Evaluation Manager

Job Title: Evaluation Manager
Team: Performance Evaluation Team
Band D
Salary: £31,931
Contract: Open Ended
Hours: Full-time/Part-time (0.8 FTE minimum)
Location: Polaris House, Swindon
Closing: 2nd March 2022

We support flexible working and would like to encourage a diverse range of applicants. We would be very happy to discuss working patterns including part-time working with candidates on a case-by-case basis

Applicants will be expected to demonstrate the essential role requirements within the application competency responses.

Do you pride yourself on your attention to detail and a methodological approach? Do you have strong analytical or evaluation skills and can work as part of a team? The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) are seeking an Evaluation Manager. This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic performance and evaluation team (PET) at the heart of EPSRC.

With a budget of around £8bn a year, UKRI invests in world leading science and technology, and works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and Government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish. As one of the UKRI Councils, EPSRC has a key role to play in helping to deliver UKRI objectives, primarily to drive better economic and social outcomes for the UK through engineering and physical science research and innovation. We are the main funding body for engineering and physical sciences research in the UK. Our portfolio covers a vast range of fields from healthcare technologies to structural engineering, manufacturing to mathematics, advanced materials to chemistry. The research we fund has impact across all sectors and provides a platform for future UK prosperity by contributing to a healthy, connected, resilient, productive nation.

The Evaluation Manager works with colleagues across EPSRC and UKRI to support the development of robust socio-economic evaluations and science programme level reviews. These evaluations often have a strong focus on understanding and evidencing the benefits at a UK level of the research EPSRC funds, with impact wide ranging from scientific, to economic, social, and environmental.

Purpose

The post-holder provides wide-ranging support to EPSRC colleagues and collaborates across UKRI, providing information and guidance on effective monitoring and evaluation approaches. The role will also help collate the evidence that evaluations and reviews create, storing and presenting that evidence, providing new insight, and supporting its effective communication. This enables EPSRC to use evidence to improve the narrative to Government, providing evidence for the case for further funding and driving best practice in strategic decision making through robust data and evidence.

Evaluation can include several techniques - so there are opportunities to specialise depending on background and experience, and to continue to develop your knowledge with training provided where required. We are looking for candidates who have some experience or are keen to develop themselves in supporting evaluations, with an understanding of (or interest in) economics, evaluation, or project management techniques.

Key responsibilities of the role will include:

• Supporting the programme management approach for particular aspects of an evaluation, enabling EPSRC staff to use best practice techniques in designing and running a study
• Supporting the analysis approach for particular aspects of an evaluation, sharing best practice for example in the design and running of surveys, and in monitoring and evaluation techniques.
• Understanding best practice principles and sharing those e.g., by supporting the production of PET information, such as EPSRC’s monitoring and evaluation framework. Coordinating workshops and organising appropriate training for staff as and when needed.
• Collating and making sense of the evidence from multiple evaluations; highlighting the key messages from reports across EPSRC’s funding portfolio and using that to better communicate EPSRC evidence to our internal and external Key Stakeholders.
• Working with colleagues to help run analysis of available data to produce new insights where possible. This would present our monitoring data in new ways and provide insight into the broader impact of EPSRC research.
• Working under pressure, managing competing priorities to tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Working with the PET team to develop and deliver a high-quality work programme across priority areas.
• Willingness to build expertise and knowledge of best practice in evaluation approaches and methodologies, particularly those relevant to assessing benefits and impacts of research including economic and social.

The post holder will interact with a wide range of people, internally within EPSRC, across UKRI and externally. The postholder will report to the Senior Evaluation Manager.

We’ll assess you against these criteria during the selection process:

Short-list Criteria

Essentials

• Experience in a relevant area (monitoring and evaluation, analysis or project management). The ability to use your experience to facilitate monitoring and evaluation best practice, working effectively with PET colleagues to provide advice to EPSRC staff who may be new to evaluation. Or an ability and aptitude to build that knowledge quickly as part of the role.
• Delivering high-quality work at pace. The ability to focus on delivering robust advice and guidance to tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment, taking responsibility and accountability for quality outcomes.
• Communication and team working skills The ability to work successfully as part of wide remit teams; with peers, senior managers and wider stakeholders
• Understanding and knowledge of UKRI’s wider strategic environment. General knowledge or interest/understanding of the research environment and/or related Government departments, and an ability to continue to build on that knowledge as part of the role.
• Attention to detail and a methodological approach. Effectively using sound judgement and a methodological approach to enable and support colleagues to produce evaluations which are robust and independently accepted.

Desirable: Degree or equivalent experience. May suit candidate with degree in science/engineering or economics or with evaluation/analysis experience.