Research & Insight Manager (Durham and Sunderland)

Organisation: Rise North East
Salary: £30,126 – £34,760 (per annum)
Location: Flexible / North Tyneside / County Durham
Contract type: Fixed Term (Full time)
Closing date: 22 March 2026
Interview date: 13 April 2026
Job Description: The Role

Reporting to the Strategic Lead for Research and Insight, the Research and Insight Managers will have an important role in supporting Rise’s Place Based work.

The successful candidate will ideally have a minimum of 3 years; experience (independent of research undertaken as part of gaining a qualification) of managing research projects.

In collaboration with Place colleagues at Rise, partner agencies, networks and communities, you will work to develop and deliver a range of quantitative and qualitative research, insight, monitoring, evaluation, analysis and reflection activities.

The outcomes of which will help to measure the impact of Rise’s work, inform future funding applications and influence decision making.  

As part of this work, the successful candidates will undertake detailed report writing, create and deliver presentations and may be required to organise and facilitate workshops and events to key partners with support from colleagues.

Purpose - To identify, collect, digest and summarise complex data and insight from a number of sources, and effectively communicate insight and learning to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders to support our place-based work in Durham and Sunderland.

To contribute to the gathering, assessment and reporting of information and learning which will contribute towards improving the planning, delivery and evaluation of sport and physical activity for communities facing inequalities across Durham and Sunderland.

Key Themes and Responsibilities - Manage the undertaking of quantitative and qualitative research and evaluation of Rise’s place-based partnership programme in Durham and Sunderland to inform future planning and investment decisions, demonstrating impact and building an evidence base.

Work closely with other Rise Research and Insight Managers for Place to support shared learning and insight.

Identify gaps in existing insight and take the lead in addressing these gaps where appropriate.

Manage the planning and conducting of research with groups/communities and residents to gather and interpret data and learning in order to produce reports for other team members and/or our partners/stakeholders.

Collate and interpret insight relevant to identified places, which are the focus of our place-based work, and target groups involved in Rise’s place based partnership programme to support and evidence our work and ensure the team are up to date and are using this insight in their day-to-day work.

Evaluate and articulate the difference that the place partnership work is making to the system in which it operates within the context of physical activity levels, as well as economic, health, social, educational and other relevant indicators in the locality and the wider region.

Utilise a range of insight resources to gather and interpret data to produce reports and mapping for Rise and our partners/stakeholders and identify current key issues or future trends/needs to inform future planning and investment decisions.

Utilise appropriate software to display research and insight information in a visually appealing and easily digestible format.

Collaborate and engage with the National Evaluation and Learning Partner (NELP - https://evaluatingcomplexity.org) and other Research and Insight teams across other place partnerships in England to share best practice and drive organisational improvement in this area.

Where necessary, provide training and workshops on the theories, principles and methods of research and insight for internal and external audiences.

Provide leadership and advocacy in relation to the ongoing development and utilisation of the place partnership local Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework and Theory of Change Model across the internal team and local partners.

To attend training and development opportunities relevant to the post and/or self-development objectives.

To engage with the NELP to understand the conceptual framework and all the key components, for example, Theory of Change Models, local evaluation and learning frameworks, and the nine conditions for tackling inequalities in physical activity etc.

Any other duties as required which are commensurate with the grade and remuneration of the post.

Practical Requirements - The post holder must:

Always Operate firmly within the charity’s Behaviour Framework.

Be a leading advocate for the benefits that physical activity and sport can play in developing communities and individuals.

Ensure compliance with Rise’s internal procedures and all legal requirements.
How to apply: Applicants will be interested to know that Rise is currently operating a 4-day working week, with full time employees gifted one day off per week (Fridays) but still paid a full-time salary. This reduces the working hours from 37.5 to 30 per week but is not a contractual entitlement. Trials have shown that a 4-day working week can reduce stress and burnout as well as levels of anxiety, fatigue and sleep issues, but productivity levels are elevated. All applications must be submitted to recruitment@risenortheast.co.uk using the application form available on our website - https://www.risenortheast.co.uk/careers/job-vacancies/. Please note CVs will not be accepted. For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Paul Biddle (Strategic Lead for Research & Insight) via email on paul.biddle@risenortheast.co.uk