Institute for Futures Development jobs and careers

About Institute for Futures Development

IFD is a UK-based organisation rethinking how business, communities, and academia connect making collaboration faster, simpler, and more impactful, without adding pressure to already stretched university teams. We work with organisations ready to engage the next generation by bringing real-world challenges directly to university students. Whether embedded within degree programmes or delivered through flexible, short-term experiences such as summer projects, we create meaningful opportunities for students to step into real work not simulations. Because right now, collaboration with Higher Education is often too slow, too complex, and too disconnected from real-world need. IFD changes that. Our platform, The Lab, rapidly connects business challenges with university talent cutting through traditional barriers and creating an immediate route to action. What starts as a single challenge can quickly grow into long-term, high-value partnerships. Students gain real experience, confidence, and exposure to industry. Organisations gain fresh thinking, diverse perspectives, and early access to emerging talent. We believe the future of education and work is more connected, more responsive, and more human. IFD exists to make that future happen bringing together knowledge, talent, and opportunity to create lasting impact.