Head of Evaluation (Targeted Projects)

Your core job is to oversee much of the designing, commissioning and managingof complex and rigorous impact evaluations. Most of these will involvepartnerships with government departments, and some will be delivered bystatutory organisations. These evaluations often involve large scale delivery andcomplex statistical methods and are strategically important for YEF; we call these'Targeted Projects' . You will be a second Head of Evaluation within the TargetedProjects team, enabling us to expertly manage the growing number of theseopportunities., You will:

• Serve as a senior member of the team. YEF is buzzing with activity and in
order to prevent any bottlenecks, we need to expand our senior capacity. This role will involve line managing staff, making technical and budgeting decisions, developing and refining processes, attending leadership meetings, and contributing to strategic thinking and planning.
• Run and manage closed calls for complex evaluations commissioned
under Targeted Projects . For each of the programmes we work with, we find and appoint independent evaluators. This role will lead on that process, writing invitations to tender, assessing proposals and making sure we find the best team for each job.
• Expertly manage relationships with key stakeholders. Aside from
evaluators, we work closely with other grantees and partners. Through our Targeted Projects, we have developed relationships that are really important to YEF - individuals, organisations and departments that want to protect young people as much as we do, and that have both the will and the means to do so. This role will cultivate these relationships and keep us working together to achieve our goals.
• Represent YEF at governance meetings and other external engagements.
We're passionate about our mission, proud of the work we're doing to get there, and we're keen to share this with stakeholders. This role will involve talking in detail about our work with lots of different audiences - from gaining approval for funding from our Grants and Evaluation Committee to sharing both technical and non-technical summaries of our evaluations with civil servants, charity leaders and staff, academics and practitioners. 2
• Provide support and counsel to our team of Senior Evaluation Managers
and Evaluation Managers. This team closely manages over 35 efficacy trials, over 20 pilot studies and even more in the earlier stages of evaluation. This role will support our managers to deliver many of these evaluations to the highest possible standard.
• Tightly manage and quality assure evaluations commissioned under
Targeted Projects. YEF has set processes to maintain high standards and rigour. This role will ensure all evaluations adhere to these. The role will provide technical expertise and insights, making sure evaluators deliver against their proposals and do so to time and budget.


• You want to be part of making a difference . You are passionate about the
impact of prevention and early intervention. You don't want your days to pass without making a difference.
• You are experienced in evaluation and research. You have experience
working in a senior research and evidence role and knowledge of and technical expertise in evaluation methodologies. This includes the ability to critically appraise the design of more than one area of evaluation (e.g. randomised control trials, quasi experimental designs, evaluations of public health approaches, evaluations of complex multi-component evaluations, etc). You have experience of carrying out or commissioning large scale research and evaluation and have experience carrying out applied research methods including both quantitative and qualitative approaches.,
• You have a post-graduate (Masters or PhD) qualification or equivalent
experience . This is in a relevant field such social science, social policy, social statistics, public health, health services, psychology or other field, with a significant quantitative component, or relevant experience equivalent to a Masters qualification.
• You bring the best out of your colleagues. You have experience in leading
teams and managing others to achieve amazing results. You can both take and give direction. You are collaborative and a team player, able to build relationships across the whole organisation. You are happy to help out when and where it's needed.
• You really know what makes great research and quality evidence . You
can design and draft high-quality research proposals including the sample, measurement and analysis. You are confident in assessing the quality of evidence that underpins interventions and can guide decisions on grant applications.
• You are an excellent communicator. You can produce technical
documents that accurately report methodological and statistical information. You will combine this with experience of communicating complex evidence and analysis in a simple and accessible format to nonexperts. You feel confident having complex and challenging conversations with partners from government and large, influential organisations. You can handle these conversations well, you can communicate YEF's position clearly - particularly on technical matters, you can see our work and our relationships within the wider policy context, and you're good at balancing competing priorities in a way that achieves the best outcome.
• You are responsible, motivated and thrive in a fast-paced environment .
You take personal responsibility for critical decisions and have experience working in a fast-paced and rapidly evolving environment. You are extremely motivated and have a track record of delivering highly technical research and evidence work on time, on budget and to a high quality.
• You win people over. People tend to warm to you and respect you. You
have built good relationships with very senior people and with very junior, people. You are comfortable talking to a senior official, a youth worker, a company CEO, a teacher and a 15-year-old student. Listening to people from all backgrounds matters to you.
• You are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. You believe and
act in a way that celebrates and encourages a range of experiences, views and values.You may also have (but none of these should stop you applying):
• Great quantitative analysis skills.
• Knowledge and experience of evidence synthesis.
• Good knowledge and understanding of crime, serious violence or other
relevant areas.
• An understanding of the public policy and delivery context of youth crime
and early intervention.While it is not a criterion, we are especially interested to hear from applicantswho have lived experience of youth violence.

About the Youth Endowment FundWe're here to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence.We do this by finding out what works and building a movement to put thisknowledge into practice.In recent years violent crime has risen significantly. Homicides, assaults, robberiesand offences involving weapons have all seen sustained growth. We have alsoseen large increases in violent crime involving children and young people. This isa tragedy. Every child captured in these numbers is an important member of ourcommunity and society has a duty to protect them.The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) is a charity with a £200m endowment and amission that matters. We exist to prevent children becoming involved in violence.We achieve our mission by finding out what works to prevent violence andsharing our findings with the world. We do this by funding great initiatives, leadingcutting-edge research and working for change - scaling up and spreading thepractices that make a difference.Absolutely central to this is designing, commissioning and managing complexand rigorous impact evaluations with experts in the field. The new governmenthas an ambition to halve knife crime within a decade, and we 're anticipatingopportunities to work with them to build evidence on new approaches to tacklingviolence involving children. Your role will focus on creating and making the best ofthose opportunities.

£1,000 professional development budget annually, 28 days plus Bank Holidays,four half days for volunteering activities.Hybrid working detailsThe office is based in Central London. Those living in and around London areexpected to be in the office a minimum of 2 days per week. If you live outside ofLondon and work remotely, you'll be expected to work from the London office 2days per month.