The Nuffield Foundation is an independent charitable trust with a purpose to advance social well-being through research.

In line with the Foundation’s strategic review and our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, we want to fund a more diverse range of partners and grant-holders. A key part of this is to ensure that fairness, equity, inclusivity and transparency are central to our grants making processes.

We are looking to recruit an individual with a thorough understanding of grant making processes to lead a review of our procedures and identify areas of actual, potential or perceived bias. The scope is likely to include our assessment criteria, application guidance, decision-making processes and structures, use of peer reviews, and our communications with applicants. This review will present options and make recommendations to our senior leadership to minimise bias and promote equitable practice. The Project Manager will then work with stakeholders across the organisation to develop an implementation plan for agreed measures.

In addition to this, there are other projects and initiatives that the Project Manager has the opportunity to  support depending on their skills and experience. This might include, for example, developing and managing the Foundation’s outreach plan, shaping our approach to supporting Early Career Researchers from backgrounds under-represented in research careers, and actions that develop and sustain our relationships with the Black researcher community. 

As well as your experience of working in grant giving organisations, you will be a skilled project manager, with responsibility for scoping, planning, managing dependencies, risk assessment and budget. You will have a strategic view of the need to align and balance our activities to improve the fairness of our grants processes with other organisational priorities.

You will also have excellent stakeholder management skills, working with stakeholders from across the organisation (and at different levels of seniority) to ensure that appropriate collaboration and consultation have informed this review.

You will be familiar with other research funders and networks, be able to work proactively and independently, and be enthusiastic about how equity, diversity and inclusion can be embedded into all areas of your work. 

For further information about the role, please click here to download the full job description (PDF).   

About us  

The Nuffield Foundation is an independent charitable trust with a mission to advance social well-being.  

We achieve this by funding and undertaking rigorous research, encouraging innovation, and supporting the use of sound evidence to improve people’s lives. We tackle pressing, complex questions. Our aim is to open up opportunities and to improve lives for individuals, families and communities, within a just and inclusive society. Our work addresses the inequalities, disadvantage, discrimination and vulnerabilities that people face, and considers the social and ethical implications of scientific and technological advances.   

We are the founder and co-funder of Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Nuffield Family Justice Observatory and the Ada Lovelace Institute.   

We value diversity in background, skills, perspectives and life experiences. Further information on the Foundation’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion work can be found here. 

Further information and how to apply  

The closing date for applications is 09:30am (GMT) on Monday 2nd February 2026. Interviews are scheduled to take place on Tuesday 24th February 2026.

You will be required to complete some questions as part of this application process, and you are also required to upload an up-to-date copy of your CV. The Applied platform lets you save an application and resume it ahead of submitting before the application deadline.  

The Nuffield Foundation and its Centres think deeply about the role of emerging technology in society. All recruitment decisions are made by a person (we do not use AI tools to rate or reject applicants). We ask applicants to respond to the questions using their own experience, thinking and opinion, writing in their own tone of voice rather than using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. The use of generative AI can result in generic responses to individual questions which stand out less to reviewers.

Please note that for vacancies which receive a high volume of applications, we may undertake an initial screening of CVs.

Should you need to make an application in a different format or require any adjustments as part of the application process, please get in touch with us: recruitment@nuffieldfoundation.org  

We are committed to inclusive working practices and during the application process we commit to:   

• As a Disability Confident employer, we will offer an interview to a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the essential criteria for the job. 

• making any reasonable adjustments – for example providing documents in different formats, arranging for a sign language interpreter for interviews etc   

• reimbursing reasonable travel costs (and any childcare or care costs) for interviews where in-person attendance is required   

Our benefits package includes:   

• Genuine flexibility - we are open to requests for part-time hours, compressed working weeks, or job shares. 

• 28 days holiday per annum and all public holidays, with the option to buy or sell up to 5 days (prorated for part time staff). 

• A salary exchange pension scheme that offers employer contributions of up to 11%.    

• Life assurance scheme.    

• Family leave policies that provide an enhanced level of pay.    

• Cycle to work scheme and loans towards season tickets.    

• Regular opportunities for learning and development – including coaching, mentoring, and dedicated reading days for personal development and reflection. 

• Support with your physical, mental and financial wellbeing including an employee assistance provider, a private GP service, personal health reviews with Bupa, a will and funeral planning service and a staff network of trained Mental Health First Aiders. 

• A warm and welcoming workplace culture, with active peer groups and social networks to help you connect and belong.