Place Impact Researcher - Active Essex Foundation

Essex County Council (ECC) are delighted to be advertising the Place Impact Researcher vacancy on behalf of the Active Essex Foundation.

To apply for the position, please click HERE.

The Job Title and Role: Place Impact Researcher

Salary range: £32,000 to £36,000 dependent on experience

Hours: Full-Time 37.5 hours a week

Fixed term contract: 18 months to March 2028 (extension subject to funding)

Directly responsible to: Impact Manager

Location: Anywhere worker - You will work from the Chelmsford office approximately 1 / 2 days a week and across our operational area on other days, depending on business need.

Active Essex Foundation is a successful and growing charity dedicated to creating the conditions for young people and communities across Essex to thrive. Our work focuses on three core areas: improving young people’s mental health, reducing vulnerabilities to youth crime and exploitation, and strengthening communities through trusted relationships and positive engagement. We collaborate with a network of over 100 community organisations and local partners to design and deliver programmes that use physical activity, mentoring and community support as tools to build resilience, improve wellbeing and reduce inequalities. Everything we do is shaped by the real experiences of the people we serve, ensuring our interventions are meaningful, accessible and rooted in what communities tell us they need.

These roles will be embedded within Active Essex. Active Essex is the strategic partnership for physical activity and sport across Greater Essex, working with local authorities, health partners, voluntary sector organisations and communities to create the conditions for active lives. Through a place-based approach, Active Essex brings together insight, evidence and local collaboration to tackle inequalities and improve health and wellbeing outcomes

We are pleased to offer an exciting opportunity to join team as an Place Impact Researcher. This recruitment campaign covers three Impact Researcher positions within Active Essex Foundation and deployed within Active Essex. All roles sit within the Insight & Evaluation function, ensuring that evidence directly informs delivery, investment and decision-making.

3 x Place Impact Researchers: supporting North Essex, South Essex or South West Essex, as well as thematic Essex wide programmes.

The Place Impact Researcher will gather, analyse and apply insight, research and evaluation evidence to support programmes, partnerships and place-based activity. The postholder will work closely with delivery teams, communities, partners and funders to demonstrate impact and turn learning into action. The ideal candidate will bring strong relationship-building skills and experience of working collaboratively with a diverse range of stakeholders. They should demonstrate a track record of delivering impactful projects or initiatives at local or county level, applying a systems approach to complex community issues, and using strengths-based methods to build resilience and capacity within local organisations.

Place Impact Researchers will be professionally aligned to the Insight & Evaluation Team for methodology, quality assurance and development, whilst receiving operational direction from their specialist area. This approach ensures strong local integration whilst maintaining consistent research standards.

Main duties and responsibilities:

Research, Insight and Evaluation

• Design and undertake qualitative and quantitative research.
• Gather and interpret local intelligence and evidence.
• Support programme and organisational evaluation activity.
• Develop data collection tools, frameworks and methodologies.
• Translate learning into practical recommendations and actionable insights.
• Lead on Essex wide thematic evaluation areas
• Produce evidence for funders and partners.
• Support future investment and programme development through robust impact evidence.

Partnership Working

• Embed as a member of Active Essex place based teams
• Act as a trusted insight partner to delivery teams and stakeholders.
• Attend local partnership meetings and workshops.
• Support responses to emerging place-based priorities and challenges.
• Respond to place based insight and evaluation needs

Analysis and Reporting

• Analyse monitoring, survey and programme data.
• Produce reports, presentations and impact summaries.
• Support quarterly reporting across areas.
• Ensure evidence is communicated effectively to a range of audiences.
• Produce impact reports, evaluation summaries, learning reports and evidence products.
• Develop case studies and impact stories that demonstrate the difference programmes are
• Ensure reporting requirements for funders, trustees and strategic partners are met.
• Support programme teams to collect meaningful outcome and impact data.

Continuous Improvement

• Promote a culture of learning, reflection and evidence-based practice across Active Essex.
• Identify opportunities to improve evaluation approaches and impact measurement processes.
• Support knowledge sharing and learning across programmes and partnerships.
• Contribute to the wider development of Active Essex's Insight-to-Action approach.

Other Responsibilities:

• Take responsibility for personal professional development.
• Work closely with the other colleagues to improve data related processes and procedures.
• Attend Active Essex Foundation and Active Essex team meetings.

General Duties:

• To adhere to existing working practices, methods, procedures, undertake relevant training and
• development activities and to respond positively to new and alternative systems.
• It will be necessary to work with information technology and associated systems in accordance with
• To carry out the duties and responsibilities of the post in compliance with the Active Essex
• Foundation and Active Essex equity and safeguarding policies.
• To maintain confidentiality and observe data protection and associated guidelines.
• To carry out any other reasonable duties and responsibilities within the overall function,
• commensurate with the grading and level of responsibilities of the post.

Knowledge Skills and Experience

• Degree or equivalent experience in research, evaluation, analytics or a related discipline.
• Experience delivering research, evaluation or insight projects.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work as a team
• Understanding of qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Excellent report writing and presentation skills.
• Ability to build relationships across complex partnership environments.
• Experience within public health, physical activity, community development, local government or voluntary sector settings (desirable).
• Strong organisation and project management skills.

Applying for the role

Please email your completed application form to admin@activeessexfoundation.org using the title ‘Place Impact Researcher’ in the subject line. If you have any questions relating to this post, please contact: Amelia Slemmings Amelia.Slemmings@ActiveEssex.org.

The closing date for applications is 23:59 27th September 2026.

Shortlisting will take place on week commencing 28th September 2026 with successful applications being invited to an assessment day by Friday 2nd October. The assessment day will be week commencing 12th October.

If you know you will be unavailable on the dates above, please state this on your application form. The assessment day will take place face to face in Chelmsford. If for any reason this does not suit or you would need any additional requirements, please also state this on your application form.

The Active Essex Foundation is fully committed to the principles of equality of opportunity and is responsible for ensuring that no job application, employee, volunteer or member receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, gender, disability, race, ethnic origin, nationality, colour, parental or marital status, pregnancy, religious belief, class or social background, sexual preference or political belief. The Active Essex Foundation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

Essex County Council (ECC) are delighted to be advertising the Place Impact Researcher vacancy on behalf of the Active Essex Foundation.

To apply for the position, please click HERE.