Background to the role

Helping people, animals and the planet by ensuring that plant-based and cultivated meat, eggs, dairy, and seafood are fairly regulated in Europe

The Good Food Institute Europe (GFI Europe) is a non-profit think tank at the forefront of the movement to transform meat production in order to solve some of the world’s biggest problems, from climate change and global hunger, to antibiotic resistance and animal suffering.

We work with scientists, businesses and policymakers to make plant-based and cultivated meat (grown directly from cells) delicious, affordable and accessible. Please check out the rest of our website, our 2024 Year in Review and our 2024 Europe Highlights blog post to find out more about who we are and what our charity does.

We are at an exciting stage in our growth and are looking for a Research Analyst to drive forward our work filling knowledge gaps and strengthening the evidence that underpins our work.

How you will make a difference

Your role will have high responsibility and high impact. You will significantly influence how quickly Europe and the world move to a more ethical and sustainable food system. 

You will be responsible for filling knowledge gaps and strengthening the evidence that underpins our work in order to drive positive change for alternative proteins across Europe. This will involve using your analytic mindset and project management skills to ensure the delivery of research projects that meet the needs and maximise the impact of our programmatic teams.

To achieve this, you will:

• Project manage the delivery of priority research projects for GFI Europe, either by executing the analysis independently using your quantitative or qualitative research skills, or by collaborating with commissioned external partners.
• Use the outputs of these projects and/or your own desk research to create informative and persuasive reports, white papers and briefings for GFI Europe’s policy, scientific and industry stakeholders.
• Contribute to identifying knowledge and evidence gaps and strategic avenues to fill those gaps in ways that advance GFI Europe’s mission vis-à-vis its key stakeholders.
• Monitor and stay abreast of recent research and publications relevant to alternative proteins to inform GFI Europe’s thinking and spot opportunities and potential threats.
• Identify and act on opportunities for collaboration with other organisations (non-profits, think tanks and academic institutes) around shared research priorities.
• In coordination with colleagues, support with developing and executing dissemination and engagement strategies for completed research projects, working through the media where appropriate.
• Represent GFI Europe in meetings with stakeholders and at public events as a subject matter expert where opportunities arise.
• Lead the organisation of knowledge information systems and processes.
• Perform other relevant duties as required.

Who we’re looking for

You must have:

• A passion for GFI’s philosophy and mission.
• Experience drafting publications such as briefing papers or reports, for example as part of a think tank, academic or consultant role.
• An analytic and curious mindset, with some research skills from at least one methodological discipline (quantitative, qualitative or review-based).
• Excellent project management skills, including some experience delivering analytical work, written reports, or other types of publications. 
• Outstanding communication skills, with a proven record of sharp, clear, intelligent and high-quality written work.
• Strong team spirit with open and collaborative instincts.
• Comfort working remotely in a dynamic organisation: the ability to work well independently and under pressure, set priorities, coordinate multiple projects simultaneously, and meet deadlines. 
• A can-do approach with the drive and initiative to take responsibility for delivering impact and an ability to see projects through to completion.
• An affinity with our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and with maintaining our welcoming and supportive culture.
• Good level of IT literacy and a willingness to learn new software packages.
• Fluent English, both written and spoken.

It would be an advantage to have some or all of the following attributes, but none of them are prerequisites, and we very much welcome applications from candidates without any or all of them:

• Comfort producing original research using your quantitative, qualitative, or review research skills.
• Proficiency in Excel modelling. 
• Competency in working effectively with contractors to ensure the delivery of high-quality outputs. 
• Knowledge of policy, industry or scientific questions related to agriculture, food, innovation, research or novel food regulation.
• Competency in translating technical (eg. scientific) material into accessible formats.
• A demonstrated ability to build alliances with other stakeholders from the think tank, academic, and non-profit world. 
• A project management qualification.
• Fluency in another European language other than English.

We want the best people and we don’t want biases holding us back. We strongly encourage people of every colour, orientation, age, gender, origin, and ability to apply. Because we value a diverse workplace, we prioritise an inclusive climate absent of discrimination and harassment during the application process and after you join the team.

Benefits and the fine print

• Terms of employment: Full-time (flexible hours), permanent. Requests for part-time arrangements can be considered (minimum 30 hours/week).
• Location: Flexible –  we will consider applicants from Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK. This is a remote role, and you will be able to work from home, or anywhere you choose. We are happy to consider supporting costs for co-working to enable you to work from an office if you wish. The whole GFI Europe team aims to get together in person approximately twice per year for around 3-5 days at a time. Travel costs will be covered by GFI Europe within our travel policy.
• Salary and benefits: The salary and benefits package for all of our roles are researched and benchmarked based on similar nonprofit roles in the country/location of hire. Due to capacity, we cannot complete that research for every country in advance, but approximate indicative ranges (total monthly gross salary plus benefits including home-working allowance) are likely to be:
  • EUR 36,666 – 44,444 (plus 8% holiday pay) if based in the Netherlands.
• Right-to-work requirements: The successful candidate must, by the start of the employment, have permission to work in the country where they are based, and to be able to travel within the EU.
• Application Deadline: 11.59pm CET on Tuesday 10th June. We will get back to all candidates after that date, no matter the outcome of their application: you should expect to hear back from us within about one week of the deadline.

You can read more about GFI Europe employee benefits here: https://gfieurope.org/careers/#our-benefits

Application process

Round	Timeline	Description	Expected Time Commitment
Application	Deadline: 11.59pm on Tuesday 10th June	Fill in the application form. As part of this, you will also have to answer two work sample questions.	1 hour
Written assignment	Mid/ late June	One to two questions simulating the type of work you’d be doing in the role.	2 – 2.5 hours
Interview (we’ll aim to conduct one round of interviews, but might decide to conduct a second round if needed)	Early July	Interviews will be conducted remotely on Zoom.We know that interviews can be especially stressful for candidates. We’ve put together this guide so that you know exactly what to expect from our process and, hopefully, have a more relaxed experience.	1.5 hours
Start date	August	In general, we are very flexible about start dates. We would love you to start as soon as possible in August, but we completely respect any notice period from your current employer or other constraints you might have.	N/A

Dates and times of assignments and video calls can be arranged to fit around your commitments.

We want you to have every opportunity to shine and show us your talents – we are happy to make all the reasonable adjustments that we possibly can to make sure the assessment process works for you. Email us at europe-hiring@gfi.org.

If you have any questions about this role, please do reach out to us at europe-hiring@gfi.org. If you’ve read this far but decided not to apply, please share this job description with someone else in your network who you think might be a good fit for the role! Thank you.

Any questions?

You’ll find the answer to a wide range of questions in relation to this role by checking out the Q&A session with Ellie (the Hiring Manager) and Alex (the Managing Director) below. If you have any other questions about this role, feel free to reach out to us at europe-hiring@gfi.org.