Policy research officer jobs in colchester, essex
Quality Assurance Analyst
Remote (UK-based) | Full-time | Flexible working | Competitive salary + excellent benefits
Do your best work, for the right reasons.
We’re looking for a Quality Assurance Analyst to help us build beautifully simple, high-impact digital products that support teachers and improve outcomes for pupils across the UK.
Oak is a fully remote, mission-driven organisation offering high levels of flexibility, autonomy, and purpose. We’re a national not-for-profit working in partnership with teachers to create the highest-quality, sequenced curriculum and lesson resources for pupils across all subjects and age groups.
Our culture has been independently recognised through:
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Flexa verified (93% overall score, including 95% for working hours and 97% for role modelling)
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Escape the City's Top 1% Employers – based on anonymous colleague reviews of culture, development, and impact
�� About the Role
You’ll join our cross-functional Product & Engineering team to build and improve the digital platforms that teachers and pupils rely on every day. Working closely with product managers, designers, researchers, and curriculum specialists to ensure our products are high-quality, reliable, and user-friendly.
This is a hands-on role focused on validating features from a user perspective, refining definitions through a QA lens, and exploratory testing across our digital platforms. You'll also help champion a culture of quality and contribute to Oak’s values and wider success.
�� What You’ll Be Doing
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Validating product behaviour of new features from a user perspective and improving feature definitions by providing a QA perspective.
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Communicating and promoting quality as a culture across the engineering, design and product functions.
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Exploratory testing of user facing web apps and internal content creation and management tools.
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As a member of the Oak Team, you will contribute to the wider success and culture of the organisation and support and role model our five values: create the right environment, be a great colleague, own your role but work for the team, make things happen, and keep getting better.
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Work in cross-functional and product oriented squads with colleagues from across the organisation, as required.
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Support all work across the Product team and take on other general responsibilities as required.
�� What We’re Looking For
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Knowledge of testing web or mobile based applications, including exploratory testing, triaging bug reports, identifying common threads in multiple bug reports, and creating well-structure bug reports with appropriate evidence and steps to reproduce.
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An understanding of accessibility concerns for web applications, and how to assess them.
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The ability to design tests and work without test scripts or formal specifications.
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Familiarity with agile processes such as user stories, acceptance criteria and working in sprints with colleagues from other teams.
�� Our Benefits
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25 days annual leave, plus one extra day for each year of service (up to 28)
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Additional Oak closure days over Christmas/New Year
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11% employer pension contribution (with no minimum employee contribution)
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A 36-hour working week, with half-days on Fridays or every other Friday off
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Fully remote working — we’ll support your home set-up and offer coworking options if preferred
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Twice-yearly in-person offsites to collaborate, connect, and have fun
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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
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Location: Remote, but you must be based in the UK with the legal right to work here
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Sponsorship: Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer visa sponsorship at this time
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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. After the advert closes, 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 remote technical interview and a technical pairing session conducted over Zoom. This will last approximately two hours.
We love giving feedback, so at the end of the application process we'll share how well you performed.
We are aiming to start interviews by September 2025.
We are experiencing really good responses to our job adverts. 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.
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CLOSE THIS ROLE EARLY
Non Charity Employer 
101 - 500
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Cord is an international charity working to make peace a reality where people don’t have the freedom to exercise their rights. We work to build the relationship between those in power and local communities.
We believe that people flourish when all parts of society work together. Peaceful relationships make that possible. The simple act of talking begins a journey of growth which transforms mistrust, includes the excluded and turns adversaries into allies.
Cord operates in eight countries and implements programmes in the following areas:
- Empowering Women & Girls
- Accessing Fundamental Freedoms
- Climate & the Environment
- Economic Empowerment
- Supporting Stronger Societies
We are a small, committed team who love working together to make a huge impact. If you like the sound of us, then take a look at the recruitment pack and come and join our team!
About the Role
Are you someone who is passionate about seeing positive change in our world? Can you bring knowledge and creativity in designing innovative and effective peacebuilding programmes?
We are looking for someone to support our programmes and institutional fundraising with excellent writing skills, who is passionate about addressing the root causes of and inequalities caused by conflict. You will be someone passionate about the work Cord does and who can bring technical institutional funding expertise alongside peacebuilding knowledge to our small and committed team.
In this role you will lead the development of new programmes and institutional funding bids in line with Cord’s peacebuilding approach and 5 main programme areas. You will manage proposal submissions to Cord's key donors such as the EU, US State Department, GIZ, SDC, UN Peacebuilding Fund etc. You will be working closely with country teams to design and write proposals based on strong project designs developed in partnership with our local partners.
The role will also operate at a strategic level by managing Cord’s relationships with key donors and shaping how Cord communicates about its programmes and the added-value that Cord brings.
If you like what you read and are passionate about real and lasting change, come and join us and be part of the Cord story.
Application Instructions
To apply please send you CV and a covering letter that explains your interest in Cord and the role, and details how you fulfil the requirements of the role.
Please note: Funding for this position is contingent upon the successful award of external funding that is currently in process and expected to be finalised in Autumn 2025. Whilst the recruitment selection process will run concurrently, the official appointment of this role will take place after funding is officially secured.
This is a UK based remote role and applicants must have the right to work in the UK and the ability to travel to Coventry for team meetings.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Sustainable Living Project Manager
Salary: £35,500p.a. FTE
We also offer 27 days of annual leave (pro-rated for hours worked) plus bank holidays and a birthday day off; extra days leave for travelling using alternatives to flying; the opportunity to join the UK’s first net carbon pension scheme and 8% employer pension contributions; a core hours system of working and enhanced family friendly policies.
Contract: Permanent
Hours: 37.5 hours per week; 30 hours per week, or another flexible working pattern will be considered
Location: Home based with some travel within England
Keep Britain Tidy is one of the UK’s leading environmental charities. At a time when we are living in a world that is facing its greatest environmental challenges, the work we do has never been more important or more urgent. We recognise the huge contribution that individuals and communities can make by taking action to mitigate the pressing global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation.
If this resonates with you, please read on. We have an exciting opportunity for the right person to join our team. We are looking for someone who can work with us to develop and deliver an ambitious audience engagement initiative designed to empower and support people and communities to live more sustainable lives.
Using research insights compiled by our award-winning Centre for Social Innovation, you will pro-actively design, curate and manage an online engagement tool for our large audience of supporters and volunteers. Working collaboratively across the organisation, you will ensure cross-over with our other impactful campaigns and volunteer engagement programmes. You will help design and undertake ongoing monitoring and engagement to ensure that we understand the impact of our offer, and that we can report on it and learn from it. Alongside this, you will work with colleagues to ensure that the project is suitably funded into the future. As the project progresses, there will be additional scope to grow and shape the project dependent on funding.
Environmental change is affecting us all. We want people from all backgrounds to be part of the solution and help us make the changes that cannot wait. It is for this reason that Keep Britain Tidy has flexible and supportive policies for all our staff and welcomes applicants from all backgrounds. If you need any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, you just need to let us know.
If you are interested in this job and want to help us make a difference, please review a copy of the full job description and continue to apply.
As part of the application process, you will need to answer 3 questions and submit a tailored CV which fully demonstrates the essential skills/experience asked for within the job description. We also ask you to complete equal opportunities monitoring information as we want to try to make sure that our worforce is representative of the population and we are not excluding any community. Please note that this information will be held separately.
The deadline for applications is 09:00 Tuesday 26 August 2025. We reserve the right to close the application window early if we receive a high number of applications.
For successful candidates, interviews will be held via Microsoft Teams on Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 September 2025. Candidates are requested to be available for 1 hour and 45 minutes in total. If you require an in-person interview, please let us know.
We have signed the pledge to always #ShowTheSalary for the roles that we advertise.
We are proud winners of the Working Families’ Best Small Employer Award 2021.
No agencies please.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Animals Asia: Philanthropy Manager (USA Lead)
Location: UK Home based, with easy travel to London. Requirement to accommodate US business hours where necessary, with some evening and weekend work.
Salary: £50,000 per annum
Contract: Full-time, Permanent
At Animals Asia, we don’t just talk about compassion – we live it. Every. Single. Day. We're on a powerful mission to end cruelty and restore respect for animals across Asia. Best known for our pioneering work to end bear bile farming, we also run life-saving sanctuaries in China and Vietnam and push for long-term, sustainable change. With 400+ passionate changemakers around the globe, our movement is growing fast – and we need YOU to help lead the charge.
We’re on the hunt for an experienced major gift fundraiser to lead our philanthropy activities in the USA – you will have an exceptional ability to build and maintain relationships with key existing stakeholders as well as potential new donors to help us grow our giving community in the region and supercharge our impact for animals.
What You’ll Do:
As our new Philanthropy Lead for the USA, you’ll:
- Develop and implement strategies to cultivate, solicit and steward donors to support the charity.
- Lead on high-net-worth individual relationships in the USA and the strategic management of a donor pipeline.
- Grow our philanthropic income and build strong, long-term relationships with donors.
- Deputise for other philanthropy managers where required and share your experience and ambition with the wider philanthropy team.
Who You Are:
You will have expertise and a track record in major gift fundraising, relationship management and prospect research, as well as be able to demonstrate superb donor care. You will also be an authentic and confident leader who can build a genuine and long-lasting connection between donors and Animals Asia. You will have superb communication and project management skills, and you will relish the opportunity to travel to the United States at least twice a year to meet with donors.
You thrive in remote teams, know your way around CRMs, and you’re 100% aligned with our values: Empathy. Respect. Courage. Tenacity.
Most of all? You care deeply about animal welfare – and you’re ready to turn that passion into progress.
Ready to Learn More?
Click below to view our full Candidate Pack for everything you need to know – including how to apply.
Closing date: Monday 1st September, 9am BST.
Thank you!
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
The Trust is seeking a Fundraising Director to run the day-to-day operations of our small and successful charity, alongside our existing Director of Operations, starting 1 September 2025, or as soon as possible thereafter.
The annual salary is £33,000 and hours of work are 35 hours a week. The successful candidate must be able to work from home but be willing to travel to central London for regular meetings and occasional events. We are open to part-time or flexible working options.
22 days annual leave increasing one day per year up to 30 days, plus bank holidays.
Pension contribution: employer 3% and staff 5% at the People’s Pension.
Reports to: Chair of the Board of Trustees
Liaises with: Co-Director, project members, bursary holders, project facilitators, trustees, supporters & patrons
About
The National Youth Arts Trust (NYAT) is a small performing arts charity that exists to widen access to the performing arts for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds - through giving bursaries for music, dance, and drama lessons, running youth theatre projects, and taking children to the theatre, often for the first time.
We are looking for an enthusiastic and organised individual, who is a confident fundraiser to help scale up our work nationwide, support in the day-to-day management of the Trust, and assist in fulfilling the trustee’s strategic plans for 2025 and beyond. It is an essential role for this charity and offers a unique opportunity to be involved and have influence on a growing arts organisation with a strong board, a fantastic patron list and national ambitions.
The ideal candidate is an excellent communicator, who would like to build on their fundraising and management experience in the third sector and arts industry and is passionate about equal opportunity in the performing arts.
We are looking for a creative thinker, who takes initiative, is self-motivated and is looking for a varied role within a small but ambitious charity.
Purpose of the Job
· Supporting the day-to-day management of the Trust, with a particular focus on fundraising and event organisation for current and future projects.
· Working with the Board of Trustees to ensure the National Youth Arts Trust achieves its vision and charitable objectives, creating and implementing the strategy for NYAT and ensuring operating policies and procedures are fit for purpose and regularly reviewed.
Principal Tasks
Principal Tasks:
Lead fundraising strategy, write funding bids, and build donor relationships. Manage communications, stakeholder care, and project delivery. Support recruitment, planning, and marketing. Maintain donor databases and ensure strong supporter engagement. Drive new creative initiatives, track budgets and impact, and report regularly to the Board.
This job description is not exhaustive, please refer to the JD and the post holder may be required to undertake other such duties from time to time.
The role will require the successful candidate to complete an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check.
Please contact us if you need the job description in an alternative format or if you need any adjustments if invited to interview.
NYAT is an equal opportunities employer. We guarantee an interview for applicants with a disability providing they meet the minimum requirements for the post. Charity No: 1152367.
· Closing date for applications is 21st August 2025.
· Interviews will be held online and arranged with shortlisted candidates directly, on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays, with possible in person second interviews.
· Start date 1st September 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Thank you!
Job Location: Home-based, with some travel to our London office.
Responsible to: Head of Operations
Hours: 37.5 hours per week
Grade: Point 32-34 £35,614- £37,489 (a London Allowance will be applied to employees who live in London, plus 6% employer’s pension, subject to a minimum 2% contribution by the employee)
Contract: Fixed term until 31st March 2026, with potential 12-month extension to March 2027 pending funding confirmation
Benefits:
- Friendly and collaborative working environment
- Remote working
- 25 to 30 days holidays per annum plus bank holidays (depending on length of service and pro-rata for part-time employees)
- Contributory pension scheme including 6% employer’s contribution (subject to employee’s minimum 2% contribution)
- Enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity pay
- Occupational sick pay depending on length of service and pro-rata for part-time employees.
- Access to Employee Assistance Programme
- Access to staff discounts
Closing date: Tuesday 26th August 2025 17:00pm
Interviews to take place: 9th September 2025 onwards
About the role:
We are seeking a proactive and detail-oriented PMO Officer to support across the Drive Partnership. This role is critical to ensure robust project management processes, reporting and cross-team communication. You will be working closely with the Drive Practice Team and PCC areas where Drive is being delivered.
About you:
- Proven experience in project coordination or PMO functions in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment
- Experience coordinating reporting cycles, templates, and compliance processes
- Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple workflows and deadlines simultaneously
- Knowledge/ understanding of public sector or non-profit delivery models, particularly in criminal justice or domestic abuse sectors (desirable)
- Commitment to meaningful anti-discriminatory practice, and equity, diversity and inclusion
- Demonstrate a commitment to - and understanding of - the values, aims and objectives of Respect
About Respect
Respect is a pioneering UK membership organisation in the domestic abuse sector. Founded in 2000, we have built our expertise over the last 25 years in what was then a fledgling sector and recently have seen significant and rapid growth.
How to apply
You must download an application form from Respect's job page, and follow the instructions on the Respect website.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.