Postdoctoral Impact Fellow

Salary

The starting salary will be from £42,632 on Grade F, depending on qualifications and experience.

Contractual hours

36.5

Package

Generous holiday allowances, flexible working, pension scheme and relocation package (if applicable).

Job category/type

Research

Date posted

27/11/2025

Job reference

Q11274

Faculty of Environment, Science & Economy

This full-time role is available immediately on a fixed term basis until 30th January 2027.

The post

The University of Exeter wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Impact Fellow to participate in the project "Renewing biodiversity through a people-in-nature approach (RENEW)", which seeks to develop solutions to one of the major environmental challenges for humankind: the renewal of biodiversity ). Based in the Geography Department, the Impact Fellow will support the translation and dissemination of RENEW research to business and finance audiences. This post is funded through the UKRI-NERC Changing the Environment Programme and contributes directly to RENEW's Theme 4 (Business and Finance).

Based in the Department of Geography, the successful applicant will work closely with colleagues across the Business School and Engineering, and with partners from industry, finance, and conservation. The post will play a pivotal role in helping to deliver the next phase of RENEW's Theme 4 work—moving from research production to real-world impact. This comes at a crucial time when businesses are increasingly being called upon to report on their nature-related impacts.

Working closely with the Theme 4 team and wider RENEW partners and collaborators, including the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Business for Nature, and high-profile organisations such as the World Economic Forum, the post holder will support and promote an accessible entry point for businesses and the finance sector to understand and visualise their impacts on biodiversity.

About you

You will have experience working at the interface of research and practice, ideally within sustainability, biodiversity, environmental management, or communications. You will be able to translate complex evidence into clear, engaging outputs for professional audiences such as business leaders, investors, and policymakers.

You will need to demonstrate:

• Strong communication and writing skills, with the ability to create high-quality, audience-specific materials.
• Proven experience of working collaboratively across disciplines and with non-academic stakeholders.
• Organisational and project-management skills to coordinate multiple partners, tasks, and timelines.
• A proactive and creative approach to engagement, capable of convening discussions and synthesising insights from diverse sources.
• An interest in or familiarity with business sustainability, biodiversity, or environmental decision-making.

A PhD or equivalent professional experience is required, but importantly you need to demonstrate impact and knowledge-translation experience / potential with interests in corporate sustainability or business decision-making. Applicants will demonstrate proficient science communication skills and be capable of working collaboratively with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds, including business and financial managers, environmental scientists, and nature groups. The successful applicant will also be able to work collaboratively, supervise the work of others and act as team leader as required.

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role by clicking on the attachment.

What we can offer you

• Freedom (and the support) to pursue your intellectual interests and to work creatively across disciplines to produce internationally exciting research;
• Support teams that understand the University wide research and teaching goals and partner with our academics accordingly
• An Innovation, Impact and Business directorate that works closely with our academics providing specialist support for external engagement and development
• Our Exeter Academic initiative supporting high performing academics to achieve their potential and develop their career
• A multitude of staff benefits including sector leading benefits around maternity, adoption and shared parental leave (up to 26 weeks full pay), Paternity leave (up to 6 weeks full pay), and a new Fertility Treatment Policy
• A beautiful campus set in the heart of stunning Devon

The University of Exeter

We are a member of the prestigious Russell Group of research-intensive universities and in the top 200 universities in the world (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 and QS World University Ranking We combine world-class teaching with world-class research, achieving a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework Award 2023, underpinned by Gold ratings for Student Experience and Student Outcomes.

Our world-leading research impact has grown more than any other Russell Group university in recent years, and we are home to some of the world's most influential researchers, seeking to answer some of the most fundamental issues facing humankind today. More than 99 percent of our research is of international quality and 47 percent is world-leading (2021 Research Excellence Framework).

We encourage proactive engagement with industry, business and community partners to enhance the impact of research and education and improve the employability of our students. Read about our world leading research – Green Futures and how we are transforming education for a changing world. We are located in a beautiful part of the country and Exeter (a fast growing tech hub) is one of only a few UK cities to have been designated as a UNESCO Creative City

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Commitment

We are committed to ensuring reasonable adjustments are available for interviews and workplaces.

Whilst all applicants will be judged on merit alone, we particularly welcome applications from groups currently underrepresented within our working community.

With over 30,000 students and 7,000 staff from 150 different countries we offer a diverse and engaging environment where our diversity is celebrated and valued as a major strength. We are committed to creating an inclusive culture where all members of our community are supported to thrive; where diverse voices are heard through our engagement with evidence-based charter frameworks for gender (Athena SWAN and Project Juno for Physics), race equality (Race Equality Charter Mark), LGBTQ+ inclusion (Stonewall Diversity Champion) and as a Disability Confident employer.

For further information please contact Professor Tim Lenton (Geography)