Evaluation Officer role
Salary: £36,430 - £37,362
Location: Bristol
Plus generous Civil Service defined benefit pension
We’re looking for an evaluation practitioner/social researcher who’s excited about bringing their expertise to the Office for Students (OfS), to help ensure that higher education provides a fulfilling experience for every student!
Our evaluation team is committed to our mission to support the OfS to celebrate and use evaluation to make a positive difference to students.
If this type of role as an evaluation champion and researcher sounds like you, we’d love you to apply to come and work with us!
About us The Office for Students (OfS) exists to ensure that English higher education offers the best experience and the best value for students, for taxpayers, for the economy and for the public good. We are the independent regulator of higher education in England – we regulate higher education on behalf of all students. Our mission is to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers. We have high ambitions and offer great opportunities to get involved in bringing that vision to life.
Job description
About the role
As an Evaluation Officer, you will work with an Evaluation Manager to scope, run and commission evaluations, providing expert advice on priority evidence projects, and working to champion a strong culture of evaluative thinking in the OfS. Our evaluations are typically impact and/or process evaluations, with a strong focus on theories of change and theory-based approaches, and use of mixed methods. You may do a mix of managing commissioned suppliers and conducting our own data collection and analysis.
Your role will include building relationships and engaging stakeholders, and ensuring evaluation findings are translated into impact. You will facilitate discussions and learning/reflection exercises, deliver internal training, look for ways to share our work to maximise its impact, and look at how to build evaluation into the OfS’s ways of working. You’ll be constantly developing your own knowledge of relevant research and evaluation and sharing this to build the knowledge of the team and wider colleagues. You’ll support the management of evaluation projects and workstreams, ensuring we deliver high-quality and on time.
Person specification
About you
We are looking to recruit someone with relevant social research and/or evaluation experience who is passionate about using evidence to improve practices and further impact. Fitting with the culture of our team, we are also looking for someone who values working collaboratively and places high importance on learning, development and the sharing of knowledge and expertise.
Essential criteria for candidates include:
- Experience in designing or conducting social/policy research activities, with good knowledge of research design approaches and the use of data in evaluation.
- Excellent demonstrated project and time management skills, with the ability to work independently and balance multiple workstreams.
- Ability to work accurately with attention to detail and deliver high-quality outcomes under pressure and in the face of competing demands.
- Clear and positive written and verbal communication.
- Ability to collaborate, build and manage effective relationships and support others.
- A passion for evaluation, evidence and learning.
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £36,430, Office for Students contributes £10,553 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Benefits
Our Total Reward Framework offers a range of benefits to suit your way of life:
- 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays
- Comprehensive learning and development – we’re invested in your future
- Generous Civil Service pension scheme
- Health benefits
In addition, we take a proactive approach to professional development within the team, and will work with the successful candidate to seek opportunities to develop skills, knowledge and experience in the role.
Working for us
The OfS regulates the higher education sector on behalf of all students. We value diversity and the wealth of perspectives, experience and ideas that it brings to our work, and we strive to embed equality of opportunity in everything we do. We recruit based on fair and open competition and welcome applications from candidates regardless of age, disability, race and ethnicity, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and socio-economic background.
Flexibility is important to the OfS, as we recognise that it can enable people to work more effectively. A set of organisation-wide principles shapes our approach to flexible and hybrid working, which our teams then use as guidance on how they deliver their business goals. This would usually mean working from the office for two days in a typical week.
To attract the widest possible field of qualified applicants, flexible working, for example, job share and part-time working, applies to this role.
Closing date for applications: Monday 16 June at noon
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- Individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals and certain family members of Turkish nationals who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attracting, retaining and investing in talent wherever it is found. To learn more, please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
Apply and further information
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name: Recruitment Team
- Email: RecruitmentTeam@officeforstudents.org.uk
- Telephone: 0117 931 7444
Recruitment team
- Email: RecruitmentTeam@officeforstudents.org.uk
Further information
Careers - Office for Students
Attachments
Why work for the OfS(pdf, 428kB)
