Research & Impact Lead RIL0726

Location

Hybrid with minimum 8 office days per month in either London or Leeds office

Salary

£46,000 - £53,000

Application Deadline

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

BookTrust

BookTrust is the UK’s largest children’s reading charity. We know that children who read are happier, healthier, more empathetic, and more creative. They also do better at school.

Working with every local authority and across every region in the country, and supported by Arts Council funding, we reach over 3 million families a year via partners in schools, children’s centres, health visitors and libraries. This incredible network helps us to get children reading across the country.

To apply please complete the application along with a copy of your CV and covering letter showing how you meet the person specification and your motivations for applying for the role. Your covering letter should not be longer than two sides.

Want to join us? Find out more about who we are at:

https://www.booktrust.org.uk/about-us/work-at-booktrust/

Job Summary

The Research and Impact Lead role offers an exciting opportunity to apply specialist research and evaluation expertise within a purpose-driven national charity - working closely with BookTrust colleagues, and our partners and families, as part of a team of research and impact specialists. This role will have a particular focus on our work with children in foster, kinship and adoptive families and partners in the children’s social care sector.

We are seeking an experienced mixed-methods researcher and evaluator with strong methodological expertise and the understanding and collaborative skills to ensure theory and evidence can be applied in practice to improve outcomes. The successful candidate will bring intellectual curiosity, critical thinking and sound judgement, with the ability to interrogate evidence, navigate ambiguity and remain open to new perspectives and learning. The role is likely to suit someone with experience of taking overall accountability for the design and delivery of research and evaluation studies, with excellent partnership, stakeholder management and planning skills.

We offer excellent opportunities to further develop research, leadership and partnership skills in an ambitious and dynamic organisation. Alongside a flexible and supportive working environment, we provide both on-the-job learning and formal professional development opportunities.

Application

To apply, please complete the application and attach a copy of your CV along with a covering letter showing how you meet the person specification and your motivations for applying for the role. Your covering letter should not be longer than two sides. Please also answer this question in your cover letter:

What are some of the principles of good evaluation that BookTrust should incorporate into its monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) work on programmes for children in adoption, foster and kinship care?Please also attachone or two examples of research, evaluation or learning outputs (reports, presentations etc) you have produced and also specify if you are applying to be based from our Leeds of London office.Closing date: 5pm Tuesday 4th August.Interviews: Interviews will be in two stages - 1st stage interviews will be on w/c 10th August, via Teams.

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity

We aim to provide an inclusive recruitment process and actively welcome applications from diverse talent pools: minority ethnic candidates, candidates with disabilities and long-term conditions and candidates from underrepresented communities.

We are committed to equality of opportunity and want to ensure we have an accessible application process for all candidates. If you need any reasonable adjustments or would like us to do anything differently during the application process, please contact our HR team on

HR@booktrust.org.ukto discuss your requirements further.

BookTrust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The recruitment and selection process reflect our commitment to safeguarding therefore, the suitability of all prospective employees will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment, and pre-employment checks.

Job Profile

Job Profile document