We want to drive change so more young people choose engineering and technology careers. In the UK, we don’t have enough engineers and demand is going up. So, we need more young people to realise there could be a future for them in engineering and technology. To really thrive, we need a stronger, more representative workforce and for that we have to do things differently to make engineering more appealing.

We are a not-for-profit working with hundreds of organisations across business, education, professional institutions and the third sector so we can all grow the future talent pool together. We drive that collective effort through research and evidence, leadership, activities for schools and advocacy, with a focus on long-term sustainability.

We guided by a series of values that we apply to all our activity:

•        We are inclusive and care about diversity. We understand that we have different needs and create opportunities for everyone's voice to be heard

•        We are collaborative. We listen, share and work in partnership to achieve our vision

•        We are curious and keen to learn. We challenge ourselves and others to innovate and experiment

•        We are insightful. We evaluate what we do and draw on research to make decisions and to improve our collective understanding

•        We are driven by a strong sense of purpose. We are determined to make an impact and achieve our goals

About the role

At EngineeringUK we use evidence to make a real difference. Through research insight and robust evaluation, we work to improve the impact of our own work, as well as that of other organisations in our sector. Our aim is to drive change so more young people from all backgrounds choose engineering and technology careers and that the UK has the diverse engineering and technology workforce it needs to thrive. The research and evaluation team consists of 6 researchers and analysts who work to provide these insights.

This is an exciting opportunity to deliver and develop our evaluation projects, to help build an evidence-base for engineering and technology outreach activities and to shape how we use this evidence to inform our own and others’ practice.

With support from the Head of Evaluation and Impact, you will be the operational lead on our evaluations, with responsibility for:

·         critically assessing the evidence required to ascertain impact of engineering and technology outreach activities across a complex landscape, with an emphasis on groups historically underrepresented in the engineering and technology professions

·         designing and managing the evaluation of our educational programmes, including the practicalities and logistics of collecting/analysing these data, and reporting findings to internal and external stakeholders

·         working with colleagues to embed learning from evaluation findings into our future activities and the wider evidence base on the impact of engineering outreach activity

·         developing advice and guidance on evaluation and impact measurement to support the engineering outreach community to evaluate their activity more robustly.

This job would ideally suit an experienced monitoring and evaluation professional interested in evaluating education programmes with a focus on increasing opportunities for young people from underrepresented groups.

The role is London based at the EngineeringUK offices at 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN and may involve some travel in the UK for evaluation fieldwork. We believe that hybrid working has many benefits and are pleased to offer flexible working with a baseline of 2 days (or 40%) a week in the office and core hours of 10am to 4pm.

Role responsibilities

Deliver our evaluation programme through:

·         Designing projects – develop or review Theories of Change and evaluation methodologies in collaboration with the Head of Evaluation and Impact and Programme Managers

·         Collecting data – design, conduct or commission primary research and evaluation projects

·         Analysing data – prepare, analyse and interpret quantitative and qualitative data

·         Sharing findings – communicate insights clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences

·         Managing projects – coordinate evaluation data administration, manage logistics and report on progress

·         Embedding learning – work with Programme Managers to translate findings into actionable improvements and refine evaluation approaches

·         Advancing inclusion – support the equity, diversity and inclusion team to improve our monitoring processes so that we can better understand the demographic composition of our participants and the differential impact of our programmes

·         Maintaining relationships – manage stakeholder and funder communications, ensuring deliverables are to a high standard and on time

Support the wider STEM outreach sector by:

•        developing good practice guidance, reviewing literature, analysing data, and sourcing case studies

•        conducting desk research, including evidence reviews and secondary data analysis

Produce high quality research outputs by:

•        authoring and reviewing evaluation reports and research outputs

•        ensuring outputs are accurate, unbiased, methodologically sound, and fit-for-purpose

•        collaborating with colleagues to maximise the use and impact of findings

Contribute to EngineeringUK’s wider work by:

•        responding to internal and external evaluation and data queries

•        representing EngineeringUK externally, communicating findings and identifying opportunities to forge relationships that benefit the organisation’s strategic objectives

•        managing aspects of the evaluation budget and adhering to quality processes

•        co-authoring research outputs produced by the wider team

•        contributing to funding proposals and tender applications

•        upholding best practice in research ethics, data management, and compliance

•        staying informed on education and/or STEM-related policy, data and methods

Other duties

•        work in line with EngineeringUK values and support achievement of our organisational objectives

•        undertake any training and development as required for the role

•        any other duties and tasks as directed and required by your line manager

This is a general guide to the key responsibilities of this role, it is not exhaustive. Similarly, the amount of time that you spend on various aspects of the role may vary.

Person Specification

Essential skills/competencies

•        Knowledge of and experience in using evaluation techniques/practices, ideally with familiarity of education outreach programmes

•        Ability to design and use quantitative and qualitative data collection tools and analyse these data using widely used analysis software (for example, SPSS, STATA, R, CAQDAS)

•        Experience in undertaking literature searches and reviews, identifying relevant evidence, appraising its quality, and summarising the body of existing work

•        Excellent time and project management skills, with experience working on multiple projects at once, adapting to changing priorities, and meeting hard deadlines

•        Demonstrated ability to lead evaluation projects independently, from conception to dissemination

•        Proactive in identifying evaluation opportunities and driving projects forward

•        Ability to work independently and prioritise own tasks and time, but also take direction, be flexible and work collaboratively with others, contributing to team decisions and facilitating cross-organisational working

•        An understanding of ethical and legal aspects of social research and the ability to adhere to appropriate research ethics and data protection protocols

•        Ability to effectively engage with stakeholders, foster collaboration with external partners on shared objectives and involve users in the development of research and evaluation

•        Commitment to our mission and values, you will be able to engage with our values and work in a way that supports our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion

Education/level of experience

•        3 to 5 years of professional experience in monitoring and evaluation of programmes, ideally with young people

EngineeringUK is committed to being an inclusive workplace, where everyone feels they belong. This is supported by the dedicated work we are doing to ensure our policies and practices are inclusive and that our staff are trained to be able to fulfil this commitment.