£33,314 rising to £36,386 (pro rata for fractional appointments)
Vacancy ID: 139218
Location: Hybrid (Headington Campus, Oxford and work from home)
Contract: Fixed term until 31st October 2023, this is a full-time role but flexible working or part-time hours will be considered
The role of Evaluation Manager is an exciting job opportunity, suitable for someone who has experience of developing and supporting the implementation of evaluation plans for outreach projects, analysing and reporting on qualitative and quantitative data, and an interest and understanding of widening participation within a higher education context.
Oxford Brookes University is the Lead Institution for the Uni Connect programme covering Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Swindon. Funded by the Office for Students (OfS), the partnership is part of a nationwide programme that provides programmes of collaborative outreach to young people with the aim of reducing the gap in higher education participation between the most and least represented groups.
Working closely with teams at partner universities and further education institutions, you will lead the monitoring and evaluation of the Study Higher partnership’s outreach activities. As such, you will be responsible for 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 teams 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 process.
You will be:
• Responsible for maintaining an evidence-based Study Higher monitoring and evaluation plan, and use it to assess the effectiveness and impact 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 and impact through appropriate networks and conferences across the sector. This may include providing updates in meetings, 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.
Please contact the recruiting manager, Emily Scott (via macmailbox@brookes.ac.uk) for an informal conversation, or if you have any questions about the role, or the process.
You will also enjoy the benefits of working at Oxford Brookes University with up to 38 days holiday, rising to 41 days holiday (this includes 13 Bank Holidays and Concessionary Days), a generous Local Government pension scheme (14.7% Employer contribution rate), cycle to work scheme and access to a variety of university facilities (NHS Dentist, Brookes Nursery, Gym and sports facilities). For more information about benefits please see the document ‘All about Brookes’ below.
CV and Personal Statement
As part of the application process all applicants are required to complete our online application form by clicking on the “Apply for Job” button below. All parts of the application form should be completed and in the section of the form called “Supporting Documents”, applicants must upload their CV and a Personal Statement. To complete the Personal Statement part of the application, applicants must download the Personal Statement document which is part of the advert below and complete the form, providing examples and explaining how they meet each item detailed on the document. The Personal Statement must then be uploaded to the application form along with the CV.
The University has adopted equality, diversity and inclusion as core values. We welcome applications from suitably qualified candidates whatever their background, and especially from BAME candidates who are under-represented in our workforce.
This role will not attract sufficient points to obtain a sponsored Skilled Worker visa under the points based immigration system, however applications are welcome from candidates who don’t currently have the right to work in the UK, but who would be eligible to obtain a visa via another route.
Closing date: 8 January 2023.
Apply here: https://my.corehr.com/pls/oburecruit/erq_jobspec_details_form.jobspec?p_id=139218