Policy and research assistant jobs in Manchester, greater manchester

We are looking for a Campaigns Assistant (New Parent Leave Cover), to support the Campaigns and Movement Building team in delivering campaigns to stop new oil and gas fields and accelerate a fair phase-out of oil and gas in the UK. The Campaigns Assistant will play a key role in ensuring campaign infrastructure runs smoothly and that mobilisation activities, stakeholder communications, and campaign logistics are effectively coordinated.

Communications Assistant

• 15 hours per week at £15.00 an hour (Actual salary £11,700 - FTE £27,300)
• Hours may be worked flexibly over a minimum of 3 days a week
• Home based with occasional prearranged in person meetings

The Communications Assistant will provide hands-on support to the Communications Manager in the ideation, creation and delivery of our regular external communications. This includes helping to grow our social media following, creating and scheduling content, sourcing and designing images, providing copywriting support, and responding to comments across our channels. The role will also involve drafting and scheduling newsletters and providing administrative support with our databases.

This is a 15‑hour‑per‑week role, with the potential to grow in the future. Ideally, we are looking for someone who can spread their hours across the week to support consistent content delivery, but we are open to discussing alternative working patterns for the right candidate.

The successful candidate will have experience in a communications, marketing or social media role. They will be proficient in Adobe Illustrator and have basic video editing and/or animation skills. Strong copywriting skills and the ability to adapt tone of voice for different channels are essential, as is confidence using Mailchimp or similar email marketing platforms.

We are a busy remote team, and this role offers plenty of scope to work autonomously and flexibly. You’ll gain experience across a wide range of areas and develop your skills in a supportive, hands‑on environment, with opportunities to contribute to the creative direction of our communications.

Closing date: 19th April 2026

Interviews: 29th April 2026

We are seeking an experienced and committed Youth Work Programme Manager to join The Kite Trust. This is an exciting opportunity to lead and develop impactful programmes that support and empower LGBTQ+ young people. The successful candidate will provide strategic oversight of our youth work provision, manage and support a dedicated team, and work collaboratively with partners to ensure our services remain inclusive, responsive, and effective. If you are a thoughtful and motivated leader with a strong commitment to high-quality youth work and creating safe, supportive spaces for young people, we would welcome your application.

This is a remote position but will require travel across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, and the surrounding areas.

Contract Type: This is a full-time permanent position, working 32 hours within a 4-day working week. We are happy to discuss and explore flexible options and job share opportunities.

Salary: £34,936 – £40,311 depending on experience.

To find out more about the role, please review the application pack detailing the job description and person specification and apply via the link on our website.

Are you an approachable, friendly, people person who feels at ease engaging with people facing homelessness?

Do you have the confidence to hop on the Justlife minibus and participate in outreach to temporary accommodation across Manchester, going out and meeting people where they are? Are you able to adapt to changing situations, think on your feet and problem solve?

Are you passionate about navigating through various systems to get the best outcomes for people who are homeless and living in temporary accommodation?

Are you open to supporting people using a trauma informed approach and reflecting on your practice with colleagues?

If you do want to work for an innovative, collaborative and solution focused organisation that supports homeless adults living in temporary accommodation then please apply! See below for details.

About Us

Why do we exist?

Justlife is in existence because we know thousands of people struggle to manage in poor and unsuitable temporary accommodation. Their stay isn’t temporary, they are likely to be suffering with deteriorating mental and physical health, becoming victims of crime, losing control of their life and even dying prematurely. We are working towards making their stays as short, safe and healthy as possible.

How do we operate?

Our values guide our work and are very important to us:

• Collaboration before competition
• People before programmes
• Innovation before institutions

What do we do?

Justlife delivers impactful services in Greater Manchester and Brighton & Hove, supporting and empowering people experiencing homelessness in temporary accommodation. We also drive positive system change across the national temporary accommodation sector, convening those with a common interest; people with lived experience, landlords, charities, local and national government, and carrying out research and gathering insights.

We aim to grow our impact and reach, supporting more people in temporary accommodation and to build a movement that brings about lasting positive change.

Why work for us?

Here at Justlife, we're committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We want to be an organisation that's representative of the communities we serve, which is why we strive for diversity of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity and perspective.

Perks of working at Justlife

• Great holiday package! Starting at 27 days annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays (increasing to 29 days after 5 years’ service and 30 days after 10 years’ service)
• Additional 5 days annual leave purchase scheme through salary sacrifice
• Enhanced pension contribution scheme, 5% Justlife contribution (correct at time of print)
• Cycle to work scheme
• 2 Volunteering days per year
• Access to regular clinical supervision

About the job

About this role:

The role of Specialist Support Worker involves supporting a caseload of clients who are experiencing homelessness and taking part in regular outreach visits to temporary accommodation (TA) across Greater Manchester. The role requires the use of specialist knowledge and relationship skills to support clients with varying degrees of mental and physical health, addiction and trauma related issues to engage with health services and to access suitable housing solutions. The Specialist Support Worker is also expected to develop good working relationships with TA Landlords and Managers ensuring that their residents experience of TA is as positive as possible.

This will include advocacy in registering them for medical services and accompanying them to appointments, assisting them in addressing all aspects of physical and mental health and substance addiction needs, as well as advocating for them to get access to suitable housing and social security benefits. The role is dependent on excellent communication and collaborative working with colleagues and a variety of partners, including the Probation Service, local council services and other third sector organisations.

The role requires a high degree of motivation in addition to creativity and flexibility to support people with multiple and compound needs. With a passion to work collaboratively with others for the good of our clients, and with experience of working in a related field in a voluntary or paid capacity.

Making decisions ‘in the moment’ to mitigate risk with clients can place high emotional demands on the job holder. A high degree of emotional intelligence is required to support clients, many of whom have complex emotional needs, with backgrounds of trauma, neglect, abuse and involvement in the criminal justice system. In a role of this nature, you will experience a range of emotions from joy to grief and as such it requires a high level of resilience and self-awareness to cope with the emotional demands of the role.

The role sits within a highly supportive team with all staff in receipt of regular line management and external clinical supervision; with reflective practice actively encouraged in team meetings.

Key terms and conditions

Job Title: Specialist Support Worker

Hours: 31 hours per week

Contract: Permanent

Normal hrs to be worked: Monday/Wednesday 9am-5pm and Tuesday/Thursday 9am-5.30pm

Location: Justlife Centre, Manchester

Salary: £15.33 p/h (£29,894 per annum pro rata)

Application Process

To apply, please upload an up-to-date CV and a covering letter addressing how you meet the person specification. The person specification details key areas of knowledge, experience, skills and personal attributes required for the role. Please describe in this section, using examples from your experience, how you meet the person specification. Short listing will be based upon how well you demonstrate your ability to meet the person specification in your cover letter.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

We value authentic applications but recognise that Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn.

Deadline for applications is midnight 9th April, but we may close this early if enough suitable applicants are identified.

Provisional interview dates will be the week of 20th April.

Role description

Service Delivery:

Using frontline practical and procedural knowledge of working with people with multiple and compound needs to support them to engage with health care, wellbeing services, benefits and housing services during their housing vulnerability.

This could include, but is not limited to:

• Assisting people in addressing housing, financial, health and wellbeing needs through the support pathway.
• Connecting people with appropriate support services such as substance misuse services, GP, mental health services, advocating on behalf of the client and accompanying them to appointments.
• Supporting the delivery of outreach to TA’s across Greater Manchester on the Justlife minibus. This includes engaging with residents, managers and landlords of TA to build effective working relationships and establish support needs.
• Helping to increase the self-confidence of clients to improve their chances of moving on from their housing vulnerability through one to one key work sessions, group activities and outreach.
• Maintaining regular contact, a listening ear and emotional support during times of crisis.
• Liaising with Landlords and property Managers to identify residents who would like support and to help prevent evictions.
• Manage own calendar to deliver a caseload during periods of work-related pressure, including actively pursuing the project outcomes set for the project and individual clients.
• Use interpersonal and communication skills to provide support to clients and collaborate with others including colleagues, partner agencies, health care professionals and external agencies through joint working.
• Take duty of care seriously by assessing the client’s social and environmental conditions, identifying and passing on information to and from relevant professionals, ensuring client confidentiality is maintained.
• Use of excellent writing skills to prepare and submit referrals and housing applications along with a good working knowledge of housing legislation in order to advocate on behalf of people.
• Brief and liaise with other members of the team and external agencies regarding clients, enabling them to effectively carry out their roles.
• Ensure accurate and up to date client data and case notes are recorded within our Inform database within the standards set by the organisation.
• Carry out light physical tasks, such as travelling to visit people on outreach, shopping, organising deliveries or lifting office equipment.

Service Development:

• Collaborate with the entire Specialist Support team to ensure support requirements are in place for all registered clients.
• Contribute to initiatives that seek to influence service improvements, implement changes and develop new interventions and support for clients.
• Provide data, reports and impact studies when requested.
• To be part of and contribute to the Justlife staff team, attending meetings as appropriate and to be involved in staff development, training, supervision and reflective practice as well as continuing professional development and training events where appropriate and be committed to team events.

Research:

• Supporting the wider Justlife vision to feed into research and help develop the service including the involvement of clients in design and delivery of the service.

Responsible to: Service Manager

Responsible for: N/A

This job description is intended as an outline indicator of general areas of activity and will be amended in light of the changing needs of Justlife. It is expected that the post holder will be as positive and flexible as possible in using this document as a framework, and in performing other duties commensurate with these responsibilities, the band of the post and skills and qualification of the post-holder.

Person Specification

Experience:

• Experience of working with vulnerable adults (those experiencing homelessness or housing vulnerability, or a comparable client group).
• Experience of working with drug and alcohol dependent adults and those experiencing poor mental health.
• Experience of working with people in contact with the criminal justice system.

Skills:

• Care, empathy and skilled in dealing with emotionally vulnerable clients.
• Excellent ability to engage with clients in an empowering manner.
• Effective communication; written and oral skills.
• Effective administrative and IT skills.
• Excellent organisational skills.
• Driving licence holder and access to a vehicle (desirable).

Knowledge:

• Demonstrate knowledge of assessment, support planning and interventions that help clients experiencing homelessness or housing vulnerability to feel connected and healthier.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the challenges and solutions to working with a client group who may be experiencing one or more of the following: poor health (physical and mental), substance misuse, homelessness and contact with the criminal justice system.
• An understanding of health and safety and safeguarding policies and procedures that aim to keep staff and clients safe.

Personal Attributes:

• Commitment to equal opportunities in our service delivery.
• High level of self-awareness and the ability to maintain personal wellbeing through periods of pressure and stress.
• Ability to be self-motivated and work well in a team and as a lone worker.

Please Note: You will not be eligible to apply unless you hold the L2 Award in Instructing Cycle Training and have worked for 5 years in cycle training. If you do not hold this qualification your application will automatically rejected. 

• Lead the Trust’s strategic development work supporting our 2025–2035 strategic ambitions.
• Drive innovation across the Bikeability programme — including training guidance, evidence-based pilots, and digital learning products.
• Use your expertise as a qualified cycle training instructor to shape improvements to national training delivery.
• Support research, evaluation and evidence generation to ensure the programme remains future-focused and impactful.
• Represent the Trust at national forums, government meetings, conferences, and sector events.
• Manage development budgets, oversee project governance, and contribute to strategic decision-making.
• Ideal for someone with quality assurance experience, a strong background in qualification design and evaluation, and a proven track record of delivering innovative, high-impact projects.

We expect to hold interviews on either 10th or 13th April but we may do rolling interviews. 

Head of Principal Gifts
Employer: University of Manchester
Salary: £59,966 to £71,566, depending on experience with scope to go beyond for an exceptional candidate
Location: Hybrid working, Manchester

We are looking for our new Head of Principal Gifts to work with our highest level of donors, securing principal gifts in support of the University of Manchester's key priorities - gifts that are truly transformational and enable us to tackle some of the world's greatest challenges.

We're taking our big gift fundraising to the next level with the launch of a dedicated Principal Gifts programme, and we're looking for someone to play a key role in shaping that transformation, building deep, lasting relationships with top-level donors in the UK and internationally.

With our inspirational new strategy in place and our first-ever university-wide philanthropic campaign, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, launched in November 2025, this is a pivotal moment for Manchester and for your career.

Reporting to the Deputy Director, Principal Gifts, you'll be joining a brilliant, values-driven team with a fantastic pipeline of prospects, strong existing relationships, and academics who are fully engaged in what we're building together.

Great things happen at The University of Manchester every day - from finding new treatments for cancer and discovering wonder materials like Nobel Prize-winning graphene, to providing life-changing scholarships and influencing government policy to help the world's poorest people. This is the work your fundraising will make possible.

If you're a major gifts or big gift fundraiser ready to make your mark at a world-renowned institution and take that next career-defining step, we'd love to hear from you.

Closing date: Midnight on Monday 20 April 2026

Interested?

Please familiarise yourself with the attached Candidate Pack.
To apply, please submit a CV and covering letter.

The University of Manchester is partnering with Constellate Global Talent on this search. No agencies please.

Location: Remote (UK only) or Hybrid (Brighton/Sussex) 

Salary: £35,787 (pro rata), 4 days £28,629.60 (actual) plus statutory pension contributions 

Hours: Part-time, 30 hours a week

Contract: 12 month contract, with the intention to renew if the role makes a positive impact 

Start: As soon as possible 

Who we are: 

Grassroots Suicide Prevention (GSP) is a national charity committed to the timely intervention and prevention of suicide. We work to empower people to help save lives through connecting, educating, and campaigning nationally. Our vision is a future where more lives are saved from suicide. 

About the role:  
We are seeking a highly organised and driven Project and Operations Manager to help streamline processes, deliver key initiatives, and support our continued growth in our Training team. In this role, you will bring together complex communications, requests, and ideas, translating them into clear plans, structured workflows, and effective processes that ensure the successful delivery of multiple projects. You will combine strong planning and organisational expertise with a practical, hands-on approach to implementation. Comfortable managing competing priorities, you will remain flexible and adaptable, responding effectively to unforeseen challenges while keeping projects on track. 

Your excellent communication skills will set you apart. You will be an active listener who can clearly convey ideas, build alignment, and confidently influence colleagues, stakeholders, and external partners. With a strong business mindset and a passion for operational excellence, you will play a key role in ensuring both projects and day-to-day operations run smoothly. 
 
This is a highly rewarding role with significant real-world impact. Candidates should demonstrate resilience, as the role involves remote working, engaging with complex subject matter, operating in a fast-paced environment, and managing multiple priorities. You will also be responsible for overseeing the simultaneous delivery of multiple training courses, requiring flexibility, strong organisation, and the ability to multitask effectively. You will be working in close collaboration and guided by the Training Manager and senior leadership staff. 

Your welfare is the utmost priority; before applying, please consider carefully whether the demands and requirements of the role and subject matter could impact your wellbeing. 

Main Duties and Responsibilities:  

• Lead the project management of all training programmes and services, ensuring effective planning, coordination, delivery, evaluation, and reporting 

• Provide day-to-day coordination and effective leadership, including clear direction and support to the training team (currently three reports) 

• Oversee all aspects of contract delivery, including project planning, timelines, budget management, communications, and reporting to clients, partners and internal teams 

• Manage and maintain updates of a training calendar identifying activity, allocating trainers to training courses to ensure quality delivery of courses 

• Working with managers and team in Training, oversee the Assistant Trainers (freelance trainers) communications, allocations, contracts, feedback and allocation of work 

• Build, develop, and maintain strong relationships with external partners and clients, ensuring all interactions reflect the strategic direction and protect the reputation of the charity 

• Work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders, using strong negotiation and influencing skills to ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to a high standard 

• Monitor and report on project progress and performance, ensuring the efficient and effective delivery of all training activities and identifying and raising risks or issues early 

• Working with managers in Finance and Training, set realistic targets, manage budgets, cross-checking invoices, and capacity, and track project performance against agreed KPIs 

• Support quality assurance across training programmes, including accreditation requirements, reviewing and proofreading materials, adherence to brand, copyright and maintaining high standards of training materials 

• Working with managers in Marketing and Training. oversee and provide reports on training evaluation data and feedback to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement 

• Working collaboratively with the Marketing team to ensure a consistent flow of content to promote the courses, such as upcoming training, feedback quotes and data, website updates, training videos and raising courses that align with campaigns 

• Working with managers in Communications, implement improvements to systems, processes, and workflows to enhance operational efficiency and the client experience from initial enquiry through to evaluation 

• Support the growth of the organisation’s training offer by identifying and assessing opportunities for new partnerships, services, and income generation 

• Maintain oversight of the effective and consistent use of operational systems and platforms across the team (such as Salesforce, Eventbrite, SurveyMonkey, Monday), recommending improvements where appropriate 

• Working across the training team, ensure activities comply with relevant policies and regulations, including health and safety, safeguarding, suicide prevention, and ethical standards 

• Undertake additional duties as required to improve the function of the Training team, as directed by your line manager. 

To succeed and thrive in this role, you will be: 

• Confident, adaptable, and highly organised, with exceptional attention to detail 

• Eager to learn and develop, welcoming guidance and feedback from senior managers to continually improve 

• Hands-on and comfortable engaging with operational detail, while maintaining a strategic mindset 

• Proactive and solutions-focused, able to suggest improvements and independently resolve challenges when needed 

• Able to prioritise your own workload and that of your team 

• Reliable in meeting deadlines and maintaining consistently high standards of work 

• Skilled at communicating tasks clearly to project teams effectively and efficiently, with the ability to adapt communication styles to suit a range of audiences 

• Comfortable working in a fast-paced training delivery environment, able to prioritise effectively and manage multiple responsibilities 

• Ability to work independently and collaboratively adapting to rapidly changing needs and working flexibly across multiple projects 

• Self-motivated and capable of working independently and remotely, while also contributing positively as part of a team 

• Willing to act as a brand ambassador and consider and raise any risks to the charity’s reputation and profile within Training activity 

• Represent Grassroots Suicide Prevention on external groups and promote our services and expertise 

• Willingness to travel occasionally if required 

• Passionate about your part in delivering high-quality online and in-person training courses that help save lives. 

Essential Skills and Experience: 

• A recognised project management qualification or equivalent practical experience 

• Proven experience managing multiple projects simultaneously, delivering them from initiation through to completion across cross-functional teams 

• Strong ability to analyse quantitative and qualitative data, identify risks, and recognise emerging trends to inform decision-making 

• Experience writing high-quality reports for clients, clearly demonstrating project progress, outcomes, and impact 

• Demonstrated ability to lead, manage, and motivate teams, fostering collaboration and high performance 

• Highly self-motivated and resilient, with the ability to work effectively in a remote or distributed environment 

• Evidence of developing and improving processes and procedures to increase organisational efficiency and effectiveness 

• Advanced working knowledge of Microsoft Office, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, CRM systems, and email marketing platforms 

• Proven experience building and maintaining strong relationships with colleagues, clients, and key stakeholders 

• Strong negotiation, influencing, and diplomacy skills, with a track record of achieving positive outcomes, including growing client engagement 

• Experience representing and communicating with senior stakeholders and decision-makers internally and externally 

• Experience in operational, financial, and business planning, including budget management and monitoring 

• Understanding of accessible communications, brand consistency, key messaging, and reputation management 

• Commitment to safeguarding, confidentiality, and ethical practice. 

Desirable Skills and Experience: 

• Project management experience within teaching and learning environments, including e-learning development or delivery 

• Understanding of quality assurance processes, including reviewing and maintaining training or educational materials 

• Experience using AI tools responsibly and effectively, with awareness of both the opportunities and potential risks 

• Experience working in the non-profit or charitable sector 

• Experience collaborating with a diverse range of clients, such as non-profit organisations, county councils, corporate organisations, and the Civil Service 

• Knowledge or experience in health and social care, mental health, or suicide prevention 

• Experience with design principles and accessibility in communications, ensuring materials are inclusive and user-friendly 

• Familiarity with platforms such as Eventbrite, Salesforce, SurveyMonkey, Mailchimp

• Awareness of marketing and promoting training courses 

• Experience conducting competitor research and analysing data to inform improvements and decision-making. 

Why Grassroots Suicide Prevention: 

GSP is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community and workplace - a place where we can all be ourselves, and each have the equal opportunity to succeed and be recognised for our unique contribution. We value the experiences, skills and perspectives of all individuals and actively encourage applications from people with diverse backgrounds. We make recruitment decisions based on applicants’ skills, experience, and knowledge, ensuring all applicants are treated fairly. 

Our employee benefits include: 

• Hybrid/Flexible working – we offer our team a split of home and office working, or fully remote working in some roles 

• Health Cash Plan and employee assistant programme offering a contribution to the costs of everyday healthcare needs (dental, optical, wellbeing) and counselling support, plus legal and financial support 

• Learning and development opportunities

• A creative, friendly and collaborative culture. 

Please note that we are looking for a start as soon as possible, so the selection process begins immediately and will close when we fill the post with the right person.

GSP is in a period of transition and development, and the post holder should be aware that their Job Description and line management may evolve to meet the future needs of the charity. 

We are looking for a Coordinator to help our small Quaker peace organisation to continue to thrive when our current Coordinator retires at the end of 2026.

You will work with NFPB trustees and members to support Quakers in the North of Britain in their peace work, which covers a wide range of issues. As the only employee, you will need to be self-motivated, flexible and able to work with volunteers and other organisations. The role includes planning and arranging events, networking, communications and administrative tasks. We are looking for someone who is passionate about helping others work for peace.

We would like the new Coordinator to be in post by early October to allow a reasonable handover with the current Coordinator.

NB: Whilst the office is currently in Bolton, this may move if a different location is more appropriate for the succesful candidate