Evaluation Manager

Location: Bristol 

Salary: £51,846 - £56,662 

Plus generous Civil Service defined benefit pension.

Who we are 

The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of higher education in England – we regulate higher education on behalf of all students.? Our mission is to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers.

About the role

We are looking for an experienced Evaluation Manager to join our small, friendly and passionate team at the OfS. The purpose of the Evaluation Manager’s role is to help the OfS work more effectively through leading evaluation activity and evaluative thinking across the organisation. You will scope, run and commission evaluations that improve our impact, provide expert advice on priority evidence development, and work to champion a strong culture of evaluative thinking across the organisation. We want to see evaluation used and celebrated across the OfS.

We are looking to recruit someone with substantial evaluation experience who is committed to using evidence to improve practices and further impact. As you'll be a manager in our team, we are also looking for someone who values working collaboratively and sharing knowledge and expertise. 

This is an exciting time as the team is kicking off new work evaluating core areas of the OfS activity, alongside a refreshed programme to further evaluation culture in the organisation. Part of the Strategy, Delivery and Communications Directorate, the Evaluation Team is a priority for the organisation’s leadership to help the OfS understand what does and doesn’t work, and why. 

Responsibilities in the role will include:

• Designing evaluations to meet stakeholder requirements.
• Commissioning external evaluation and managing contractors effectively.
• Leading evaluation projects independently.
• Providing expert support, advice and quality assurance to evaluations led by other teams.
• Engaging stakeholders and ensuring evaluation findings are translated into impact.
• Supporting teams across the OfS to learn from and improve their regulatory interventions through their evaluations.
• Driving organisational culture change to celebrate evaluation and embed a learning mindset.
• Managing junior team colleagues and project management.

Initial projects are subject to change but may include leading the evaluation of the Teaching Excellence Framework 2023 (which seeks to encourage universities and colleges to deliver excellence in teaching, learning and positive outcomes for students) and advising on evaluations for a range of OfS programmes. 

Within the central Evaluation team, this role reports to the Head of Evaluation, and works with one other Evaluation Manager and two Evaluation Officers, as well as collaborating with colleagues across the organisation.

About you

We are looking for someone with:

In-depth knowledge and practical experience of evaluation: 

• experience of leading evaluation activity, preferably in regulation, higher education or a similar context;
• advanced knowledge of research design approaches and the use of data in evaluating regulation or a similar context. In particular, knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods, (quasi) experimental and theory-based approaches, and knowledge of their limitations and strengths;
• experience of scoping and the practical application of appropriate research and evaluation methods in project-based work;
• a passion for evaluation, evidence and learning.

Excellent project and research management skills: 

• excellent project and time management skills, with the ability to work independently and balancing the competing pressures of different stakeholders;
• awareness of, and adaptability to changing circumstances, feeding this into evaluation delivery;
• ability to deliver high quality work and outputs, including well written communications and reports; 
• experience commissioning and managing evaluation and social research contracts is desirable.

Excellent communication and relationship building skills:  

• ability to demonstrate leadership and champion evaluation to maintain momentum and impact;
• ability to proactively communicate findings and influence (specialist and non-specialist) audiences to utilise evidence appropriately and effectively;
• integrity, resilience, empathy and ability to maintain standards when challenged;
• ability to collaborate, manage relationships and support others, including managing project teams and the development of junior staff.

Benefits 

 Our Total Reward Framework offers a range of benefits to suit your way of life: 

• 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays. 
• Comprehensive learning and development – we’re invested in your future.
• Generous Civil Service pension scheme.
• Health benefits. 

Working for us 

We value diversity and the wealth of perspectives, experience and ideas that it brings to our work, and we strive to embed equality of opportunity in everything we do. We recruit based on fair and open competition and welcome applications from candidates regardless of age, disability, race and ethnicity, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and socio-economic background.

Working arrangements 

We love working flexibly because we know that it helps us all to do our best work. We’ve created a set of principles to shape our approach to flexible and hybrid working, which our teams then use as guidance on how they deliver their business goals. This would usually mean working from the office for two or three days in a typical week. 

To attract the widest possible field of qualified applicants, flexible working, for example job share and part-time working, apply to these roles.

Next steps 

To make an application, please upload a copy of your CV which should set out your relevant qualifications and experience. In addition, there are two application questions to answer, which will allow you to demonstrate your relevant experience against selected key requirements of the role.

If you are longlisted following the application stage, we will ask you to complete a written exercise and numerical test. Once these written tasks have been reviewed, successful applicants will be invited to interview.

If you have any queries about the role, please contact the Head of Evaluation, Leyla Bagherli: [email protected]. For any other questions, including those relating to the recruitment process, please contact the Recruitment Team: [email protected].

Closing date for applications: 15 September 2024

Interviews: 8 - 10 October 2024