Research Associate - Nature Opportunities (x2) in Oxford

About Global Canopy

Global Canopy is a data-driven not for profit delivering real transparency and accountability for market impacts on nature and people. Our special focus is on ending deforestation – an essential step in achieving urgent global goals on climate, nature and human rights. Our platforms, data and insights are relied upon by Fortune 500 companies, major financial institutions, national and regional governments, and some of the most effective campaigning organisations worldwide. We work globally, with a focus on both forested regions (particularly across Latin America and South East Asia), and major consumer and financial markets (with a focus on Europe, the US, Singapore and China).

About the Nature Positive Programme

Shifting financial flows from enabling nature destruction towards activities that credibly support nature protection and restoration is crucial. Global Canopy is working to enable the mobilisation of investment at scale into activities that deliver positive outcomes for nature and people, and to reverse the current imbalance, where financial flows to nature-destroying activities sit at USD7 trillion while financial flows towards Nature-based Solutions remain at USD230 billion. Turning this tide requires both reducing financial flows to nature-negative activities and significantly scaling up finance for activities that deliver for nature and people. Many investors lack clarity on how to make this shift. Building on the success of The Little Book of Nature Business, Global Canopy is developing a Nature-Positive Transitions programme that will deliver the evidence, analysis, innovation and energy to mobilise investors, especially asset owners, to support this financial shift.

About the Role

Our very first project under the Nature-Positive Programme, in partnership with the Nature Positive Hub at the University of Oxford, focuses on building the data infrastructure to enable credibility and comparability in assessing nature-related opportunities. To ensure we deliver the data infrastructure that enables credibility and comparability across emerging nature investing opportunities for the financial sector, we are establishing a data infrastructure workstream to define the criteria to assess the potential nature contributions from these opportunities, their risk-adjusted returns, their investability potential and how they can match the mandates of diverse asset owners. We are seeking two Research Associates with demonstrably strong research and analytical skills and experience in the fields of nature or biodiversity finance who will directly contribute to this data infrastructure workstream.

Responsibilities

• Research and database development (70%)
  • Work with partners and colleagues to define methodologies, relevant frameworks, and criteria for assessing the contribution to nature and the risk-adjusted returns of nature-investing opportunities, with a focus on scaling these opportunities.
  • Work with colleagues and partners to design and develop a data repository of nature-related investment opportunities, defining the models, schemas and conventions that enable multiple researchers to record opportunities consistently and comparably.
  • Identify and map nature-related investment opportunities across sectors against the defined criteria.
  • Conduct interviews with potential investees and investors (including asset owners) for selected nature-related investment opportunities.
  • Manage delivery of research in line with project timetable, ensuring alignment with the overall project ambition and strategic direction.
• Content and engagement (20%)
  • Draft case studies and reports, synthesising the analysis and lessons from the project with the Nature Finance Content Lead and project partners.
  • Maintain ongoing technical engagement with partners at the University of Oxford and other key technical contributors.
  • Coordinate external consultations on the project's technical aspects, in collaboration with partners and the project’s engagement associate.
  • Support in the organisation of events that raise awareness and amplify project results.
• Strategy and Fundraising (10%)
  • Contribute to monitoring, evaluation and learning, including donor reporting.
  • Contribute to fundraising efforts and the ongoing development of the nature-positive strategy.

Requirements

To be successful in the role, these are the things that will matter most:

• Applied environmental research skills and experience, particularly with nature impact and assessments.
• Deep understanding of financial analytics.
• Data collection and data modelling experience with a view to inform decision-making.
• Programmatic data analysis skills (strong preference for Python using pandas) to clean, structure and analyse complex datasets, compute derived metrics, and produce clear summaries and visualisations for reports and case studies.
• Experience delivering collaborative projects with technical components and with external partners.
• Demonstrable project management experience, with capacity to independently manage work according to agreed project timelines and to a high standard.

Essential behavioural competencies:

• Demonstrable motivation and alignment with the project’s vision and mission, as well as Global Canopy’s strategy.
• Proactive and self-motivated.
• A team player who takes ownership of their own work, listens to feedback and supports their colleagues’ contributions.
• Honesty, curiosity and resilience.

Desirable

• Experience building strong data models within spreadsheets or low/no code tools, and/or relational database experience, ideally with PostgreSQL.
• Coding skills (ideally Python) to support and streamline the data work.
• Experience with social impact analysis.
• Familiarity with the nexus between human rights and nature-related issues.

Benefits

• Salary: £50,000 full time equivalent. This role sits within Band D on Global Canopy’s remuneration framework.
• Nature of contract: x2 full-time, permanent contracts. Our office is in Oxford, with flexible home-working arrangements in place. Attendance at the office will be expected on a monthly basis. We are willing to support UK visa sponsorship for the successful candidates.
• Holidays: 36 days (including bank/public holidays) for discretionary use across the annual leave year. Option to purchase up to an additional 5 days or equivalent of one week’s leave.
• Pension: Employer pension contribution of 8%.
• Healthcare cashback plan: Covering dental fees, eye-care, wellbeing, physiotherapy, chiropody and much more – for you and any children.
• Employee Assistance Programme: Which provides free, confidential advice on personal and legal matters.
• Other: Huge range of discounts and cashback deals at gyms, restaurants, holidays, and much more.

How to Apply

To apply for the position, please follow the instructions and submit an up-to date CV and answers to the following questions (please no more than 150 words each):

• Describe a time when you used code to clean, reshape, combine or otherwise modify datasets to prepare them for analysis. What was messy or difficult about the raw data, what did your code do, and how did you verify the result was correct?
• Describe a time when you assessed the environmental benefits and/or the financial performance of an investment that presented itself as potentially beneficial to nature. What was your thought/analysis process, what data did you use, and what difficulties did you encounter in conducting the analysis? How did you address them?
• Why is this role at Global Canopy an attractive opportunity at this point in your career?

All candidates are asked to complete an anonymous diversity monitoring form when they apply. The closing date for applications is Monday, 10 August 2026 at 9am BST. Early application encouraged. We may close applications early if enough suitable candidates are identified. First round interview calls are provisionally planned for 21 and 24 August and will be conducted remotely via a video call. Those successful in the first round will then be invited to complete an assessed exercise which will determine who we invite for a final interview. Final interviews will be held via video call and are tentatively scheduled for w/c 7 September.