We’re looking for an impact and learning manager to join the Co-op Foundation and to help us to make sure that we’re doing the best that we can for the people and communities that we support. The Co-op Foundation is the Co-op’s charity, and it’s designed to help disadvantaged communities to overcome their challenges by putting Co-operative values into practice. If you can bring us energy, drive and a real passion for our Co-op values and purpose, we can offer you the chance to develop your skills and build a career with a business that puts people at the heart of its strategy.

As an impact and learning manager, you’ll help us to make sure that we are making well-informed decisions that will improve our programmes and ways of working across the Co-op Foundation. You’ll link in with our partner organisations (as well as the wider grant-making and social research sector) to assess what’s working and what’s not with our programmes, taking insights to inspire changes that will maximise our positive impact in communities.

What you’ll do:

• use your expert knowledge to help identify the best tools and methods to design and optimise the performance of our grant programmes and activities for maximum impact
• design and coordinate the delivery of research projects and programme evaluations
• develop frameworks for defining and monitoring impact of our work, communicating these in an engaging way to drive collective decision-making with the foundation management team and board
• spot opportunities for Co-op to enhance programmes and projects by taking learnings from other organisations, sharing Co-op Foundation findings with external networks to influence wider policy and practice
• embed a culture of learning within the foundation team, with a focus on evaluating impact and establishing systems and practices that create a culture of continuous improvement
• work collaboratively with internal partners to co-ordinate internal activities / communications that align approaches to community impact measurement

This role would suit people who have

• a background in social research
• experience of using a wide range of evidence to make informed decisions with strong knowledge of research and evaluation methods
• a strong understanding of the relationships between impact practice and charity communications
• the ability to communicate and share research insights and evaluations to audiences in an understandable and engaging way
• excellent problem solving skills and a solution driven mind-set
• a strong understanding of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector
• the ability to influence people at all levels and build strong relationships
• a passion for making a positive impact in societies

Why Co-op?

Here you’ll do work that matters. We’re a commercial organisation with a purpose beyond profit, you’ll have an opportunity to help us build a stronger Co-op and stronger communities. You’ll also get a package that includes:

• competitive salary
• coaching, training and support to help you develop
• pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• annual incentive scheme
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 in line with service)
• discounts on Co-op products and services

Building an inclusive work environment

We’re actively building diverse teams and welcome applications from everyone. But simply having a diverse workforce is not enough. We aim to build an inclusive environment, where everyone can contribute their best work and develop to their full potential. We celebrate our differences, and recognise the importance of teams reflecting the communities they serve.

We can make adjustments to our interview process according to your needs. And we offer a flexible working environment so you can adjust your hours to suit your personal circumstances. You can find out more about Co-op people policies at coop.co.uk/peoplepolicies.

As part of your application you’ll need to complete an online assessment. It will take you around 12 minutes to complete this test.