Senior Manager - Evidence and Evaluation

Salary: £43,116 - £47,076 per annum
Hours: Full time or Part time
Contract Type: Permanent
Location: Swindon (flexible working)
Closing Date: 14 April 2024

About this role

BBSRC invests around £450 million in world-class bioscience research, innovation and training each year. It is essential that BBSRC can demonstrate the effectiveness of these investments in order to make the case for continued support for UK bioscience. To help achieve this, BBSRC supports a programme of evaluation activities to assess the impact arising from its investments and draw out any lessons for the future.

BBSRC is currently recruiting two Senior Managers to join our evaluation team and support the delivery of BBSRC's evaluation programme. The posts will contribute to the development of a robust evidence base of the performance, achievement and impact arising from BBSRC's investments in bioscience. The posts will also work with colleagues across BBSRC to embed evaluation activities, helping to build a learning culture, and ensuring that key findings from evaluations are used to shape and influence future strategy.

Main job activities

• Work in partnership with other BBSRC colleagues to design and implement monitoring and evaluation plans for BBSRC's investments in research, innovation and training.
• Lead the delivery of specific evaluations of BBSRC investments including internally-led and externally-commissioned activities. This includes developing an understanding of specific bioscience investments and the approaches for measuring whether they have achieved their aims and delivered the anticipated outputs, outcomes and impacts.
• Lead on the associated data collection and analysis using various quantitative and qualitative research techniques, including data analytics, bibliometrics, designing surveys and conducting stakeholder interviews.
• Lead the delivery of internal evaluation work including, for example, analysing and synthesising relevant data, identifying suitable peer reviewers, managing evaluation panel meetings, and drafting evaluation reports from the meetings.
• Lead the commissioning and management of externally-commissioned evaluation work, building effective working relationships with contractors.
• Communicate evidence to a wide range of stakeholders, explaining technical information clearly, and describing the implications and uncertainties of evaluation and analysis.

Each post will manage a diverse portfolio of work that contributes to the delivery of BBSRC's evidence base. The posts will be located in BBSRC's Evidence and Evaluation team. The roles involve close collaboration with colleagues from across BBSRC, with opportunities to work with the wider evaluation community within UKRI.

BBSRC is looking to recruit individuals with an enthusiasm and aptitude to develop skills required to support the evaluation of research investments. The posts do not require applicants to have previous knowledge/experience of bioscience research.

Position and Person Requirements

• Good analytical skills with experience of gathering, synthesising and interpreting information from multiple primary and secondary evidence sources.
• Ability to apply critical thinking skills to develop and implement creative solutions to complex problems.
• Effective communication skills with the ability to produce clear and well-structured documents or presentations.
• Effective interpersonal skills including working well in teams with colleagues and external stakeholders.
• Scientific literacy with an interest in the biosciences and related subjects.

In return, UKRI can offer the successful candidate:

- Flexible Working

- 30 days annual leave + Public Holidays

- Access to Civil Service Pension Scheme

- Various everyday discounts through our dedicated provider

For more information and to apply, please visit our Careers Pages.