The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) is looking for an experienced evaluator to lead complex evaluations in the fields of education and youth violence. About half of your time will be spent managing studies in formal education and youth settings for clients like the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), and the other half will be spent running evaluations in our Ending Youth Violence Lab (EYVL) and supporting the strategic development of the Lab.

What does a Senior Evaluation Manager do?

You will lead the business development and management of education evaluations for clients like the EEF and Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO). You will also lead the design and implementation of evaluations for the EVYL. In both cases, you will manage and work with teams of researchers and policy experts.

Our current portfolio of evaluations includes large-scale randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of complex programmes in schools, nimble RCTs testing interventions such as learning analytics platforms in universities, and formative evaluations that support intervention development and scaling (mixed-methods pilots and scale-up evaluations).

Key questions your work may answer are:

• How can we evaluate the impact of a targeted reading programme on pupil literacy?

• How can we evaluate the promise, feasibility and readiness for scale of interventions that aim to prevent youth violence?

• How can we use evaluation and capacity building approaches to support a proven intervention to scale?

• How can the EVYL best deliver on its mission to catalyse a step change in our understanding of the most effective approaches to tackling youth violence?

This role is at Senior Advisor level which means you will be involved in the following activities.

• Leading a portfolio of work composed of a range of designs including: causal impact evaluations (RCTs and quasi-experimental designs (QEDs)), feasibility studies, pilot evaluations, implementation and process evaluations, and evaluation-based capacity building. This work will be focused on education and youth violence prevention, but there may also be scope to work on other areas such as youth employment, home affairs and social cohesion;

• Quality-assuring the work of junior researchers, including trial protocols, statistical analyses and reports, and undertaking more complex quantitative analysis;

• Providing sound quantitative and qualitative research advice at project initiation and helping to troubleshoot complex methodological problems, including drawing on the expertise of other senior staff as needed;

• Collaborating with other senior researchers across BIT to improve research standards and support research functions across the organisation;

• Developing new ideas for projects, and writing proposals for new work;

• Line-managing junior researchers, supporting them in their development within BIT and their wellbeing.

What skills and qualities are needed for this role?

We are looking for people who understand what we do, share our values and are keen to learn and develop their expertise. We are looking for candidates with the skills listed below. We expect to provide training and development support in some of the areas.

• Experience and a strong theoretical and practical knowledge of running evaluations. It is essential that you have a strong technical understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methods and their applications as well as the pragmatism required to generate high quality evidence at speed in policy settings. In particular, expertise in RCTs and mixed-method formative evaluations is essential. You should have substantial previous research experience and academic training at postgraduate level in at least quantitative research methods.

• Able to advise clients and coworkers on evaluation topics. This includes being able to communicate complex concepts in accessible ways to audiences who may not have any experience of rigorous evaluation.

• Experience successfully managing research projects with multiple work streams. You should be able to develop and monitor a project plan, delegate tasks appropriately, manage a budget, and monitor for risks and develop mitigation strategies.

• Ability to collaborate with others, including clients, and especially those who may have different immediate interests and complementary skills to you.

• Supporting and developing others. You can nurture talent and energise people to perform at their best. You care about the success, development and wellbeing of others and can have meaningful (and sometimes difficult!) conversations

• Commitment to our methods and values. You are passionate about improving the lives of children and the role that high-quality evidence can play in that.  

• Strong understanding of what makes an effective intervention for children and young people. We will draw extensively on existing knowledge to learn lessons on what has and hasn’t worked and decide on the interventions we will work with. This will include prevention science, child development and behavioural science literature, so you will need a strong background in a relevant field and the ability to apply it to the context of education, youth and youth violence.

• Clear and convincing communications. You can explain complex topics in simple terms. You have excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to flex your approach to a range of audiences.

Who are we and what can we offer you?

The Behavioural Insights Team is the world leader in applying behavioural science to public policy challenges in order to strengthen communities and improve lives. We design and rigorously test new ideas across a range of areas such as health, crime and education, to establish what works and what doesn’t. We have helped Tuberculosis patients take their medicine; reduced police susceptibility to cyberattacks; and helped organisations close their gender pay gap. We are looking for a passionate and imaginative individual who understands behavioural science and shares our thirst for evidence-based solutions to join our dynamic and growing team.

BIT really is a great place to work:

• We encourage flexible working and have a culture which enables this; for example flexible start and finish times and an IT set up which allows for easy working from home options

• We have regular team lunches with inspirational guest speakers.

• We have a flexible benefits programme which currently includes things like gym memberships, cycle to work schemes and the ability to buy extra annual leave at the start of the year.

• We’re a social bunch and have a variety of interest groups including Film Club, BIT Kids for our parents & 5-a-side team to name a few.

• We have a great office, which has an amazing coffee machine and fridges stocked full of soft drinks!

How to apply

We use a great platform called Applied to reduce bias in the recruitment process. You will need to answer a few work-based questions which will be anonymously marked by members of our team. Our selection is based on performance in these questions, rather than looking at your CV. 

Candidates with the top scoring answers will be invited to a structured interview where you get to meet some of the team. At the interview stage you will be asked questions that reflect the role and also to complete a work-based task, so you have the chance to demonstrate your skills. It’s at this stage we first see your CV. We always give all applicants feedback, no matter what stage your application reaches.

Key dates

Role closes: 5th June 2023

Interviews and task : Week commencing Monday 12th June

If required, second round interviews will be held week commencing Monday 19th June

Please note that all dates are subject to change (but we’ll do our best not to change them!)

Alternative roles

If we think that you're suitable for an alternative role at BIT - e.g. an Advisor level or qualitative researcher - we may discuss this during the offer stage.