Evaluation Manager

Expires

9th December 2020

Oxford Brookes University is the Lead Institution for “Study Higher”, an Office for Students (OfS) funded collaborative outreach programme covering Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Swindon. The partnership is part of the nationwide “Uni Connect” programme that aims to deliver outreach in specific, local areas where higher education participation is low overall and lower than would be expected given GCSE (KS4) attainment rates, with the intention of boosting HE participation rates by young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.

The role of Evaluation Manager is an exciting job opportunity, suitable for someone who has experience of analysing and reporting on qualitative and quantitative data, and an interest and understanding of widening participation within a higher education context.

Working closely with teams at partner universities and further education institutions, you will lead the monitoring and evaluation of the programme’s outreach activities. As such, you will be responsible for leading on analysis for Study Higher by undertaking primary and secondary research to support, inform and evaluate the development of the Study Higher strategies. You will also play a key role in developing an evaluation strategy and support materials that enable the Study Higher team and partner institutions to carry out relevant monitoring and evaluation of their own activity.

A particular focus of this post will be contributing evaluations and analyses that will help us to plan and maintain an appropriate strategy, and report on our success to the Office for Students. You will also work closely with the national evaluation team who are responsible for the overall evaluation of the Uni Connect Programme, ensuring that the local evaluation of Study Higher complements and feeds into the national evaluation framework.

You will be:

  • Responsible for maintaining an evidence-based Study Higher monitoring and evaluation plan, and use it to assess the effectiveness of programme activities, making recommendations for changes in activity where relevant.
  • Analysing and interpreting qualitative and quantitative data to identify the strengths and weaknesses of outreach activities, designing and undertaking appropriate data collection methods including surveys and focus groups.
  • Expected to keep up to date with academic literature and sector best practice related to widening participation, producing summaries of significant findings for non-specialist audiences.
  • Supporting the Head of Study Higher with the preparation and presentation of regular internal and external reports on progress against targets in relation to the programme.
  • Responsible for disseminating the outcomes of the team’s work through appropriate networks and conferences across the sector. This may include writing and presenting conference papers, research papers and briefings.
  • Negotiating the partnership’s use of the HEAT database, and of externally and internally available datasets from each institution, including UCAS and student records data.
  • Liaising with the national evaluation project for Uni Connect, ensuring compliance with overall evaluation aims, and negotiating Study Higher contributions to national evaluation programmes.
  • Developing an expertise in data protection and compliance policies, keeping up to date with training and development.
  • Managing the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, dealing with all aspects of overseeing their work, setting objectives, and monitoring performance.

You will have:

  • A strong understanding of higher education widening participation context
  • Experience of analysing and reporting on quantitative and qualitative data
  • A demonstrable record of carrying out research and/or evaluation to support the development of evidence-based practice and policy.
  • Experience of undertaking interviews and focus groups
  • Experience of survey design

This is a fixed term role until July 2021 to cover maternity leave.

Apply on our website