Senior Consultant / Associate Director - Social Policy Evaluation

Make Your Mark at Ipsos

Ipsos Public Affairs is recruiting a Senior Consultant and an Associate Director to deliver high-profile evaluations across social policy, including a major new programme evaluating educational technology.

Our evaluations help clients understand how policies and programmes are delivered, what difference they make, for whom and in what circumstances. We use robust evaluation approaches to produce evidence that supports policy development and delivery.

What is in it for you?

This is a fantastic opportunity for you to join and work with a strong team of expert evaluators. We have a compelling learning and development program as well as a chance to learn from some of the industry’s very best.

You can expect to work on and evaluate policies and programmes tackling some of society’s most complex challenges, generating evidence to inform policy and improve delivery.

Both roles will have an immediate opportunity to work on a major Education Technology programme involving schools, colleges, technology providers and government, while also contributing to evaluations across our wider social policy portfolio.

Some of the exciting areas you will work across:

- Employment, welfare and skills
- Education, children and families
- Crime and cohesion
- Government and society

The Role…

This role sits in the Evaluation business unit Evaluation | Ipsos .

Key Responsibilities:

- Manage policy and programme evaluations, or substantial workstreams, from inception through to reporting
- Contribute to evaluation design, including theories of change, evaluation questions, frameworks and mixed-method approaches
- Manage clients, project teams, budgets, timelines, risks and quality
- Oversee the development of research tools, data collection and the analysis and synthesis of qual and qual evidence
- Coordinate clear reports, presentations and practical recommendations
- Lead client meetings and build effective stakeholder relationships
- Coach and support junior colleagues
- Manage or contribute to proposals and wider business development

At Associate Director level, you will manage larger or more complex projects and workstreams, and direct projects in your own right. You will provide senior oversight of evaluation design and quality, lead senior client relationships and multidisciplinary teams, and take a leading role in proposals and developing new opportunities.

About you:

Essential Criteria:

- Extensive experience of designing and delivering policy or programme evaluations for public sector clients or within the public sector
- Proficiency in process, impact, theory-based and mixed-method evaluation approaches
- Experience of developing theories of change and evaluation frameworks
- Experience managing projects, clients, teams, budgets, risks and competing priorities
- Ability to analyse and synthesise qualitative and quantitative evidence
- Experience producing high-quality outputs, supporting colleagues and contributing to proposals

For Associate Director applicants: Experience of directing evaluations or managing larger or more complex projects, with senior responsibility for evaluation quality, clients, teams, budgets and risks. You will also have experience of leading proposals and developing new opportunities.

Desirable Criteria:

- Highly desirable experience of EdTech or other technology-based evaluations
- Experience of Test and Learn, rapid-cycle or iterative evaluation
- Experience of evaluations in education settings
- Experience of experimental or quasi-experimental methods
- Knowledge and experience of relevant social policy areas

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support you as an individual. Our standard benefits include 25 days annual leave, pension contribution, income protection and life assurance. In addition, there are a range health & wellbeing, financial benefits and professional development opportunities.

We have a hybrid approach to work and ask people to be in the office or with clients for 3 days per week. We appreciate you may have commitments outside of work and will consider flexible working applications - please highlight what you are looking for when you make your application.

We are committed to equality, treating people fairly, promoting a positive and inclusive working environment and ensuring we have diversity of people and views. We recognise that this is important for our business success - a more diverse workforce will enable us to better reflect and understand the world we research and ultimately deliver better research and insight to our clients. We are proud to be a member of the Disability Confident scheme, certified as a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. We provide an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. Your application will be reviewed by someone from our Talent Team who will be in touch either way to let you know the outcome.

Ready to have an impact? Apply now!