Research Officer, Economics and Finance

*This role is open for applications until 4 May, if in doubt, please check the apply link and our website.*

Location: London-based or remote in the UK, as long as travel to the office in London for two consecutive days per month is feasible

Role: Permanent

Salary: £40,000 plus 10% employer-contributed pension; 4 day full-time work week (Monday – Thursday)

About us

Established in 2021, Opportunity Green is a fast-growing not-for-profit organisation that helps to identify and unlock opportunities to tackle climate change. We build ambitious coalitions, support climate vulnerable countries in international negotiations and find innovative legal pathways to fight climate change.

Our small - but growing - analytics team provides scientific and analytical expertise to ensure our legal, diplomacy and advocacy work is based on the best available evidence. The team also undertakes its own novel research projects, occupying a unique space at the science-policy interface.

We are looking for a Research Officer in economics and finance to bring in-house economic and/or financial research expertise, allowing us to support and elevate our impactful work with strong economics-focused research.

What’s the role?

Opportunity Green’s analytics team grew organically from two separate projects: one to embed economics thinking into our climate diplomacy work and the other to ensure that the use of ammonia as a shipping fuel does not do more damage than the fossil fuels it might replace. In addition, the team has provided analysis and research on a range of topics, including the tourism impacts of aviation levies, the taxes paid by the world’s largest shipping companies and the environmental and social impacts of alternative shipping fuels. This gives a flavour of the diverse set of projects the team is involved with.

Currently, expertise in the team covers natural and environmental science and engineering, and this role will expand the team’s capacity to include economic and financial research expertise. Sitting alongside Opportunity Green’s current Scientific Officer, you will be managed by our Director of Analytics, who we have just hired to oversee the strategy and development of the team. 

We are looking for someone with the ability think critically about economics and finance, and to carry out independent economic and financial research to influence policymakers to move to the dial on climate change. You will also provide economic research and analysis to support the work of our legal, diplomacy and advocacy teams as required. Your work will be wide-ranging, and might include quantitative economic/financial analyses, cost-benefit analysis, economic modelling and working with financial datasets. As our analytics team continues to develop, you will have the opportunity to contribute ideas and proposals for new projects, and to communicate our research and help establish Opportunity Green as a thought-leader in this space.

About the candidate

We are looking for a candidate with:

· A passion for using their economic or financial research skills to tackle climate change.

· Excellent economic or financial research skillset obtained through a relevant degree (e.g., but not limited to economics, accountancy, financial engineering, etc) or equivalent work experience.

Desirable skills and experience:

We do not expect any candidate to have all skills listed below but rather we look for transferable skills and potential as well as past experience.

· Proven ability to undertake independent, novel, economic, financial or related social science research.

· Excellent analytical, numerical and problem-solving skills. 

· Ability to research, understand and communicate unfamiliar topics within tight deadlines. 

· Familiarity with (desirable) and passion for (essential) climate and environmental science.

· Ability to demonstrate sound judgement and take responsibility for delivering economic, financial or social science research projects, escalating issues where appropriate. 

· Excellent economic and financial communication skills, covering both spoken and written communication.

· Ability to communicate effectively to build and manage relationships with internal team members and external stakeholders.

· Ability to develop compelling visuals to communicate data analysis.

· Organised, able to work independently and manage workload effectively.

Diversity and inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are important principles at Opportunity Green. We believe that diversity and inclusion make teams stronger and more effective. We are committed to fair and equitable employment practices, and we are striving to ensure that a variety of voices and experiences are included in our organisation. Our commitment to diversity and our parental leave policy are available to view on our website, here.

We will consider all applicants who meet most or all of the essential competencies regardless of their identity or background. That said, we know that diverse candidates may be reluctant to apply for jobs where they don’t meet 100% of the criteria outlined in the job description. We encourage anyone to apply who can demonstrate the variety of skills and experiences relevant to meeting the requirements of this role.

What we offer

The successful candidate will be offered an annual salary of £40,000 plus 10% employer-contributed pension. Please note that Opportunity Green has fixed salary scales, with the possibility of step increases with strong performance. When hiring we always hire at the bottom of a band and do not enter negotiations with new employees as negotiations have been historically shown to disadvantage women and minorities.

We take our team’s well-being and professional development seriously. In addition to a competitive salary, we offer:

· A commitment to work/life balance, with a 4-day work week at 28 hours.

· A generous holiday entitlement of 20 days’ holiday per year, plus bank holidays and office closure between Christmas and New Year’s that does not count towards your holiday entitlement (and expectation that you fully disconnect when taking time off).

· A market-leading pension of 10%.

· A progressive family leave policy, including 26 weeks’ paid leave for both parents, as well as other support.

· Lots of flexibility within a hybrid working arrangement, with regular opportunities to come together as a team.

· Support for your professional development as part of Opportunity Green, with a budget to support your learning & development plus opportunities to lead projects, publish content, learn from experts, work directly with policymakers and stakeholders, and take part in conferences and events.

However, it is important to note that while this role is permanent, employment is always reliant on Opportunity Green continuing to receive philanthropic support from our funders, which we expect every member of the team to play their part in working towards.

How to apply

Please click here to apply

To minimise the risk of unconscious bias, we ask that applicants remove certain identifying elements from their CVs. If you do not remove these details, we reserve the right to withdraw your application from review.

· Photos

· Name – if needed, please use ‘Applicant’

· Age

· Email and/or phone number

We also reserve the right to withdraw your application from review if you use AI tools such as Chat GPT to write the sift questions answer / your CV in full.

Unfortunately, if you do not already hold the right to work in the UK and/or require sponsorship to continue working in the UK, Opportunity Green will not be able to consider your application at this time.

The closing date for applications is 4 May 2025 at 9am BST.  

We actively encourage applicants to reach out if there are any reasonable adjustments we can make to help them demonstrate their full potential in the hiring process.

Please get in touch at recruitment@opportunitygreen.org and we can discuss how to best make the recruitment process as accessible and comfortable for you as possible.

You can read our application guide here.

What happens next?

We will review applications after closing date. Over the last few months, we have been receiving between 100-400 applications per role. Our small team cannot manage such high volumes without impacting the delivery of our work. If we receive a large volume of applications for this role, we reserve the right to part-review your application. This would include reviewing CVs first, looking for match with essential job requirements as stated above. Only pre-shortlisted candidates will have their full application reviewed.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an online interview to discuss their experience and suitability for the role. After this, candidates that are most suitable for the vacancy will be invited for an in-person interview in our London office, for which there may also be a short task. Travel will be reimbursed for non-London-based applicants (within the UK).

Online interviews are likely to take place on 18 and 19 May. In person interviews are currently scheduled for Monday 25 May. Opportunity Green has a flexible bank holidays policy. Due to the interview panel’s availability, the plan is to hold the final interviews on this date in our London office.

We reserve the right to ask for references during the recruitment process.

If you have any questions, or you need any reasonable adjustments at the application stage, please contact recruitment@opportunitygreen.org.