Research Director - Theory Based Evaluation

Job Title: Research Director - Theory Based Evaluation

Location: London or Endinburgh - Hybrid Working

Salary: £40,000 - £54,616

Department: Public Policy & Global - Theory Based Evaluation

At the National Centre for Social Research, we carry out a full programme of evaluations, supporting decision makers and practitioners across the public, private and third sector to make evidence informed decisions. We believe that social research has the power to make life better. It is an exciting time for our Centre for Evaluation; our theory-based impact evaluation portfolio is rapidly growing, and we are looking for a new Research Director to join our dynamic and friendly team.

This role provides a unique opportunity to work alongside and share learning with leading innovators in theory-based impact evaluation across a wide range of policy areas (including education, health, wellbeing and social care, communities, work and income, equalities, crime and justice, environment, and climate) in the UK and internationally.

Working alongside our in-house policy experts on children and families, health and social care, communities, work and income, crime, justice and equalities, and external partners you’ll need the skills and confidence to be able to advise on, design, lead and conduct our evaluation work.

Candidate Profile:

Candidates will have expertise in the design and implementation of evaluation studies, ideally with applied experience of theory-based impact evaluation approaches) as well as the ability to provide expert advice, leadership and support to our research staff involved in delivering evaluations.

We are particularly interested in candidates with:

• Expertise in evaluation design and delivery including process and impact evaluation, ideally with applied experience of theory-based evaluation approaches e.g. realist, contribution analysis, process tracing or qualitative comparative analysis;
• Experience of evaluating complex and systems-level programmes/interventions;
• Experience of theory of change building and testing;
• Knowledge/experience of key public policy topic areas (such as education, health, wellbeing and social care, communities, work and income, equalities, crime and justice, environment, and climate);
• Writing successful proposals or grant funding applications;
• Managing projects and staff;
• Designing and delivering research or evaluation training.

Knowledge or experience of the following evaluation approaches is preferred, but not required:

• Quantitative evaluation designs and analysis (QEDs and/or RCTs) ;
• Systematic reviews;
• Value for money analysis.

Benefits

As well as a competitive salary, and an excellent working environment (including a home/office hybrid working environment), you will be working for the largest independent social research organisation in the UK. We are proud of the benefits we offer our employees which include:

• 25 days holiday (plus 8 bank holidays) and flexible working
• Generous company pension scheme
• Life insurance and health cash plan
• Cycle to Work scheme and season ticket loan
• Career development, professional subscriptions support and mentoring support from industry-leading experts.

About the National Centre for Social Research

At NatCen Social Research we believe that social research has the power to make life better. By really understanding the complexity of people’s lives and what they think about the issues that affect them, we give the public a powerful and influential role in shaping services that can make a difference to everyone. And as an independent, not-for-profit organisation we’re able to focus our time and energy on meeting our clients’ needs and delivering social research that works for society.