Research Associate - National Youth Agency
Contract: 12-month Fixed Term Contract (with potential to extend)
Hours: Full-time - 37 hours per week
Salary: £30,000 – £35,000 per annum, dependent on experience
Remote: This role is 100% homebased with occasional travel for staff residentials and other events.
What we do
As the national body for youth work, the NYA has a dual function. We are the professional statutory and regulatory body (PSRB) responsible for qualifications, quality standards, and safeguarding for youth work and services in England. In line with our charity mission and aims, we also champion youth work through research, advocacy, campaigns, and programmes.
We work in partnership and believe in collaborative leadership, listening to youth workers and the youth work sector so that we can understand their needs and respond to the challenges they face. We are ambitious for youth work and for young people and integrate youth voice and influence across our work
About the Role
This is an exciting opportunity to join our Knowledge Team, working alongside two existing Research Associates and a Data Analyst.
You will be integral in delivering research, data, and insights that support organisational development and programme delivery across NYA.
We are looking for an experienced mixed-methods researcher with a strong understanding of social research and evaluation approaches. Ideally, you will have experience working in or alongside the youth sector and be confident using both qualitative and quantitative methods.
You’ll need to be flexible, proactive, and a strong communicator, able to explain complex ideas to varied audiences.
This role is ideal for someone looking to make a tangible difference through evidence-led approaches that shape policy, practice, and impact in youth work.
Key responsibilities for this role will include:
- Designing and delivering research projects using a range of methods including surveys, interviews, and focus groups.
- Supporting the development of the NYA research and data hub, including external research collation and data visualisation.
- Leading on evaluations to meet funder requirements and contribute to NYA’s growing evidence base.
- Analysing data from NYA programmes to support impact measurement.
- Promoting evidence-based practice across NYA and the wider youth sector.
- Communicating findings clearly through reports, briefings, and presentations.
- Managing research projects and collaborating with internal and external partners to deliver on time and to quality.
- Responding to internal and external research enquiries.
The ideal candidate will have experience in social research, familiarity with various research methodologies, and the ability to communicate complex findings to diverse audiences.
Please refer to our Candidate Pack for more information on the role and the requirements.
Why Work for NYA?
NYA operates as a people-first organisation, prioritising the well-being and needs of its employees.
NYA offers an exceptional flexible working approach which encourages our team to balance professional responsibilities with their personal life.
A remote based team, spread across England, fostering inclusivity and diverse talent. Despite geographical distances between team members, NYA maintains a highly motivated and connected team through the optimisation of digital tools.
NYA is committed to supporting the continual personal and professional development of our team and helping them achieve their ambitions.
We provide 25 days leave plus 8 days, life assurance scheme, 5% employer pension contribution and a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme via Spectrum.life with unlimited specialist support available to all NYA employees.
How to Apply:
Please download our applicant pack to find out more about the role and requirements
To apply, please submit the following via our online application platform by 11:59pm on Monday 12th May 2025:
A detailed CV setting out your career history, with responsibilities and achievements in line with the person specification in the About You section.
A covering letter (maximum two sides) highlighting your suitability for the role and how you meet the requirements in the
About You section.
We will request data for our EEDI monitoring purposes, providing this is optional.
Please note: the covering letter is an essential part of the application process and will be assessed as part of your full application. We use AI detector software, so cover letters or CV’s with over 30% AI generated content with be disregarded. We understand that AI tools can offer support to candidates who have learning differences, which is why we will accept applications with some AI assistance. CV’s will not be accepted without a cover letter.
The National Youth Agency is an equal opportunities employer.
At NYA our inclusive culture means that we embrace individual differences and understand that we need a diverse team to achieve our organisations mission.
We wish to recruit candidates from all backgrounds to ensure our team reflects the rich diversity of the communities we serve. We encourage applications from anyone regardless of disability, ethnicity, heritage, gender, sexuality, religion, socio-economic background and political beliefs but we particularly welcome applications from global majority candidates and those from other minoritised ethnic groups in the UK as they are currently underrepresented in our team.
Youth Work changes lives
Which is why we’re committed to ensuring that as many young people as possible get to benefit from it. As the national body for youth work in England, the National Youth Agency (NYA) exists to champion its transformative power. We believe all young people should have the opportunity to benefit from the life-changing impact of extraordinary youth workers and trained volunteers.
We help to grow youth work provision in ways that keep it effective, relevant, safe and engaging, to help millions of young people reach their potential and thrive. We do this by providing guidance, support, advice, training and staff development opportunities for youth workers and youth work organisations. At the heart of everything we do are young people themselves. We work hard to ensure their voices are integrated into all our work, to develop provision that truly meets their needs.
REF-221126
Registered Charity 
21 - 50
Thank you!
We are Zarach, the children’s bed charity, and we’re on a mission to end child bed poverty, giving children the opportunity to engage at school and break the cycle of poverty.
In our nearly seven years as a registered charity, we’ve captured the hearts and attention of many individuals, community groups, businesses and funders who want to support us on our mission. We’ve also been given an incredible media platform from which we have raised awareness of child bed poverty at local, regional and national levels. This support and awareness has seen us deliver over 12,000 bed bundles to children to date.
Our cause and story have captured the nation’s attention, and we have been provided with an incredible national platform that has seen us appear on local and national TV, on the radio, and in the national press. This has included appearances on BBC Breakfast, ITV News, Channel 4 News, Radio 5 Live, BBC Look North, and The Independent newspaper supported our Christmas 2023 appeal, culminating in Zarach being the front-page story on Christmas Day.
In our short history, we have received continual funding support from a range of charitable trusts & foundations, businesses, and individuals, providing a great overall income and resources mix.
With an estimated 4.5 million children in the UK living in poverty – including 1 million experiencing destitution and around 900,000 living in bed poverty – we have an aspiration to reach more children, in more areas of highest need across the country.
We are looking for a mission-driven and values-led Business & Corporate Partnerships Manager to lead and grow our fundraising efforts as we seek to lift more children, in more parts of the country out of bed poverty.
Working within our small and dynamic Fundraising & Supporter Engagement team, you will be responsible for securing and nurturing partnerships with businesses, securing Charity of the Year relationships, and creating new opportunities to engage the business and corporate sector with our mission.
As our ideal candidate, you will need to be within commuting distance to our Leeds warehouse, meaning you can travel regularly to meet with the team.
You will be someone who has proven experience in corporate fundraising and/or business development, with a track record of securing and maintaining partnerships.
Ideally, you’ll have experience of fundraising in the charity sector, due to some of the specialities that come with this. But charity experience is not essential if you can demonstrate an appetite and track record for continual learning and development across your working life to date.
To decide if you’d like to bring your skills and experience to bear in the pursuit of our mission, please have a look at the job description, our website, and the coverage of us across social media.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
At Ambitious about Autism, we're currently looking for a Head of Philanthropy to join our Fundraising team.
You'll lead, oversee and implement ambitious plans, as set out in the new fundraising strategy and enabling us to fully capitalise on the opportunities presented over the next few years, with a focus on the development of a major donor strategy, growing our profile and supporting a high-performing Philanthropy team. Alongside this you will personally manage a portfolio of high value solicitations, resulting in 6- and 7-figure gifts.
You'll evaluate each income stream and develop plans aligned with fundraising strategy, ensuring these translate into deliverable objectives. You'll play a key role in the development of fundraising appeals, including large scale proposals and approaches, as well as developing creative and compelling funding applications to engage new supporters.
We are looking for someone who has:
- Proven experience of planning and implementing successful major donor fundraising programmes
- Proven experience of securing high-value major gifts
- An understanding of trends and developments across the sector and demonstrable knowledge of best practice in major donors, trusts and foundations fundraising
- Experience of financial management of expenditure budgets including setting, accurate forecasting and achieving financial and non-financial targets
In return, we offer great benefits including a generous holiday allowance and commitment to continued professional development (CPD), flexible, hybrid working and more!
This is a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious individual who would like to work for a forward-thinking, open and honest organisation and make a real impact to the young people we work with. Please find our full recruitment pack on the link below.
If you have any questions about the role or would like to have a confidential chat, please contact James Axford, Recruitment Officer.
Ambitious about Autism is committed to fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion at every level of our organisation. We warmly welcome applications from all qualified candidates, valuing the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives they bring. We encourage applications from individuals regardless of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or parental status, disability, or age.
Our recruitment process promotes equal opportunities, and we are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for candidates with disabilities or additional needs throughout the recruitment process. Please contact our Recruitment Team for accommodations. We recognise disability as a physical or mental impairment that significantly and long-term affects a person's ability to perform day-to-day activities, as defined by the UK Equality Act 2010. All applications will be considered solely on merit, aligned with our mission to support autistic children and young people.
Ambitious about Autism is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and successful candidates will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check. As part of our Safer Recruitment checks, an online search maybe carried out in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education.
The Safeguarding responsibilities of the post as per the job description and personal specification.
Whether the post is exempt from the rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendment to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2021. This means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected', so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS Filter Guidance.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.