Research and evaluation manager volunteer roles in Belfast

People & Planet is looking for volunteers to assist with compiling its 2026/27 People & Planet University League; the only higher education ranking that classifies based on ethics and climate justice criteria.

Universities impart skills and knowledge, form life-long beliefs and behaviours, act as centres of communities, employ, house and feed large numbers of people and promote the creation and sharing of knowledge. We believe this makes them uniquely placed to lead on environmental and ethical issues. For this reason the People & Planet University League has been running since 2007 and has been published by high-profile media partners such as The Guardian (2021, 2022. 2023, 2024, 2025), The BBC, and whose data is used in the Sunday Time Good University Guide.

Volunteers will research publicly available university documents and assess universities against our marking criteria, which cover a wide range of climate and social justice issues including decarbonisation, fossil fuel divestment, ethical banking, workers’ rights and environmental management among others. This work will help to incentivise the university sector towards taking immediate and appropriate action on the climate crisis and upholding the rights and wellbeing of all people internationally.

The role will develop and improve the following areas:

• Qualitative research skills

• Attention to detail

• Use of data collection software

• Time management and keeping to deadlines

• Working independently and remotely

• Communication skills

• Knowledge of environmental management processes and sustainability reporting.

Training is provided for the role. We believe the skills and experience gained could be valuable for a number of career paths, including working in NGOs, corporate sustainability, estates management, higher education policy making, research and campaigning among many others.

People & Planet would like to support volunteers in their future careers, so will give all volunteers an official reference letter on successful completion of their placement and will act as a referee for future positions for which you may apply. From last year’s cohort, 100% said they would recommend this position to someone who wanted to add experience to their CV.

Feedback from previous volunteers

‘I think as someone looking for relevant experience to bolster a CV, this is a helpful and not-too-time-consuming position. It had exactly the kind of flexibility that I required at this point in time.’

‘It's a really great opportunity to hone one's research skills, learn more about what our universities can do to improve their impact on the planet, and make a small but real difference.’

Person Specification -the following are essential:

• Access to a computer or laptop and internet connection.

• Familiarity with desk-based research.

• Ability to work accurately and efficiently to agreed standards.

• Reliability and commitment to completing work to deadlines.

• Able to communicate needs with staff at People & Planet and if needed, ask for appropriate support to complete tasks in time.

• Ability to search policy documents for specific information in English.

• Ability to assess information against standardised frameworks.

• Ability to work remotely and independently

The following are desirable:

• Awareness of current issues in sustainability and ethics.

• Experience of research and data collection.

• An interest in higher education policy.

Please note anyone employed by a UK university cannot volunteer as a Researcher.

You will need to commit to

• Two 25 hour weeks of remote work in July and August.

• 5 hours work per day for the two week period. Volunteers can manage their own time flexibly and will receive support from People & Planet, but must meet task deadlines on a weekly basis and attend a short daily meeting. Volunteers are free to work evenings and weekends, but please note People & Planet operates a 4 day week from 9-5.

• One induction session the week prior to your 2 week engagement.

• Completion of a self-access standardisation activity prior to the start of your engagement.

• Attending a brief meeting in the morning or afternoon each day and one individual check-in meeting in week 1.

• Checking the work chat function regularly.

Summer timetable

June 22nd-July 3rd Ethical Investment and Banking, Ethical Careers and Recruitment, Education for Sustainable Development. Induction 18th June 10am

July 13th-July 24th Sustainable Food, Staff & HR, Environmental Policy and Strategy Induction 9th July 10am

August 3rd-August 14th Managing Carbon, Workers’ Rights, Staff and Student Engagement. Induction 30th July 10am

How to Apply

Fill in this form and attach a C.V that has your full name in the filename.

Applications will be processed on a rolling basis until positions are filled, so please apply early to avoid disappointment. The deadline for applications is Wednesday the 20th May at 11:59

Candidates will need to attend a non-competitive group recruitment session and complete an online self-access task before being invited to volunteer with us.

Please let us know if you have specific access needs and what we can do to make the interview, training and volunteer experience more accessible to you, including organising a one-on-one interview. We welcome people with hearing loss, deaf and or disabled people to apply for this volunteer opportunity -unfortunately we don't use BSL so would need to make alternative support provisions for the training, unless a BSL interpreter can join you. If you have specific needs where we might support you by making this volunteering opportunity more accessible, please contact us.

People & Planet welcome applications from BAME folks and people of colour, from disabled people, from LGBTQI*people, from people who speak English as a second language, from people who identify as non-binary gender, from women, from people of different ages, from people with caring responsibilities and from people with irregular migration status, people seeking asylum in the UK or with a migrant background, folks with a working class background, and everyone else.

Boys Champions

We equip boys and men with healthier masculinity to prevent gender-based violence and mental health crises.

Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Specialist

We are looking for a Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist to strengthen how Boys Champions measures, tracks, and communicates its impact.
This role is essential to positioning the organization for large-scale funding and institutional partnerships.

What You Will Do

• Design and refine monitoring and evaluation frameworks across programs
• Develop clear indicators aligned with outcomes (e.g., behavior change, attitude shifts, help-seeking)
• Support data collection systems and tools across program sites
• Analyze program data and generate insights for internal learning and external reporting
• Support the development of impact reports for funders and partners
• Align measurement systems with recognized frameworks

What We Are Looking For

• Experience in monitoring & evaluation, research, or impact measurement
• Strong data analysis and interpretation skills
• Ability to design practical, field-friendly data systems
• Experience working with nonprofits or social impact programs
• Attention to detail and structured thinking

What Success Looks Like

• Clear, credible, and consistent impact data
• Stronger reporting to funders and stakeholders
• Improved ability to demonstrate outcomes (not just outputs)
• Data-driven program improvements

Minimum Hours per Week:

10+ hours per week

Duration:

6+ months

We’re Looking for a Project‑Leading Powerhouse — Could This Be You?

Unlock YOUR Potential is a brand‑new East London charity with a bold mission: to open doors for adults who need support, confidence, and real opportunities to move forward in their careers and lives. We’re building programmes, mentoring pathways, and community‑driven support that will give people the foot‑up they deserve.

But every great mission needs someone who can turn vision into action. Someone who can bring order to the chaos of a start‑up charity. Someone who can help us launch with purpose, clarity, and good practice at the heart of everything.

We’re searching for a volunteer Project Manager to lead our set‑up to launch phase.

Just a few hours a week — but with the power to shape the entire foundation of our organisation.

What this role is all about

You’ll help us:

• Build a clear project plan and timeline

• Create structure, strategy, and accountability

• Keep us on track as we move from idea to launch

• Ensure we follow good practice and strong governance

• Turn our early‑stage vision into a well‑organised, ready‑to‑deliver charity

Your leadership will help us launch confidently, professionally, and with the systems we need to support adults across East London.

Who we hope to find

Someone who:

• Loves planning, organising, and bringing clarity to big ideas

• Cares deeply about people, community, and social impact

• Wants to give back in a way that creates long‑lasting change

• Can offer a few hours a week to guide our early development

• Feels energised by building something meaningful from the ground up

Why your contribution matters

1. You won’t just be managing tasks — you’ll be shaping the backbone of a charity that will change lives.
2. Your project plan becomes the roadmap.
3. Your structure becomes our stability.
4. Your leadership becomes the reason we launch strong and ready to serve.

If you’re passionate about people and want to make a real difference in East London and beyond, this is your moment.

Join us. Help build the launch that unlocks someone’s future.

About Us

Health in the Margins C.I.C. is a newly established UK Community Interest Company. We centre the voices, values and healing traditions of frontline communities- those most affected by health inequalities.

We do this through:

• community-led research & education
• co-designed health programmes and evaluation
• policy and advocacy work

Founded in September 2025, we are in our first year. We are currently building partnerships and securing funding, with plans to increase programme delivery in 2026.

Our Mission: Striving towards epistemic justice, our mission is to centre the voices, values and healing traditions of frontline communities towards the goal of advancing health equity.

The Opportunity

We are looking for a new non-executive director to join our board and help guide the organisation as we grow.

As a small, founder-led organisation, we need someone who can offer strategic thinking, support strong and ethical governance, and help us build a sustainable foundation while staying true to our values and accountable to community.

This is an opportunity to shape an organisation from an early stage and contribute to work focused on health justice. We are looking for someone who is not only skilled, but also personally committed to this work and willing to engage thoughtfully with the communities we come from and work with.

Who we are looking for

We are interested in someone who is passionate about tackling health inequity and motivated to contribute to grassroots, community-led work. We are recruiting 1 or 2 new directors. As we are newly established, experience in one or more of the following would be helpful:

• Strategic thinking aligned with our mission
• Governance (for example as a trustee or director of a charity or CIC) to help us with activities such as updating our bye-laws
• Fundraising (especially with trusts and foundations)
• Developing sustainable income or partnerships
• Finance, risk or organisational sustainability
• Supporting early-stage or growing organisations

We are committed to ensuring our board reflects the communities most affected by health inequalities. We strongly encourage applications from people with lived experience of these issues, including (but not limited to) those from Global Majority communities, disabled people, people with long-term health conditions, migrants, and LGBTQIA+ communities.

We value knowledge gained through community work, lived experience, and informal leadership.

We recognise that this experience often brings valuable insight into systems, access, and equity that is not always captured through formal professional routes.

We are also keen to hear from people who may not have extensive formal board experience, but who have:

• Held responsibility in community, voluntary or informal leadership roles
• Worked closely with marginalised communities
• Contributed to decision-making in grassroots or movement spaces

What matters most to us is not a specific career path, but the ability to engage seriously with governance, bring thoughtful perspective, and contribute to an organisation that is still being shaped.

What You Will Do

You will be part of a small grassroots team that is committed to closing the health gaps in our communities. In this role, you will:

• Provide strategic guidance and oversight
• Help ensure strong governance and accountability
• Support our fundraising approach and sustainability
• Contribute to risk management and sustainability planning
• Act as an ambassador for the organisation
• Attend quarterly board meetings (online)

Time commitment: Approximately 4–6 hours per month.

This is a voluntary (unpaid) role.

What You Will Gain

• The chance to shape a new organisation from the ground up
• The chance to contribute to transformative work in global health equity
• The opportunity to support meaningful, community-led work on health

Person Specification

We are looking for someone who:

• Understands governance responsibilities
• Can offer constructive challenge and independent thinking
• Shares our commitment to equity and community leadership
• Works collaboratively and respectfully
• Can commit reliably to board activities

We are particularly keen to strengthen the independence of our board and welcome applicants who are not connected personally or professionally to the current directors.

How to Apply

Please send:

• A short statement (maximum 1 page or up to 5 minutes audio/video) outlining:
  • Your governance experience
  • Why you’re interested in Health in the Margins
  • What you would bring to the role
• A CV or a short summary of your relevant experience (this can include unpaid or community-based work)

Deadline: Monday 18 May 2026 (end of day)

We will invite shortlisted candidates to an informal online conversation.

If you would like to discuss the role before applying or need a different format to apply, please contact us.

We will review applications on a rolling basis and may close early if we find a suitable candidate.

About Roots Academy. 

Roots Academy’s Vision.

A generation of young Muslims who embody and promote a God-centred way of life.

 At Roots Academy, we’ve built a learning experience that’s changing the lives of the ummah’s future leaders, change-makers and visionaries. Our Mission is to deliver a structured and transformative education in the Essentials of Islam in a way that lowers barriers to access, develops a deep certainty, and inspires action.

Why Does Roots Academy Exist?

Crisis of Faith: 1 in 4 young Muslims are leaving the religion due to various factors, primarily the pervasive anti-religious content and temptations they encounter online and offline. 

Roots Academy exists to bridge this gap by providing a structured and transformative Islamic education that speaks directly to the needs and challenges of young Muslims today, delivered in an engaging and accessible form that removes barriers to access and provokes thought and action.

Role Summary.

The Talent Acquisition Specialist is responsible for attracting, screening, and supporting the selection of qualified volunteers and team members who align with the organization’s mission and values. This role focuses on building strong recruitment pipelines through strategic outreach, managing initial candidate evaluations, and supporting the hiring process to ensure the organization continues to grow with passionate and capable people who truly believe in the mission and vision of Roots Academy

Key tasks

• Lead volunteer recruitment efforts by sourcing, attracting, and engaging qualified candidates aligned with organizational values and needs
• Identify and develop strategic outreach channels by researching and recommending platforms, communities, and locations to advertise open positions
• Conduct initial resume screenings and candidate evaluations to assess qualifications, experience, and role fit prior to advancing applicants to interview stages

What we’re looking for

• Interest or experience in recruitment, human resources, or talent acquisition
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage candidates professionally and respectfully
• Ability to assess basic qualifications and role alignment
• Strong organizational and time-management skills, with attention to detail
• Ability to work collaboratively with People & Culture leadership and team members
• Alignment with the organization’s mission, values, and community-focused approach

What we have to offer

• Be part of a team of 100+ dedicated volunteers around the world. 
• Receive continuous rewards for those that seek Islamic knowledge from the Roots platform. 
• Be a part of a growing organisation that aims to revive and educate Muslims from a grassroots perspective.
• Receive in-house tarbiyah sessions to develop your deen. 

Please note this is an unpaid volunteer position. 

Volunteers are entitled to claim expenses incurred for food, travel and equipment, in line with our Expenses policy. 

Brake is seeking experienced and committed individuals to join our Board of Trustees. This is an opportunity to contribute at a strategic level to shaping the future of road safety and road victim support, and to create lasting, positive change.

If you have the experience and skills outlined below, and are motivated to contribute at Board level, we’d love to hear from you.

About Brake

Every death and serious injury on the road is a preventable tragedy. Yet, on average, five people die every day on the road in the UK and 79 are seriously injured (10-year average from 2015-2024).

Our vision is a world with zero road death and injury, where we can all move in a safe and healthy way, whoever we are and however we travel. Since 1995, Brake has worked to prevent road deaths and serious injuries, make streets safe and healthy places for all, and support road crash victims through our National Road Victim Service. We campaign to prevent crashes and reduce harm when they occur. We help people affected by road death and injury get the support they need, for as long as they need it. We deliver education programmes to improve knowledge, develop skills and shift attitudes. Attached is a copy of our current strategy..

Our values are:

· Professionalism

· Collaboration

· Integrity

· Compassion

· Inclusion

· Courage

Could your strengths, skills or experience make a positive difference to Brake and our work?

The role
We are currently seeking new talent for our Board of Trustees. The Board has overall responsibility and accountability for the organisation’s governance and strategic direction, and trustees use their skills and experience to set the charity’s strategy and objectives and support their delivery and oversight.

 These responsibilities include

• Attending regular meetings of the Board and its sub-committees where required
• Contributing actively to the Board in helping set the charity’s strategic direction in line with its objectives
• Assisting in evaluating the executive team’s performance against agreed plans
• Ensuring that the organisation complies with its governing document, charity law, company law and all other relevant legislation and regulations
• Working with the Chair, other Board members and CEO/COO to ensure that the organisation uses its resources well and exclusively in pursuance of its charitable objects
•  Providing strategic advice and guidance where appropriate, drawing on personal expertise, while maintaining appropriate separation from day to day operations
• Acting in the best interests of Brake while exercising independent judgement
• Safeguarding the charity’s assets and reputation
• Acting as an ambassador for Brake and using networks to promote the charity’s work and opportunities to help the charity
• Assessing and scrutinising Board papers and contributing to the work of sub-committees
• Acting as a media spokesperson for the charity when required, representing Brake’s vision, values, and work with confidence and clarity.

We are looking for individuals who can demonstrate:

• Firm commitment to the goals and objectives of Brake
• Collaborative and emotionally intelligent
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to think creatively
• Willingness to support the Brake operational team in their work as appropriate
• Ability to make the time commitment to perform the functions of the role
• Strategic thinking and sound, independent judgement
• Confidence to provide constructive challenge and support within a Board environment
• An understanding of, or willingness to learn, trustee responsibilities and governance

We are particularly interested in candidates from diverse backgrounds, including those with lived experience, and with expertise in one or more of the following areas:

• Charity fundraising and income generation
• Charity governance and compliance
• Clinical risk management and person‑centred support
• Data, digital transformation and AI
• HR, people and culture
• Insurance
• Legal
• Media, comms and PR
• Policing or emergency services
• Road safety policy
• Trauma informed practice

Formal board meetings take place quarterly, although from time to time, there are additional meetings that take place that you may be asked to join and contribute to, including sub-committees. The expected time commitment is approximately 1 – 2 days per month. Trustee appointments are typically for a three-year term, which may be renewed. Meetings are primarily held virtually, with occasional in-person meetings.

The role is unremunerated; reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.

Equity, diversity and inclusion
Brake is passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that values diversity. We welcome your application regardless of your background or circumstances. We particularly welcome applications from those who are part of the global majority, the LGBTQIA+ community or disabled. We are proud to be a disability confident employer. We don’t want you to ‘fit’ our culture, we want you to enrich it. So, if you have a passion for making a difference and share in our vision for a world where no one is killed on our roads, we would love to hear from you.

Closing Date: Monday 4 May

African Development Choices (ADC) is a UK-registered charity on a mission to reduce poverty by empowering communities to make more informed choices in the management of public resources.

ADC’s purpose is to enable communities to independently meet their needs for essential services, such as clean water and safe sanitation, and improve lives in Africa.

At ADC we encourage a working culture of seeking and giving input, showing and taking initiative, and commitment to the organisation and its purpose.

We now have an exciting opportunity for a volunteer Senior AI Agent Architect to join ADC and help build a live prototype of MajiGuard AI.

Main purpose of job:

To lead the technical design and hands-on development of MajiGuard AI, an agentic AI prototype that helps ADC identify underused WASH resources, structure recovery and reallocation cases, and verify that recovered value reaches facility upgrades and operations and maintenance.

Division: Technology / AI Innovation

Department: Product & Engineering

Position reports to: Head of AI Innovation

Direct reports for the position: Volunteer AI engineers, developers and technical contributors

Main Duties & Responsibilities:

• Lead the end-to-end architecture of MajiGuard AI, including the selection and integration of models, agent workflows, orchestration tools, retrieval systems, data structures and human-in-the-loop controls appropriate for a live prototype.

• Translate ADC’s operational goals into practical AI workflows, especially for identifying underused WASH resources, standardising evidence and case preparation, supporting recovery and reallocation decisions, and verifying delivery of value to facility improvements and ongoing operations and maintenance.

• Build and iterate a live prototype using pragmatic, cost-effective tooling, with strong attention to reliability, traceability, security, maintainability and ease of future scaling.

• Design structured inputs, prompts, evaluation criteria and decision logic so that outputs are useful to non-technical ADC teams working across programmes, research, partnerships and leadership.

• Establish a technical roadmap for the prototype, including architecture choices, milestone planning, testing priorities, deployment options and documentation for future funders, partners and developers.

• Work closely with ADC leadership to shape the product vision and ensure the prototype aligns with ADC’s wider governance and public service innovation model.

• Advise on suitable approaches for data governance, privacy, model risk, hallucination control, auditability and responsible AI use in the context of public-resource management and service delivery.

• Define and monitor prototype success metrics, including usefulness, accuracy, turnaround time, workflow fit, and operational learning that can strengthen grant applications, partnerships and future product development.

• Support the transition from local experimentation to a live prototype environment, including basic cloud or hosted deployment thinking, version control practices and engineering handover readiness.

• Mentor and coordinate other volunteer technical contributors where relevant, helping ADC build a small but high-quality AI capability around MajiGuard AI.

Knowledge, skills, and experience:

Essential

• 8+ years of relevant experience in AI, machine learning, applied NLP, intelligent automation, agentic systems, or modern software engineering for production-grade data or AI products

• Strong hands-on experience designing and building AI systems, including LLM-based applications, retrieval-augmented generation, agent workflows, orchestration frameworks, evaluation pipelines and API integrations

• Experience taking ideas from concept or prototype stage into a usable live product, pilot or production-like environment

• Excellent technical judgement on model selection, system design trade-offs, latency, reliability, observability and cost-conscious engineering

• Strong programming ability, ideally including Python and modern backend tooling, with the ability to work across architecture, implementation and troubleshooting

• Experience designing structured workflows where AI outputs must be reviewable, auditable and useful for operational decision-making
• Ability to simplify complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders and translate mission goals into practical product choices
• Interest in using AI to strengthen public service delivery, accountability, governance, resource allocation, or adjacent social impact problems
• Ability to actively take initiative and help set things up in a start-up environment
• Ability to actively seek and give input in a collaborative team environment
• A committed team player with good communication skills
• Available to volunteer at least 8-12 hours a week

Desirable

• Experience with agentic AI products involving workflow automation, task routing, multi-step reasoning, document intelligence or evidence-based case management
• Experience with cloud deployment, containerisation, CI/CD, databases, vector stores, authentication and production monitoring for AI systems
• Experience working on civic tech, govtech, development, WASH, infrastructure, audit, compliance or public-finance-related products
• Experience working in an early-stage start-up or mission-driven organisation and comfortable operating with ambiguity
• Experience mentoring engineers or leading small technical teams across different locations and time zones

What ADC Offers You

This is a volunteer, remote and unpaid position with the following benefits:

• A chance to play a foundational role in shaping MajiGuard AI from concept into a live prototype with real strategic relevance to ADC’s mission
• An opportunity to apply advanced AI and product-building skills to a meaningful public-interest challenge connected to WASH, accountability and service delivery in Africa
• An opportunity to work with a diverse global team and contribute to an organisation seeking systemic social change
• Professional learning, leadership and portfolio-building opportunities through high-ownership work
• Work reference provided

This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.

Here at African Development Choices, we celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our teams are made up of people from all over the world and we welcome all applications. If you are disabled or have a long-term health condition, and you require any reasonable adjustments for your application with us, please let us know by contacting recruitment(at)africandevelopmentchoices(dot)org.