Evaluator - Associate Director (Education, Children & Families)

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Job Description

Role overview

Ipsos UK's Education, Children and Families Policy Team is a multi-disciplinary team of social policy researchers and evaluation specialists, working specifically in the areas of early years through to adulthood covering education (including further and higher), family policies, and risky behaviours.

We are looking for an Evaluation expert at Associate Director level to join our Education, Children and Families team - helping to deliver some of the most interesting and impactful research studies covering early years through to adulthood.

We pride ourselves on delivering results that can be acted on and impact on policy making.

The ideal candidate would be interested in working on a range of evaluations, including implementation and process evaluations and impact evaluations using RCTs, QEDs, and small-n methods

Key clients:

Department for Education, Department for Culture, Media & Sport, Youth Endowment Fund, Foundations (What Works Centre for Children and Families), Institute for Apprenticeships, CLS, Office for Students, TASO (Transforming Access and Student Outcomes), the Gambling Commission, UNICEF, British Council, the Sutton Trust and The Royal Foundation.

What will I be doing?

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced researcher/evaluator to lead high profile studies and help us grow our business. As an Evaluation Associate Director, you will act as Project Director on evaluations (or Project Manager of large-scale projects), lead winning proposals, and support the team and wider management of the business.

We are looking for someone with excellent project management skills and experience of undertaking research/evaluation with a range of audiences.

The main responsibilities will include:

• Directing small to medium evaluations and managing large and complex ones.
• Leading proposals and revenue generation, including making pricing recommendations.
• Communicating effectively with clients, internal and external suppliers, policymakers, stakeholders and internal colleagues both in writing and verbally.
• Supporting junior team members to develop their own communication style whilst ensuring professionalism and outcomes which are in Ipsos' long-term interests.
• Signing off deliverables (evaluation frameworks, questionnaires / discussion guides, stimulus materials, presentations and reports) which meet clients' and stakeholders' objectives, including creative approaches where relevant.
• Effectively managing relationships with suppliers and internal operations colleagues to ensure the objectives of the evaluation are met on time and to budget.
• Developing a strong understanding of our clients' needs and seeking opportunities to grow our business by taking a proactive approach to developing knowledge of the client's needs.
• Contributing to the successful running of our team through adding to our positive, supportive, enthusiastic environment where people are encouraged to challenge themselves to develop their skills.

What do I need to bring with me?

This role will suit candidates who enjoy working very closely with clients, often delivering at a fast pace.

We are looking for someone with:

• Process evaluations and impact evaluations using RCTs, QEDs, and small-n methods
• Good understanding of evaluation methodology and methods and ability to comfortably pick up projects and deliver day-to-day.
• Excellent project management skills
• Experience writing winning proposals including drafting costs.
• Desire to work closely with clients to maintain and grow our contracts.
• Excellent management skills: able to lead multiple projects and support junior members of the team to develop their research and project management skills.
• Ability to work to tight deadlines to deliver profitable work and assure quality of all outputs.
• Ability to understand and interpret complex data to draw out a clear narrative and insight to inform client decision-making.
• Excellent client handling and supplier negotiation skills.
• Confident and clear written and verbal communication skills, including experience of preparing presentations (and ideally written reports) with a high level of accurate use of English.
• Interest in the social issues affecting education, children and families.

What is in it for me?

Ipsos UK offer an attractive basic salary and a rewards package including 25 days annual leave, a pension scheme and a great range of flexible benefits to suit your personal needs. For roles at Research Manager level and above we also offer private healthcare.

In addition to this we have a fantastic Learning & Development offer delivered through a mix of face to face, online or on-demand; you can read more by clicking here.

We realise you may have commitments outside of work and will consider flexible working applications - please highlight what you are looking for when you make your application.

Ipsos is committed to equality, treating people fairly, promoting a positive and inclusive working environment and ensuring we have diversity of people and views. We also recognise that this is important for our business success - a more diverse workforce will enable us to better reflect and understand the world we research and ultimately deliver better research and insight to our clients.

About Us

Ipsos is one of the world's largest research companies and currently the only one primarily managed by researchers, ranking as a #1 full-service research organization for four consecutive years. With over 75 different data-driven solutions, and presence in 90 markets, Ipsos brings together research, implementation, methodological, and subject-matter experts from around the world, combining thematic and technical experts to deliver top-quality research and insights. Simply speaking, we help the biggest companies solve some of their biggest problems, serving more than 5000 clients across the globe by providing research, data, and insights on their target markets. And we're proud to share we've received our Great Place to Work Certification in 2022 & 2023!

About the Team

The Public Affairs Service Line is the world leader in Social and Opinion Research. We work with clients on political and public opinion polling, citizen and stakeholder management, social policy improvement, sustainable development strategy and identifying societal trends and perceptions across several sectors. We assess how government and public affairs policies as well as societal trends and views impact our client's brand/products/markets.