Now that the UK is home to roughly “100,000 social enterprises…with a workforce of 2.3 million” – and social impact investment grew to £11.2bn in 2024 – the sector is generating a growing number of opportunities and jobs.
The social investment sector has always looked for highly interdisciplinary individuals, often also encouraging applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds. There are just so many different organisations now present in today’s impact ecosystem, and each one prioritises different profiles and roles:
- Foundations (Esmée Fairbairn, The Royal Foundation, Fusion21 Foundation)
- Specialist funds (Big Issue Invest, Resonance, SASC, Key Fund)
- Banks (Triodos, Charity Bank)
- Intermediaries (CAF Venturesome, Social Investment Business)
- Ecosystem builders (GIIN, Nesta)
- Advisors (Bridges Fund Management, New Philanthropy Capital, CAF Impact Accelerator, BSC’s new advisory service)
- Family offices showing interest in impact investing, which may lead to the need for more Advisors.
So with this in mind, these are the six trends we’ve picked up on in 2025 – that may continue their influence this year. If you are considering a career in social finance in 2026, they are important to take into account.
1. Blended Finance Focus & Thinking
The impact investment employers listed above are consistently looking for professionals with hybrid profiles or experience across a variety of financial products and structures. They are interested in knowing how candidates believe debt, equity and grants play a role in driving forward powerful societal outcomes. And how different combinations or capital stacks can create sustainable solutions – balancing risk, return and impact – and allowing projects to be funded that would otherwise be too risky and capital-intensive for private investors.
We’ve also found that these employers may prioritise candidates who have both strong technical skills and commercial backgrounds paired with an understanding of social investment or grantmaking. Roles that typically seek these kinds of profiles include: Investment Director, Fund Manager, Head of Investment, Relationship Manager, Outcomes Fund Lead and more.
If you are unsure how to build up this skillset, look out for social enterprise and impact investing events, panels and workshops (i.e. GIIN Impact Forum, Impact Investor Global Summit, etc). There, you’ll hear about real-world examples and market insights on blended finance structures.
Browse live roles: Careers4Change Job Listings
2. Accountability Is as Important as Innovation
The roles we recruited for at Careers4Change in 2025 heavily focused on due diligence, compliance, FCA regulation, audits, insurance and risk management. This could be linked to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introducing the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR), which came into effect mid-2024*. Impact investors are keen to drive greater capital flows through regulation: boosting trust, backing sustainability claims and debunking accusations of “greenwashing.”
This means that roles responsible for the following functions are in high demand:
- Comprehensive due diligence on financial, operational and impact risks
- Structured impact reporting and disclosure aligned with regulatory and industry standards
- Risk management systems that integrate ESG and broader sustainability risk factors
And these functions are even more essential in complex focus areas such as emerging markets, climate adaptation and more.
“Risk, compliance and governance roles are now feeding directly into senior investment leadership, not sitting alongside it,” said Angela Tolliday, Senior Consultant at Careers4Change. “FCA scrutiny, ESG regulation and LP pressure all have influenced the heightened focus on these areas.
The FCA also plans on extending formal oversight to the entire ESG ratings industry, requiring providers to disclose conflicts of interest, clarify methodologies and follow transparency rules. The regulation will essentially convert ESG data from being a subject of marketing to a core Board level compliance issue. It expects to take effect by 2028 – and that could also increase demand for compliance, risk and due diligence roles across the entire impact investing sector.
3. Alignment Building Between Government, NGOs & Donors
Last year, on 10th November, the Office for the Impact Economy was launched to encourage stronger relationships between government, social investors, purpose-led businesses and philanthropists. With its goals to unlock capital, scale social-outcomes contracts, identify new partnerships and champion co-investment opportunities, professionals with strong stakeholder engagement skills will be in high demand.
The government typically sets the policy and regulatory frameworks and uses public capital to de-risk markets and invest in long-term priorities, like Net Zero and social housing. Donors often support the enabling conditions by funding ecosystem building, pilots and capacity building, while NGOs deliver interventions on the ground, bringing deep contextual and community knowledge. Impact investors then allocate capital efficiently within risk constraints to help scale what works.
Therefore, organisations pursuing systems change are often looking for individuals with strong policy and financial literacy. Take ecosystem builders in the sector, like the Impact Investment Institute – they translate between policy, philanthropy and finance as they coordinate between donors, investors and policymakers. At social investment banks, Impact Fund Managers, for example, are really sought-after to closely work with social enterprises, while communicating with investors, intermediaries and others.
4. Impact Measurement and Theory of Change
If you’ll work alongside charities, philanthropists, businesses and funders, knowledge of theory of change and impact measurement is crucial. You can look at NPC’s resources, read their blogs and attend their events to learn more about this.
Organisations in the social sector are looking to maximise their impact – and access to high quality data and information is essential for decision making.
Candidates who understand impact measurement might have experience with small-scale research, qualitative impact assessments, control groups and different types of data, from user to outcomes. Organisations in impact finance are searching for people with these skills – for roles like Portfolio Manager, Research Lead and Impact & Evaluation Manager – who can unlock future investments and address market failures due to information gaps.
5. Comfortable Using Data Tools (Power BI, Tableau, Python)
Strong analytical and critical thinking skills are increasingly needed in impact finance to explore markets, analyse pipelines and support ESG screening. Better analysis helps organisations identify promising opportunities and improves reporting, making it easier to see what’s working and build trust with funders, communities and other stakeholders.
This matters even more with the AI renaissance, where organisations don’t just want more data but are actively searching for professionals that can ask the right questions about it. Being able to spot flawed assumptions in impact financial models – while also using the latest tech tools – helps make smarter decisions, avoid negative repercussions and allocate resources more efficiently.
6. Strategy + Execution Are Becoming Inseparable
Increasingly we are being asked to recruit for roles which combine:
- Strategy (shaping funding and finance approaches)
- Delivery/Execution (managing funds, deploying capital)
- Oversight (risk, compliance, governance)
These hybrid roles need professionals that can deliver strategy, measure impact and translate between finance, legal and other departments. For example, a role like Investment Manager or Director could involve due diligence, regulatory awareness, capital allocation, portfolio management and fund performance.
Final Thoughts
There’s a wide range of employers in impact finance – from academic institutions to advisory firms, banks, fund managers, foundations, family offices, government, nonprofits and more. On top of that, there’s many different types of impact funds with varying thematic targets. With so many options, it can feel overwhelming when making a career transition. So, take time to explore the employment landscape, the organisations that inspire you, the impacts they are delivering on and the roles available – and we hope this blog can help you navigate the skills in demand, too.
You can keep up with sector news, candidate insights and hiring trends through our LinkedIn account. And you can always reach out to us: info@careers4change.com
* Interesting resource from Impact Investing Institute, The UK Impact investing market, that includes trends on regulation (2024, p.16).
