Communities Research – Senior Executive

Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

About the Organisation

Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) is the UK's chartered professional body dedicated to educating, developing and regulating actuaries based both in the UK and internationally.  The IFoA regulates and represents over 34,000 members worldwide, overseeing their actuarial education at all stages of qualification and development throughout their careers. We set examinations, continuing professional development, professional codes and disciplinary standards for our members. 

About the role

We are currently recruiting a Communities Research Senior Executive. We encourage our colleagues to work flexibly between home and the hub to suit their needs and preferences, in line with our hybrid working policy. Colleagues are able to work their hours flexibly, in line with core business hours and requirements. We also offer formalised flexible working agreements. To provide high-quality project coordination and administrative support for the IFoA's volunteer-led research and content communities, ensuring the successful delivery of research outputs, member value activities, and strategic priorities through effective stakeholder engagement, project management, and volunteer support.

 The role is varied and requires the balancing of multiple workflows and projects, including managing and prioritising different research and content projects and the scheduling of meetings and deadlines to efficiently support boards, research committees and working groups. This requires the post holder to be highly organised, flexible and to effectively manage competing priorities during peak periods of work. The post holder will also often be required to work autonomously in a busy environment, to be proactive, and demonstrate initiative as situations demand.

Decisions are made within departmental and organisational policies, guidelines and procedures. The post holder exercises judgement and appropriate protocols on where and how to deal with direct enquiries, and judges when they need support and when to raise issues for guidance and/or decision. Under the guidance of the Communities Research Manager, the post holder delivers work to agreed deadlines and quality to meet the expectations of stakeholders.

Project and administrative support, co-ordination and development of boards, research committees and working groups is a high-profile activity with the IFoA's volunteers, carrying high potential reputational risk for the IFoA. It is therefore essential that the post holder is committed to the professional development of their work areas and that of the members and volunteers with whom they work. Whilst the post holder will work predominantly within the Volunteer and Engagement team, it is also important to recognise the impact of their decisions, actions and interpersonal approach on the work of, and relationships with, other IFoA teams.

Responsibilities

Project Coordination and Delivery:

• Coordinate and support multiple volunteer-led research and content projects, including planning, scheduling, tracking progress, reporting, and delivery against agreed annual plans.
• Support research activities, including surveys, data handling, peer review processes, publications, presentations, and funding requests.
• Maintain accurate project records, performance reports, trackers, and relevant management information. 

Stakeholder and Volunteer Engagement:

• Act as a primary point of contact for volunteer research working parties, committees, and research groups.
• Build effective working relationships with volunteers and internal stakeholders to support engagement, participation, and successful project delivery.
• Support volunteer recruitment, onboarding, and ongoing participation within research communities.

Governance and Administration:

• Provide high-quality administrative support for committees and working groups, including meeting coordination, agenda preparation, papers, actions, and minutes.
• Ensure volunteer and member enquiries are managed professionally, accurately, and within agreed service standards.
• Maintain accurate volunteer and project information within CRM and other systems. 

Content and Communications:

• Coordinate the promotion and dissemination of research outputs through appropriate member and organisational channels.
• Maintain research-related content across digital platforms, ensuring information remains accurate, current, and accessible.

Continuous Improvement:

• Review and monitor research and content-related activities, identifying opportunities to improve processes, efficiency, effectiveness, and member impact.
• Contribute to the development and delivery of engagement initiatives across the volunteer and research communities.

Skills, Competencies, Experience & Attributes

Knowledge & Experience Essential:

• Experience of project coordination and project management, including planning, tracking, and delivering multiple workstreams.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise competing demands and manage a busy workload.
• Excellent written communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to work effectively with volunteers and internal teams.
• Close attention to detail and commitment to delivering accurate, high-quality outputs and service standards.
• Experience of, or demonstrable interest in, research activities, professional communities, volunteer-led organisations, or membership environments. 

Desirable:

• Experience supporting qualitative or quantitative research activities, including surveys and publications.
• Experience working within a professional body, membership organisation, research, education, or volunteer environment.
• Experience of Microsoft Dynamics or similar CRM platforms.

Additional Dimensions:

• Working as part of a matrix team, supporting the volunteer engagement and experience team to grow engagement and develop the volunteering communities to deliver relevant and meaningful member activities and research outcomes.
• Project and administrative support lead, to enable effective working practices and delivery from research and content volunteering working groups.
• A member and volunteer-facing role.

Conditions of employment

• Applicants must have the right to work in the UK

Working locations

• Oxford, United Kingdom
• Occasional travel to London for meetings is likely to be required 2-3 times per year. Some attendance at meetings and events requiring out-of-hours work may also be required.

How to apply

• Please email the HR Team if you require:
  • Any information regarding our vacancies in an alternative format
  • Any adjustments to support you to fully participate in any part of the application and recruitment process
• To apply, please send a CV and cover letter to [email protected] by the closing date of Friday 7th August 2026
• This vacancy may close early if we receive a high volume of applications, so please submit your application as soon as possible.
• Any information shared will be used only to enable us to make reasonable adjustments to support candidates to participate in the recruitment process. It will not inform selection decisions. You can reach us at [email protected].

Policies

The IFoA encourages applicants from a variety of backgrounds and experience and welcomes diversity with regard not only to protected characteristics but also diversity of thought. Diversity, equity and inclusion are more than just words for us. That’s why we are committed to creating a culture where everyone feels included and respected, and where no one is unfairly discriminated against.

Consequently, we promote diversity, equity and inclusion in all our policies, practices and procedures, and actively encourage applications from a diverse range of potential candidates. All applications for our roles are considered on merit alone, and if you don’t meet all the criteria but believe you have something to offer, we want to hear from you. For more information on our commitments, please see our DEI strategy page.

Return to listing