Director of Research & Evaluation (Interim and Permanent)
Home working with access to central London desk space
£54,000 - £58,000 per annum depending on skills and experience + benefits
(please note, salary bands are under review, due for decision in December 2022)
As well as recruiting for the permanent role we are also looking for an interim for approximately 3-4 months with an immediate start. This will be on a fixed-term basis with a pro-rata salary.
Both interim and permanent posts are full time (0.8 FTE would be considered)
Closing dates -
Interim: as soon as possible
Permanent: Monday 7th November (10am)
£54,000 - £58,000 per annum depending on skills and experience + benefits
(please note, salary bands are under review, due for decision in December 2022)
As well as recruiting for the permanent role we are also looking for an interim for approximately 3-4 months with an immediate start. This will be on a fixed-term basis with a pro-rata salary.
Both interim and permanent posts are full time (0.8 FTE would be considered)
Closing dates -
Interim: as soon as possible
Permanent: Monday 7th November (10am)
Organisation:
Centre for Youth Impact is now part of YMCA George Williams College
In April 2022, YMCA George Williams College merged with the Centre for Youth Impact. The merger brings together the Centre’s work to progress thinking and practice in impact measurement in youth work and provision for young people with the College’s rich history of supporting high quality relational practice with young people and communities. The combined charity works across the UK, including locality working via dedicated regional networks across England. Although still developing the strategy for the newly combined charity, the two organisations have long shared a vision for all young people to have access to high quality provision and services that improve their life chances, and which enable them to achieve their potential in mind, body and spirit. We believe that embedding more meaningful approaches to evaluation, quality improvement and impact measurement at the heart of resilient, learning organisations is key to achieving this vision.
Centre for Youth Impact is now part of YMCA George Williams College
In April 2022, YMCA George Williams College merged with the Centre for Youth Impact. The merger brings together the Centre’s work to progress thinking and practice in impact measurement in youth work and provision for young people with the College’s rich history of supporting high quality relational practice with young people and communities. The combined charity works across the UK, including locality working via dedicated regional networks across England. Although still developing the strategy for the newly combined charity, the two organisations have long shared a vision for all young people to have access to high quality provision and services that improve their life chances, and which enable them to achieve their potential in mind, body and spirit. We believe that embedding more meaningful approaches to evaluation, quality improvement and impact measurement at the heart of resilient, learning organisations is key to achieving this vision.
Role:
The Director of Research & Evaluation is a critical role for George Williams College, and brings with it the opportunity to significantly support and influence evaluation practice - and therefore, quality - in informal and non-formal youth provision in the UK. We believe in the power of evaluation to build a collective commitment to understanding and improving the impact of youth work and provision for young people. We also believe in the power of quality relational practice to change lives and communities.
The post-holder will 'own' and lead the College’s approach to research and evaluation, drawing on their technical expertise alongside their curiosity and imagination in thinking about how we design and offer transformational support at scale. The role of the Director for Research and Evaluation will be highly influential within the College. The post-holder will lead research/evaluation strategy development and implementation, the design of tools and methods, coaching and skill building for their team and quality assurance for the College’s portfolio of evaluation projects. This will include work delivered through the College’s centres of expertise, in particular youth impact and youth voice. Critically, the post-holder will also develop and ‘hold’ the College’s approach to ethical and equitable evaluation.
Reporting to the CEO, the Director of Research & Evaluation will be a member of the Senior Leadership Team, and will line manage and coordinate the work of three thematic Leads (Qual Research, Quant Research and Digital Product Design) and the wider project delivery team across the College’s wide-ranging portfolio of research and evaluation projects. Alongside, the post-holder will line manage the Head of Engagement, supporting them to develop the College’s approach to listening and responding directly to the voices of young people and practitioners, including our Practitioner and Young Evaluator Panels.
The Director of Research & Evaluation will also work alongside the Head of Operations to play a high-level project director role across the portfolio: supporting Leads and Project Managers to set and monitor budgets, nurture partnerships, and progress their work with high quality. This will include ensuring that trusting, open and collaborative relationships sit at the heart of all our work with peers and the wider youth sector.
As part of the Senior Leadership Team, the Director of Research & Evaluation will develop, review and lead the College’s research, data, evaluation and youth voice strategies, including fostering new relationships with funders and partners, and enabling the organisation to deliver complex and cutting-edge programmes of work. The Director of Research & Evaluation will have unparalleled opportunities to convene and work closely with committed groups of funders and practitioners to learn about, design and test new ways of understanding impact and quality in youth work and provision for young people. To achieve this, they will play a critical role in strategic income generation: initiating and supporting reactive and proactive proposals for new areas of activity, building on the College’s expertise and understanding of need.
The Director of Research & Evaluation will ensure that we are integrating our learning across our thematic areas, so that our portfolio of projects represents more than the sum of its parts. The Director of Research & Evaluation will also lead our own internal evaluation, helping the organisation to understand how and where its own work is contributing to positive change for young people and communities.
The Director of Research & Evaluation is a critical role for George Williams College, and brings with it the opportunity to significantly support and influence evaluation practice - and therefore, quality - in informal and non-formal youth provision in the UK. We believe in the power of evaluation to build a collective commitment to understanding and improving the impact of youth work and provision for young people. We also believe in the power of quality relational practice to change lives and communities.
The post-holder will 'own' and lead the College’s approach to research and evaluation, drawing on their technical expertise alongside their curiosity and imagination in thinking about how we design and offer transformational support at scale. The role of the Director for Research and Evaluation will be highly influential within the College. The post-holder will lead research/evaluation strategy development and implementation, the design of tools and methods, coaching and skill building for their team and quality assurance for the College’s portfolio of evaluation projects. This will include work delivered through the College’s centres of expertise, in particular youth impact and youth voice. Critically, the post-holder will also develop and ‘hold’ the College’s approach to ethical and equitable evaluation.
Reporting to the CEO, the Director of Research & Evaluation will be a member of the Senior Leadership Team, and will line manage and coordinate the work of three thematic Leads (Qual Research, Quant Research and Digital Product Design) and the wider project delivery team across the College’s wide-ranging portfolio of research and evaluation projects. Alongside, the post-holder will line manage the Head of Engagement, supporting them to develop the College’s approach to listening and responding directly to the voices of young people and practitioners, including our Practitioner and Young Evaluator Panels.
The Director of Research & Evaluation will also work alongside the Head of Operations to play a high-level project director role across the portfolio: supporting Leads and Project Managers to set and monitor budgets, nurture partnerships, and progress their work with high quality. This will include ensuring that trusting, open and collaborative relationships sit at the heart of all our work with peers and the wider youth sector.
As part of the Senior Leadership Team, the Director of Research & Evaluation will develop, review and lead the College’s research, data, evaluation and youth voice strategies, including fostering new relationships with funders and partners, and enabling the organisation to deliver complex and cutting-edge programmes of work. The Director of Research & Evaluation will have unparalleled opportunities to convene and work closely with committed groups of funders and practitioners to learn about, design and test new ways of understanding impact and quality in youth work and provision for young people. To achieve this, they will play a critical role in strategic income generation: initiating and supporting reactive and proactive proposals for new areas of activity, building on the College’s expertise and understanding of need.
The Director of Research & Evaluation will ensure that we are integrating our learning across our thematic areas, so that our portfolio of projects represents more than the sum of its parts. The Director of Research & Evaluation will also lead our own internal evaluation, helping the organisation to understand how and where its own work is contributing to positive change for young people and communities.
Candidate:
We are looking for a truly outstanding candidate with an established leadership profile and a track record of influencing thinking and practice in the social sector. A thoughtful and experienced evaluator, you will be familiar with a range of research and evaluation methods and how this can be applied to social programmes. Alongside your own areas of expertise, you will be confident to manage and support a team with their own specialisms, including data analysis, programming, participatory research and youth engagement.
You will understand the interplay between research, evaluation, and equity, and be excited to develop this aspect of the College’s work. You will have a strong interest in the role of open and shared data within the social sector and drive our ambition to grow our digital presence as a provider of solutions that support the sector to undertake data collection, analysis, and visualisation. An understanding of how the context of informal and non-formal provision for young people influences research and evaluation design and implementation would be highly advantageous.
You will be an exceptional project manager, with expertise in managing both grant-funded and contracted projects. You will be skilled in managing budgets, plans and capacity allocations, across multiple programmes. You will be able to navigate with agility between the strategic big picture and the detail of individual projects, deliverables, and relationships. You will be able to spot and make connections between different areas of work and be alive to changes and patterns in the external policy and practice context and the opportunities they present for the College.
You will need to be highly responsive to the needs of partners, funders, and our networks, with excellent listening and negotiation skills - a true ‘servant leader’. You will be a proactive and dynamic member of our Senior Leadership Team, requiring agility and adaptability to respond to fast-moving opportunities. You will also need to be an excellent and empathic manager and leader of people, supporting and empowering your team to grow and deliver with excellence. Your standards will be high, and you will support others to achieve them. Skills and experience in taking a coaching approach to supporting others will be a distinct advantage.
Finally, you will be an outstanding communicator: highly experienced in both facilitation and training, confident in growing a coaching approach across our team and our partnerships. You will also be a compelling and confident writer and presenter who can communicate the science and evidence behind impact, measurement, and improvement in social programmes. You will be comfortable representing the College externally, and acting as a ‘thought leader’: openly reflecting the evolution of your ideas and thinking, and generously sharing your learning with others.
Please review the documents for further information: Role Profile, Organisation Chart, Benefits
We are looking for a truly outstanding candidate with an established leadership profile and a track record of influencing thinking and practice in the social sector. A thoughtful and experienced evaluator, you will be familiar with a range of research and evaluation methods and how this can be applied to social programmes. Alongside your own areas of expertise, you will be confident to manage and support a team with their own specialisms, including data analysis, programming, participatory research and youth engagement.
You will understand the interplay between research, evaluation, and equity, and be excited to develop this aspect of the College’s work. You will have a strong interest in the role of open and shared data within the social sector and drive our ambition to grow our digital presence as a provider of solutions that support the sector to undertake data collection, analysis, and visualisation. An understanding of how the context of informal and non-formal provision for young people influences research and evaluation design and implementation would be highly advantageous.
You will be an exceptional project manager, with expertise in managing both grant-funded and contracted projects. You will be skilled in managing budgets, plans and capacity allocations, across multiple programmes. You will be able to navigate with agility between the strategic big picture and the detail of individual projects, deliverables, and relationships. You will be able to spot and make connections between different areas of work and be alive to changes and patterns in the external policy and practice context and the opportunities they present for the College.
You will need to be highly responsive to the needs of partners, funders, and our networks, with excellent listening and negotiation skills - a true ‘servant leader’. You will be a proactive and dynamic member of our Senior Leadership Team, requiring agility and adaptability to respond to fast-moving opportunities. You will also need to be an excellent and empathic manager and leader of people, supporting and empowering your team to grow and deliver with excellence. Your standards will be high, and you will support others to achieve them. Skills and experience in taking a coaching approach to supporting others will be a distinct advantage.
Finally, you will be an outstanding communicator: highly experienced in both facilitation and training, confident in growing a coaching approach across our team and our partnerships. You will also be a compelling and confident writer and presenter who can communicate the science and evidence behind impact, measurement, and improvement in social programmes. You will be comfortable representing the College externally, and acting as a ‘thought leader’: openly reflecting the evolution of your ideas and thinking, and generously sharing your learning with others.
Please review the documents for further information: Role Profile, Organisation Chart, Benefits
How to apply:
If you have any questions about the role or would like to be considered, please send a copy of your CV and a separate personal statement (maximum two sides of A4) to tim@whitonmaynard.com
As specialist recruiters we are committed to building inclusive and diverse organisations, and welcome applications from all sections of the community.
If you have any questions about the role or would like to be considered, please send a copy of your CV and a separate personal statement (maximum two sides of A4) to tim@whitonmaynard.com
As specialist recruiters we are committed to building inclusive and diverse organisations, and welcome applications from all sections of the community.