Evidence & Data Lead

The Centre for Homelessness Impact is looking for an Evidence & Data Lead to help grow and deliver our evidence, evaluation and data work.

We are looking for someone with strong quantitative skills who is comfortable working with numbers and complex datasets, designing and quality-assuring impact evaluations, and translating statistical findings into clear insights for policy and practice.

The ideal candidate will have a range of quantitative and evaluation tools and methods that they can deploy flexibly depending on the question at hand. This could include designing and overseeing Randomised Controlled Trials and quasi-experimental evaluations; analysing administrative, survey and financial data; undertaking statistical analysis; and critically assessing and synthesising evidence.

Candidates will have a knack for translating their findings into simple, yet meaningful messages for policy, service design, innovation and improvements on the data infrastructure.

We are a small and focused team with great ambitions. We are looking for people with an entrepreneurial spirit - a self-starter who gets excited by uncovering insights and sees how they can be used to unlock new opportunities.

We work with multiple partners on a variety of projects - so it is crucial that the Evidence and DataLeads are capable of prioritising effectively and devoting resources to the activities that are likely to generate the greatest impact.

WHY IS THIS ROLE IMPORTANT FOR THE CENTRE’S WORK?

At the Centre, we help people harness the power of evidence and data to improve policies and interventions to support people experiencing homelessness.

You will help shape the direction of our evidence work. This is a crucial stage of our journey as we expand our data and VFM work, and sustain momentum around our portfolio of evidence generation, particularly the delivery of the Test & Learn and Systems-Wide Evaluation programme.

Working under the oversight of the Director of Evidence, you will work across a portfolio of evaluations and data projects. You will oversee commissioned studies as well as undertake and quality-assure quantitative analysis in-house, working with administrative, survey and other datasets to generate insights relevant to homelessness policy and services. You will be responsible for ensuring methodological and statistical rigour, as well as policy relevance.

Most importantly, you will ensure those lessons are captured and fed into all the other streams of our work. Your skillset is critical to our work because you have the ability to both cultivate relationships with stakeholders and support the development of world-class researchers.

WE’RE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO CAN

Focus on Impact Evaluation:

• Manage the development and delivery of primary studies (RCTs and quasi-experimental), assuring quality across study design, sampling and power, outcome measurement, statistical analysis plans, implementation, analysis and reporting.
• Critically review quantitative analyses produced by evaluation partners (models, effect estimates, attrition, etc), and assess whether conclusions are supported by the evidence.
• Undertake quantitative analysis directly where required, including exploratory and descriptive analysis and, where appropriate, causal or quasi-experimental analysis.
• Support project sites, troubleshoot delivery, maintain strong relationships with participating delivery partners, and scope new primary studies.
• Conduct applied research (rapid evidence assessments, literature reviews) on homelessness to inform policy and service design.
• Provide expert advice to partners by synthesising research findings and translating evidence into actionable insights for initiatives, evidence awareness, and dissemination, including evidence and data coaching

Focus on Data Analysis:

• End-to-end management of quantitative data projects: scoping, data cleaning, linking, statistical analysis, and communicate findings
• Analyse administrative, survey, financial and other quantitative datasets to identify trends, variation, inequalities and opportunities for improving homelessness services and systems.
• Use appropriate statistical techniques to answer policy questions, and explain the assumptions, limitations and uncertainty associated with the analysis.
• Monitor national statistical releases, assess data quality and limitations, identify trends and cohort patterns, and produce analysis for CHI publications and stakeholder engagement.
• Develop clear, reproducible analytical outputs, using software such as R, Python, Stata or equivalent, and present findings effectively through data visualisations.

General Skills:

• Write concise and actionable summaries of insights for policymakers and practitioners (Evidence Notes, blogs, and others); and take an active role in the dissemination of findings in multiple formats
• Manage day-to-day development and technical QA for our Evidence Tools (Intervention Tool, Gap Maps).
• Collaborate closely with the Director of Evidence & Data to shape the research agenda and deliver impact through research, workshops, theory-of-change sessions, and evidence coaching for practitioners and local authorities.
• Work closely with our Implementation team to engage with homelessness practitioners to use evidence and data and with our Comms experts to support the dissemination of findings to our wider audience.
• Manage multiple projects and diverse stakeholders’ needs effectively and sensitively; with the capacity to build and nurture good relationships with diverse stakeholders including central government departments, local authorities, service providers, philanthropic organisations, and national sector bodies.
• Represent the organisation in external forums, cross-government working groups, and professional events, contributing expertise on evidence and data relating to homelessness.
• Flexibility to contribute to CHI’s other strands of work in a small, focused team; with openness to critique from other disciplines and curiosity to learn from the spectrum of perspectives represented by different members of the team and other stakeholders.
• Serve as internal quantitative expert, guiding colleagues on data interpretation and ensuring all research claims are robust and clearly communicated.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE AND BEHAVIOURS

We need a self-starter, capable of scoping and delivering evidence-and-data-led projects and articulating effectively how these are aligned with our strategic priorities and the needs of decision-makers.

Your experience includes:

• Strong quantitative research skills, gained through a relevant discipline such as statistics, economics, epidemiology, quantitative social science, data science or a related field.
• Substantial experience analysing quantitative data and applying statistical methods to real-world policy or programme questions.
• Experience designing, delivering and/or quality-assuring impact evaluations, particularly Randomised Controlled Trials and quasi-experimental designs.
• Strong statistical literacy, including the ability to interpret effect sizes, uncertainty, confidence intervals, statistical significance, missing data, attrition and statistical model outputs.
• Practical experience of at least one statistical programming package e.g. R, Python, Stata or equivalent.
• Experience working with administrative, survey or other complex datasets, including assessing data quality and limitations.
• Experience managing complex research or evaluation projects involving multiple stakeholders.
• Ability to translate complex quantitative findings into clear messages for decision-makers.

Nice to have:

• Experience using a range of economic evaluation methods such as Cost-Benefit, Cost-Consequences, Value for Money Frameworks, etc
• Experience in systematic reviews and rapid evidence assessments.
• Nuanced understanding of UK homelessness policies.
• Nuanced understanding of local authorities' financial data.
• Experience analysing linked or longitudinal administrative data.
• Experience with causal inference or quasi-experimental methods.
• Experience with data visualisation and reproducible analytical workflows.
• Experience using routinely collected government or local authority data.
• Experience undertaking or quality-assuring economic analysis.

You will be able to demonstrate the following:

• Drive innovation in service and system design by pushing the boundaries of data and evidence to improve outcomes for people facing homelessness.
• Ability to set clear priorities and work to tight deadlines
• Capacity to build and nurture good relationships with diverse stakeholders
• Commitment to the aims and values of the Centre.
• Openness to critique from other disciplines and curiosity to learn from various perspectives.

Working here

As a member of the team, you will have access to a wide range of employee benefits including:

• Interest-free loans for travel season ticket, cycle to work, and deposit to secure a tenancy
• Pension scheme with an employer contribution of 8.5%
• 30 days’ annual leave which increases with service to 33 days
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental, and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme

TERMS OF APPOINTMENT

Permanent role. Full and part-time considered.

Salary: £35,000 to £45,000 (pro rata if part-time) depending on experience and location.

Location: Flexible, remote or hybrid for London-based staff.

Staff outside London work remotely from home, and we offer a hybrid working environment for staff based within commuting distance of our central London offices, usually with at least two office-based days in an average week.

This role will require some travel with overnight stays.

The closing date for this role is Monday, 5 October 2026. However, we reserve the right to close the application process at any moment, if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

• First round of Interviews to take place during the week commencing 12 October, with a second interview round to be held on week commencing 19 October.