackpool contract. We all invested a lot of time and effort into it, and the whole organisation was excited by the outcome.

Is there anything you would say to someone considering applying? Go for it! It’s a fantastic role within a supportive, friendly team, and there’s so much variety and opportunity to learn. If you’re considering applying, you won’t regret it.”

Holly, who progressed from Business Development Officer to Senior Business Development Officer last year:

“What are your favourite parts of this work? The amount we learn from bid to bid. No two services are the same and I’m constantly coming across amazing individuals, teams and interventions. Being part of a team that helps share and celebrate great work, and support other services to implement new and exciting initiatives is really rewarding.

How would you describe the team? Helpful, real and full of knowledge. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and is happy to share their skills, knowledge and learning. I’ve never felt like I’ve asked a silly question, and I don’t feel like I must put a on ‘work mask’.

What were your highlights from last year? Becoming a Senior and working across 7 different bids or direct awards last year. It was busy but I learnt so much, made some great connections with people across the organisation and feel excited for 2026.”

Salary Range (pro rata if part time)

CGL points 33 to 36 (£37,184.90 - £39,891.91)

Interview Date

16/2/2026

Closing Date

8/2/2026

Overview

We’re looking for an Assistant Business Development Officer (Bid Writer) to join our national Business Development Team. This is a great opportunity for an excellent writer to start or grow your bid writing career in a successful team with progression opportunities. 

Location: London, Brighton, Manchester or Leeds. 

Salary: £27,861.26 − £32,002.35 per year. If you’re based in London, you’ll receive an additional £4,133.14 per year as Inner London Weighing. 

Contract: 12 months fixed term. 

Responsibilities

About the role 

Change Grow Live is a health and social care charity. Across the country, we support people to make positive changes in their lives, including around drug and alcohol use, smoking, homelessness and criminal justice. 

As an Assistant Business Development Officer, you’ll play a key part in helping us secure new contracts and deliver high quality services for adults, children and young people. You’ll support the development of bids and proposals by writing, researching and collaborating with colleagues across the organisation. 

Your day-to-day will include: 

• Writing and editing bid responses 
• Working with colleagues across the organisation and our partner agencies 
• Completing online research, analysing data and collating evidence 
• Creating presentations, diagrams and reports 
• Helping improve how we do things. 

This is a developmental role, and you’ll receive ongoing support, guidance and training to help you progress. 

About you 

We’re looking for excellent writers who share our passion for supporting people to make positive changes in their lives. You don’t need previous experience in business development, but experience in health and social care, writing, sales, research, or data is beneficial. 

You are: 

• A clear, concise and engaging writer 
• Motivated to learn and develop, welcoming feedback 
• Collaborative and contribute to a positive culture team 
• Curious and analytical 
• Solution-focused, creative and proactive 
• Ready to work hard to deliver on CGL’s values and mission. 

What we offer 

You’ll be able to access structured training, development and mentoring as part of a supportive team. There’s a clear progression pathway within the team. We have a great record of people quickly progressing to Business Development Officer and Senior Business Development Officer roles as they take on increased volume, complexity, and leadership across proposals. 

We also offer: 

• The option to work from home for some of the week 
• Wellbeing support, including an employee assistance programme and an hour each week for wellbeing activities of your choice (find out more here). 

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we work with. We pride ourselves on an inclusive and supportive workplace, evidenced through our Investors in People silver status. 

We’re happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that you need to be successful. Please let us know in your application or at any stage of the process if you would like to discuss this. 

Before you apply 

In the application portal, there’s a section called ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’. This is your chance to tell us about why you’re a good fit for this job – we won’t be able to consider your application unless it’s filled in. Please explain how you meet each of the person specification criteria (listed at the end of the job description). Use clear examples of your experience (this link contains some useful guidance). As guidance, written statements should not exceed 1,000 words. You can address multiple criteria together where you think it makes sense. 

Interviews will be held 16th – 23rd February 2026 via MS Teams. We’ll also ask shortlisted candidates to complete a written task online during this timeframe, at a time of your choice. We may hold a pre-qualification stage task (e.g. presentation) depending on the number of applicants. 

We encourage applications from individuals who may not meet every requirement but are excited about the role. We value lived experience of substance use, homelessness, and/or multiple disadvantages. 

We’re a Disability Confident Committed employer. Under our Disability Confident interview scheme, we will offer an interview to disabled candidates where they meet our selection criteria in their application. Some of our roles attract a high volume of applications and in some circumstances where it is not practicable or appropriate, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled candidates. Please confirm in the ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’ part of the application if you are applying under this scheme. We will provide reasonable adjustments as needed. 

Check the job description and team explainer for more information. You can contact Yasmin Gilders to discuss this role further. 

What our people say 

George, who progressed from Assistant Business Development Officer to Business Development Officer last year: 

“What was your route into the team? I came into Business Development after starting out in frontline roles in local authorities and then a housing charity, where I realised I wanted to continue having an impact on people’s lives, but on a bigger scale. The Assistant Business Development Officer role was a perfect progression, and after about a year I successfully applied for a Business Development Officer role. This felt really manageable given the space for development as an Assistant Business Development Officer. 

What are your favourite parts of the job? Winning contracts is a really great feeling, especially when I know they’ve been shaped with service users and colleague to make sure we’re designing services that offer the best support to the most people. I also value the constant opportunities to learn, feeling supported in my development, and seeing the decisions I’m involved in having a real impact on people’s lives.

What were your highlights from last year? Our team away day in Liverpool, which was great fun as well as chance to hear from the managers of our new Liverpool service. It was one of the first bids I worked on as an Assistant Business Development Officer, and it was amazing to see our bid come to life, being delivered by a passionate group of people.

What would you say to someone thinking of applying? I’d definitely say go for it, and once you start, embrace how much there is to learn! Make the most of a really knowledgeable and supportive team, of managers who genuinely want you to succeed, and of all the opportunities to try new things and develop new skills.” 

Holly, who has progressed from Assistant Business Development Officer to Senior Business Development Officer: 

“What was your route into the team? I was a psychology graduate and teacher training drop out! With my experience of working in schools and academic research into young people’s substance use, I started working as an Education Lead for one of CGL’s young person’s services. After a year I applied to join the Business Development Team, wanting to utilise my experience of working frontline and my love of research and writing. I’ve progressed from Assistant to Officer and then Senior Officer since joining the team in 2022.  

How would you describe the team? Helpful, real and full of knowledge. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and is happy to share their skills, knowledge and learning. I’ve never felt like I’ve asked a silly question, and I don’t feel like I must put a on ‘work mask’.

What would you say to someone thinking of applying? Not to think they can’t do it just because they don’t have experience in bid writing or business development. It’s more important to be able to demonstrate that they’re a confident professional writer and are really passionate about working in the drug and alcohol support sector.” 

Salary Range (pro rata if part time)

CGL points 23 to 28 (£27,861.26 - £32,002.35)

Interview Date

16/2/2026

Closing Date

8/2/2026

Oak is a fully remote, mission-driven organisation offering high levels of flexibility, autonomy, and purpose. We’re a national not-for-profit organisation working in partnership with teachers to create high-quality, sequenced curriculum and lesson resources for pupils across all subjects and age groups.

Our culture has been independently recognised through:

• Flexa verified (93% overall score, including 95% for working hours and 97% for role modelling)

• Escape the City's Top 1% Employers – based on anonymous colleague reviews of culture, development, and impact

• Investors in People Gold - through external accreditation and colleague feedback

�� About the Role

Oak provides school teachers and pupils with the highest-quality curriculum and lesson resources across all subjects and age groups.

In this role, you will join our engineering leadership team to manage engineers across our product squads and platform teams, supporting them to thrive and grow. You will work closely with product and platform colleagues to enable effective delivery and continuous improvement, and you will contribute to hiring a diverse mix of permanent colleagues and freelancers to ensure we have the capability needed to deliver our ambitious goals.

Our engineers work in cross-functional product squads alongside designers, researchers, and education experts, regularly releasing new features and improvements that provide teachers and pupils with quick and easy access to high-quality learning resources.

�� What You’ll Be Doing

• Develop and manage a high-performing team 

• Lead the continuous improvement of software engineering practices and processes

• Working with product managers, manage the engineering backlog ensuring that important tasks are prioritised alongside bugs and product features

• Prioritise the hiring and retention of a diverse, engaged and collaborative team of engineers

• As a member of the Oak Team, contribute to the planning and culture of the organisation.

• Work in cross-functional and product-oriented squads with colleagues from across the organisation, as required.

• Deputise for the Head of Engineering and take on other general responsibilities as required.

�� What We’re Looking For

• 2+ years experience leading the continuous improvement of an engineering team’s processes and practices

• Experience of recruiting, developing and managing a high performing engineering team

• Substantial experience working in cross functional teams or squads

• Can demonstrate an understanding of how modern web applications work

• Extensive knowledge of the software product development lifecycle and how it influences the success of a product and a team

• You will be comfortable working at pace, with a range of digital systems (including proprietary ones as required) and you will continuously look at ways that the team can keep getting better. You will be excellent at working as part of a remote team, building relationships and managing your time effectively.

If this sounds like what you’d love to be doing, we can’t wait to hear from you. If you’re not sure that you exactly fit the above criteria, get in touch anyway. Ability and attitude are just as important as experience!

�� Our Benefits

• 25 days annual leave, plus one extra day for each year of service (up to 28)

• Additional Oak closure days over Christmas/New Year

• 11% employer pension contribution (with no minimum employee contribution)

• A 36-hour working week, with half-days on Fridays or every other Friday off

• Fully remote working — we’ll support your home set-up and offer coworking options if preferred

• Twice-yearly in-person offsites to collaborate, connect, and have fun

• A culture that genuinely supports flexibility, autonomy, and trust

�� Inclusion and Belonging

We believe diverse teams build better products. We warmly welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly those who are underrepresented in the tech and education sectors.

We use the Applied recruitment platform to help reduce bias in our hiring process.

�� Key Info

• Location: Remote, but you must be based in the UK with the legal right to work here

• Sponsorship: Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer visa sponsorship at this time

• Closing date: We’ll be reviewing applications as they come in and may close the role early

If this sounds like the kind of role and team where you could do your life’s best work, we’d love to hear from you.

Next steps

You’ll answer some questions related to your day-to-day job. Your answers will go through our sift process: all answers will be anonymised, randomised, and then reviewed by a panel of reviewers (real humans).

If you are shortlisted, we’ll invite you to the next stage, which will consist of a 1-hour Zoom interview to discuss your experience in the role.

We love giving feedback, so at the end of the application process, we'll share how well you performed.

We aim to begin interviews in late January/early February 2026.

We are receiving excellent responses to our job advertisements. This may lead us to close the role early, so if you are considering applying, then please get your application in early to avoid missing out.

We are an equal opportunities employer.

We are committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.

Remote (UK-based) | Full-time | £106,918 + benefits

Oak is a fully remote, mission-driven organisation offering high levels of flexibility, autonomy, and purpose. We’re a national not-for-profit organisation working in partnership with teachers to create high-quality, sequenced curriculum and lesson resources for pupils across all subjects and age groups.

Our culture has been independently recognised through:

• Flexa verified (93% overall score, including 95% for working hours and 97% for role modelling)

• Escape the City's Top 1% Employers – based on anonymous colleague reviews of culture, development, and impact

• Investors in People Gold - through external accreditation and colleague feedback

About the Role

Oak is entering a critical new phase. Over the next three years, we will support the implementation of a revised digital national curriculum, deepen adoption of our curriculum resources across schools, and play a leading role in shaping the safe and ethical use of AI in education.

We are now seeking a Director of Product to lead this work.

This is a senior leadership role responsible for setting and delivering Oak’s product strategy across curriculum, platform, data, research, design and AI quality and safety. You will ensure our products deliver real impact for teachers and pupils, are grounded in evidence and pedagogy, and exemplify what a modern, digital public service can be.

We welcome applications from candidates with senior leadership experience in education, technology, digital or related fields, including those who have not previously held a formal “product” title.

If this sounds exciting and is something you could thrive on, we want to hear from you.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Develop and manage a high-performing Product department, leveraging internal and/or external relationships.

• Manage the Product department budget (minimum of 6-figures).

• Accountable for the department's delivery against division and organisation-wide KPIs.

• Maintain specialist expertise in digital product and strategy development, and be the authority across Oak and, more widely, across the sector.

• Lead Oak’s product strategy and roadmap, ensuring alignment with organisational strategy, user research and evidence.

• Ensure our products meet high standards for user experience, pedagogy, evidence and AI safety, supported by robust evaluation and insight.

• Build strong relationships across education, government and technology to ensure Oak’s products solve real-world needs ethically, safely and cost-effectively.

• Member of the Senior Leadership Team.

• Lead the strategy, planning and model the culture of the organisation.

• Work in cross-functional and product oriented squads with colleagues from across the organisation, as required.

• Deputise for the CEO and take on other general responsibilities as required.

What We’re Looking For

• 3+ years holding responsibility for product/strategy development across a department/organisation.

• Experience of being part of a senior or wider leadership team.

• Experience of recruiting, developing and managing a high performing department.

• Experience of managing a 6-figure budget and ensuring value for money.

• Extensive experience using qualitative and quantitative data to guide decisions and measure impact.

• Proven success leading strategy implementation grounded in user needs, research and evidence.

• Proven ability to articulate complex or technical concepts to senior stakeholders.

• Good understanding of education policy and the UK education system (desirable)

  You will be comfortable working at pace, with a range of digital systems (including proprietary ones as required) and you will continuously look at ways that the team can keep getting better. You will be excellent at working as part of a remote team, building relationships and managing your time effectively.

Our Benefits

• 25 days annual leave, plus one extra day for each year of service (up to 28)

• Additional Oak closure days over Christmas/New Year

• 11% employer pension contribution (with no minimum employee contribution)

• A 36-hour working week, with half-days on Fridays or every other Friday off

• Fully remote working — we’ll support your home set-up and offer coworking options if preferred

• Twice-yearly in-person offsites to collaborate, connect, and have fun

• A culture that genuinely supports flexibility, autonomy, and trust

Inclusion and Belonging

We believe diverse teams build better products. We warmly welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly those who are underrepresented in the tech and education sectors.

We use the Applied recruitment platform to help reduce bias in our hiring process.

Key Info

• Location: Remote, but you must be based in the UK with the legal right to work here

• Sponsorship: Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer visa sponsorship at this time

• Closing date: 23:59 on Wednesday, 4 February 2026. We’ll be reviewing applications as they come in, and may close the role early

If this sounds like the kind of role and team where you could do your life’s best work, we’d love to hear from you.

Next Steps

We aim to run a fair, inclusive process that helps people show what they can really do.

Stage 1: Apply (via Applied)

You’ll apply through the Applied platform. Your application will be scored anonymously against the published criteria and reviewed by multiple assessors.

Stage 2: Short practical exercise (video)

If you progress, we’ll send you a short brief and a few suggested technologies you could use. You’ll then have time to go away, create a simple prototype or generate an insight in response to the brief, and record a short video walking us through what you have produced and why. 

This exercise is designed to be accessible to both technical and non-technical candidates, so please don’t be put off by it. We are not assessing production quality or technical polish. We see it as an opportunity for you to show us how you approach problems, test ideas, and think differently.

Videos will be scored by a group of assessors using clear criteria.

Stage 3: Interview

A shortlist of candidates will be invited to a competency-based interview, assessed against the criteria set out in the job description.

We’ll share full details, timelines and support as you progress. We’re happy to make reasonable adjustments at any stage.

Use of AI in applications

You can use AI to help draft your answers, but remember, we are looking for your experiences and insights, not generic or AI-generated responses.

We score for specific, real examples and your own judgement. If your answers read like AI output or could describe anyone’s experience, they will score poorly.

We are receiving excellent responses to our job advertisements. This may lead us to close the role early, so if you are considering applying, then please get your application in early to avoid missing out.