Borderlands

Arts Council England; Tees Valley, Redcar; Remote; GBP 74,000 - 129,000; Part time

Job summary

Borderlands is seeking an experienced independent evaluator or team to assess the impact of its Creative People and Places programme across Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and the North East region. The role involves shaping the evaluation approach, gathering data, and telling meaningful stories beyond numbers.

The contractor will work with communities, artists and partners to understand impact, develop case studies and contribute to ACE reporting.

Qualifications

• Inception phase: review of existing documentation, team discussions and an agreed evaluation plan and timetable.
• Assessment of existing data collection processes with recommendations for strengthening them.
• Regular review and analysis of quarterly monitoring data with emerging findings and recommendations shared with the team.
• Agreed programme of qualitative research, stakeholder engagement and case study development.
• Annual interim evaluation reports, timed to inform planning for the following year and align with ACE reporting requirements.
• Final evaluation report in Spring 2029, synthesising evidence across the programme, progress against six evaluation questions, and recommended legacy.

Responsibilities

• Review and develop monitoring and evaluation approaches.
• Gather and analyse quantitative and qualitative evidence.
• Work with communities, artists, partners and participants to understand impact.
• Develop case studies to bring the programme’s stories to life.
• Support ongoing learning and reflection throughout the programme.
• Produce annual and final evaluation reports as required.

Job description

Job Summary

Borderlands is looking for an experienced independent evaluator or team of evaluators to help us understand and demonstrate the impact of our creative programme across Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland.

Job Description

Borderlands is a Creative People and Places programme working across Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland.

Our programme aims to develop meaningful, equitable and community-led relationships, build confidence and agency, and support stronger habits of creativity and participation. Over time, we want to contribute to more confident, cohesive and active communities, a stronger creative ecology, and creative leaders rooted in their communities.

Community leadership, partnership working and the development of lasting relationships are central to our approach. Our Community Steering Group will play an important role in shaping creative priorities and informing programme development.

As we move into our next phase, we're looking for someone who can work collaboratively with our team, partners and Community Steering Group to explore what we're achieving, what we're learning and how we can continue to improve.

We're interested in understanding the difference creativity makes to individuals, communities, artists and the wider cultural landscape. We want evaluation to be more than numbers and reports. It should help us tell meaningful stories, celebrate successes, understand challenges and shape what happens next.

The successful evaluator will:

• - Review and develop our existing monitoring and evaluation approach.
• - Gather and analyse quantitative and qualitative evidence.
• - Work with communities, artists, partners and participants to understand the impact of our work.
• - Develop case studies that bring the programme's stories and experiences to life.
• - Support ongoing learning and reflection throughout the programme.
• - Produce annual evaluation reports and a final report in Spring 2029.

Expected work pattern: c. 2 days per month for the durtion of the contract, or approx 60 days in total. A work day is 7.4 hours.

Job Requirements

The evaluator will be expected to provide:

• An inception phase, including review of existing documentation, discussions with the team and an agreed evaluation plan and timetable.
• An assessment of existing data collection processes, with recommendations for strengthening them.
• Regular review and analysis of quarterly monitoring data, with emerging findings and recommendations shared with the team.
• An agreed programme of qualitative research, stakeholder engagement and case study development.
• Annual interim evaluation reports, timed to inform planning for the following year, and to align with ACE reporting requirements.
• Contributions to quarterly reporting and discussions with the consortium and ACE, as required.A final evaluation report in Spring 2029, bringing together evidence across the programme, assessing progress against the six evaluation questions and identifying outcomes, learning, recommendations and likely legacy.

• Job Title: Borderlands External Evaluation Contract
• Artform: Combined arts
• Role: Research
• Contract: Contract
• Location: North East