Senior Evaluation Manager

ENGINEERINGUK; Swindon; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Defined salary pension scheme

30 days annual leave + 10.5 public/rec

Employee discounts and offers

Employee assistance programme

Flexible working options

Job summary

UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is seeking an experienced professional to lead the delivery of monitoring, evaluation and related strategic activity for the Clean Energy Superpower Mission. You will design and execute evaluation plans, manage partnerships, and develop evidence syntheses to demonstrate impact.

The role involves steering groups, cross-mission collaboration, and shaping evaluation governance across the R&DMAP hub.

Qualifications

• Professional competency and technical skills in research, monitoring and evaluation.
• Understanding of monitoring and evaluation and its uses, including awareness of a range of evaluation approaches.
• Experience designing and delivering impact evaluations of complex programmes.
• Analytical, problem-solving and strategic thinking abilities.
• Ability to translate evidence and explain technical information to varied audiences.

Responsibilities

• Design and deliver evaluation activity for the mission, including contract managing independent evaluations.
• Co-develop and implement monitoring and evaluation plans with internal and external partners.
• Lead efforts to monitor outcomes and benefits from mission funding activities.
• Develop evidence syntheses and disseminate impact information.
• Participate in Evaluation Working Groups across missions and share lessons learned.
• Set up and deliver performance reporting structures and processes.
• Contribute to scoping, development, commissioning and management of research investments.

Skills

Monitoring & evaluation

Stakeholder management

Data analysis

Programme design

Communication

Education

Professional qualification in research/evaluation

Tools

MS Excel

Job description

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Hours: Full-time/ Part Time (minimum 0.8 FTE) (flexible working available)

Reports to: Innovation Lead – Clean Energy Superpower Mission

Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire - Hybrid working available

Contract: Fixed Term 23 months.

R&D Missions Accelerator Programme

The R&D Missions Accelerator Programme (R&DMAP)representsan exceptional opportunity to create real world impact through R&D investment.

The programme will utilise a £500m budget to bring together the private sector, the third sectors and academia to collaboratively develop innovative solutions to public sector problems, resulting innew technologies, services, IP and more.

The programme has been designed to solve the key problems facing the Government’s five national Missions and enable delivery of the milestones in the Plan for Change.

The Government has identified the key problems faced by the UK, to which the R&D Missions Accelerator Programme has designed Research and Innovation (R&I) Challenges to develop solutions.

The programme is currently developing its approaches across the Missions, and therefore by joining at this stagethere’sa significant opportunity toestablishand drive the strategic and operational direction of the programme.

Clean Energy

The Clean Energy Superpower Mission is the UK’s world-leading response to climate change with its twin focus on Clean Power by 2030 and accelerating to Net Zero.We'retackling two interconnected challenges that will shape the nation's energy independence, push peaking gas plant off thesystem,and drive down energy bills.We are looking at how new business models and approaches can unlock grid flexibility through AI and digital innovation, and developing new low-cost ultra-long duration energy storage solutions. Working with experts in system change such as the Energy Systems and Digital Catapults, market shapers at NESO andElexonand leading industry players, we are investing in real-world solutions and growing UK-based innovators and skills, right at the forefront of building the flexible, resilient power grid that will deliver our clean energy superpower ambitions.

We are looking for people who are highly self-motivated and who engage widely to findnew solutionsand ways of creating impact and bring real benefits to peoples’ lives and the economy.

About the role

This will be a varied and interesting role to lead the delivery of a portfolio of monitoring, evaluation and related strategic activity. The role will lead/support the design and delivery of strategic evaluations of new activities, encouraging best practice and building evaluation capability. The role will provide support and guidance to developing logic models, execute evaluation plans, and taking part in steering and advisory groups. This role will involve developing evidence syntheses and processes to disseminate and embed evidence of impact. Additionally, the role will require strong stakeholder management across challenge teams and UKRI.

The role incorporates a joint focus on programme-level and mission-level M&E support. In addition to working across the Clean Energy Superpower Mission the postholder will be involved in the Evaluation Working Groups for the overarching R&D MAP evaluation. This provides an exciting opportunity to shape a mission portfolio while benefiting from, and sharing, experience and good practice across the missions.

The postholder will be a central member of the Clean Energy Superpower Mission team, reporting to a Grade F manager, with a secondary reporting line to the Head of M&E in the R&DMAP hub.

Your responsibilities:

• Designing and delivering evaluation activity on behalf of the mission including contract managing independent evaluations of major challenge investments.
• Working in partnership with key partners (internal and external) to co-develop and implement monitoring and evaluation plans for mission activities and investments.
• Leading the team’s efforts to monitor and assess outcomes and benefits from mission funding activities.
• Working with other relevant teams to develop and synthesise evidence around the impact of the programme and its key investments, including identifying and developing case studies.
• Active involvement in the R&DMAP Evaluation Working Groups and two-way sharing of lessons and experience between the other missions and the Clean Energy Superpower Mission.
• Leading on set up and delivery of performance reporting structures and processes as required.
• Contributing to wider team activities and priorities as required including scoping, and development, commissioning and management of high-quality research and innovation investments.

Personal Specification

• Professional competency and technical skills reflecting expertise in research, monitoring and evaluation, ideally through a recognised and certified qualification (S).
• A demonstrable understanding of monitoring and evaluation and its uses, including awareness of a range of evaluation approaches for meeting specific objectives (S&I).
• Strong experience in design and delivery of impact evaluations of complex programmes (S).
• Sophisticated analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, and an ability to think strategically (S&I).
• Translating evidence effectively, explaining technical information clearly, and describing to varied audiences the implications, risks and uncertainties of such analysis. (I).
• Ability to plan and prioritise own work and the work of others to deliver successful outcomes, including responding flexibly to changing requirements and ambiguity (S&I).
• Well-developed communication and interpersonal skills at all levels, with the ability to maintain connections and influence to secure effective outcomes (I).

A list of benefits below:

• An outstanding defined salary pension scheme.
• 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent).
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities.
• Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice.
• Flexible working options.

UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.

Company

UKRI Economic and Social Research Council funds research and training in social and economic issues.

ESRC is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. We support independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. At any one time we support over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes.

We are part of UK Research and Innovation (www.ukri.org).

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