Evaluation Officer

This is a permanent, full-time role (37hrs per week).

The Monitoring and Evaluation Team play a vital role in ensuring STEM Learning's continued success. Our sector leading approach to evaluation helps teachers to learn what works, shows our funders the impact of our programmes, and ensures what we do is of the highest quality. This is your chance to use your skills and experience to lead evaluations of large-scale education support programmes and distil your findings into key messages that are shared across the education sector.

The Role

The Evaluation Officer will provide effective support to a wide range of research and evaluation activities of the organisation to provide:

• Effective development and implementation of end-to-end project evaluations
• Implementation and development of best practice across research and evaluation
• Effective collection, collation, analysis and reporting of research findings and evaluation data
• Effective communication and dissemination of research findings to internal and external audiences driving best practice and high quality educational services delivered by STEM Learning

This is a crucial service, ensuring STEM Learning is able to continue to build its reputation for success based on:

• Adherence to best practice grounded in evidence and research
• Meeting funders' expectations in terms of the quality of the educational support services it delivers
• Proven impact of interventions
• Value for money
• Good governance
• Trust
• A continuous cycle of improvement.

The Evaluation Officer will work under the direction of the Evaluation Coordinator and will be required to liaise with teams across and beyond the organisation providing high quality research and evaluation information and services.

Key Results /Accountabilities

• Ensuring projects and programmes are evaluated effectively and realistically.
• Designing appropriate evaluations, and effectively communicating outputs to both internal and external stakeholders.
• Working with Programme Management staff to identify and, where appropriate, implement mitigating actions or to escalate issues.
• Ensuring appropriate data are collected, analysed and interpreted, including embedding information from multiple sources in preparation for research and reporting internally and externally.
• Supporting the management, further development and use of internal evaluation systems and tools to collect, analyse and interpret data for reporting, monitoring and presentation to various internal and external stakeholders.
• Conducting external evaluation and research of STEM Learning projects, including liaising with external evaluators and STEM Learning staff.
• Inputting to and managing the dissemination and use of research and evaluation evidence to internal and external stakeholders, supporting continuous improvement on the STEM Learning offer. Assisting in the development of proposals for new work. Engaging in learning and development activities appropriate to the skills and competences required to fulfil the position.
• Adhering to ethical standards and data protection protocols.

Key Challenges

• Need to work effectively and collaboratively with external stakeholders and partners including regular communication with remote colleagues.
• Ensuring research and evaluation activities are aligned to business priorities.
• Balancing priorities and resources to achieve optimum results.
• Managing expectations of internal and external stakeholders.
• Time management and dealing with competing priorities and pressures – ability to manage own workload and also communicate clearly and collaborate effectively with colleagues to maximise outcomes.

Our Ideal Candidate

• A background in social research or project evaluation, with proven skills in a range of quantitative and qualitative research methods and research designs.
• An understanding of end-to-end evaluation, including designing, developing and implementing effective approaches.
• Knowledge of statistical methods of data analysis, basic programming and database skills.
• Experience of managing and manipulating large datasets.
• Planning and organisational skills with experience of managing contracts and projects.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including experience of report writing.
• A proven ability to interact effectively with internal and external stakeholders, preferably including government departments and senior leaders.
• An ability to work to tight deadlines and on own initiative.
• An appreciation and understanding of STEM education and a commitment to the vision and mission of STEM Learning.
• Willingness to engage in professional learning and development activities.

About Us

The National STEM Learning Centre & Network is a key UK resource for supporting STEM teaching and learning through provision of resources, on-line and physical networking and communities and partnership with a wide range of organisations and individuals. This includes driving forward on-going development of the STEM Ambassadors and STEM Clubs programmes alongside subject-specific support for all involved in teaching STEM subjects to young people.

This role is instrumental in ensuring that all colleagues across the Network continue to provide world-leading support to STEM educators and exceed the expectations of funders and other stakeholders. This role is essential in providing internal and external staff with effective evaluation of STEM Learning support, helping to organisation to meet the expectations of internal and external stakeholders.

Take a look inside the National STEM Learning Centre (https://youtu.be/JTpyDpRBnbA) in York to see our facilities.

Our Benefits

• 30 days holidays plus bank holidays
• Access to an excellent pension scheme
• A comprehensive employee assistance programme
• Access to a voluntary staff benefits scheme including cycle to work loan scheme; health cash back plans; free eye tests; discounted vouchers and much more

Take a look at our benefits brochure (https://www.stem.org.uk/sites/default/files/STEM%20Learning%20Benefits%202022%20A5%2020pg%20External%20e%20version.pdf) to find out more about the benefits we offer.

Next Steps

To Apply

Please provide us with:

• Your up-to-date CV
• A covering letter (no more than the equivalent of 2 sides of A4) explaining your interest in the role and why you think you would be the ideal candidate.
• Contact details of two referees, including your current/most recent employer (please note, references will not be approached without your permission).

There is no closing date for this appointment; applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis so early applications are recommended.