Head of Learning

The Data, Evaluation and Learning team enables Impact on Urban Health to embed learning at the heart of its work, ensuring evidence is used to drive impact in Lambeth and Southwark and to advance our understanding of urban health. The Head of Learning leads Impact on Urban Health’s approach to turning evidence into organisational insight, learning and influence. The role is responsible for building the systems, practices and products that help us synthesise what we are learning from programmes, innovation, place-based work, evaluation, research, lived experience and external evidence, and use that learning to shape strategy, funding, delivery and external influence. Working closely with the Head of Data and Evaluation, the role ensures evidence is not only generated to a high standard, but actively interpreted, shared and applied. In doing so, the role contributes to Impact on Urban Health’s reputation as a credible and trusted voice on urban health and health equity. This role will provide senior leadership for how IoUH learns from its work, makes sense of evidence, and turns insight into action. The postholder will be expected to bring structure, judgement and momentum to a developing function, helping the organisation move from generating evidence to using it consistently and well. The postholder will also provide expert input to other parts of the Foundation where relevant.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Impact on Urban Health’s approach to insight synthesis and sense-making, establishing clear processes for bringing together evaluation findings, programme learning, research, data, lived experience and external evidence to identify what we are learning, what it means, and how it should inform future decisions.
• Lead the knowledge mobilisation approach for DEL, working with teams across IoUH to turn priority evidence and learning into accessible, useful and influential products for internal and external audiences.
• Work with the Head of Data and Evaluation and wider DEL colleagues to maintain a joined-up evidence system, ensuring data, research and evaluation outputs are synthesised, interpreted and translated into learning that informs strategy, funding, delivery and influence.
• Lead the learning approach for Innovation and cross-cutting work, ensuring test-and-learn activity generates useful insight, supports adaptation, and feeds into wider organisational learning.
• Lead the development and improvement of IoUH’s internal learning and knowledge management systems.
• Ensure learning from cross-programme, innovation and influencing activity is captured and used in ways that meet strategic objectives, build on what is already known, and support equitable and inclusive practice.
• Set and uphold standards for how learning is captured, synthesised, shared and used, ensuring insight is clear, accessible, intellectually honest and connected to organisational priorities.
• Implement the Data, Evidence and Learning strategy alongside other Heads in the team, championing a culture of reflection, learning and evidence-informed decision-making.
• Maintain and develop personal expertise in urban health evidence, learning practice and knowledge mobilisation.
• Line manage and develop the Evaluation and Learning Manager within the Learning function, ensuring their work supports cross-organisational learning, synthesis, knowledge mobilisation and practical use of evidence.
• Provide thought leadership in urban health learning, evidence use and knowledge mobilisation, including blogs, briefings and speaking at events.
• Provide expert support to other parts of the Foundation where appropriate.
• Deputise for the Director of Data, Evaluation and Learning where required.
• Undertake other responsibilities appropriate to the role.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Skills, abilities, and attributes:
• Strong facilitation and sense-making skills, with the ability to help teams interpret evidence and agree practical implications.
• Confidence working with ambiguity, complexity and incomplete evidence.
• Ability to influence senior colleagues and support constructive challenge in decision-making.
• Ability to translate strategic priorities into practical steps.
• Structured approach to task implementation and managing priorities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Collaborative team-player.
• Knowledge, experience, and qualifications:
• Essential:
• Significant experience leading organisational learning, evidence synthesis, knowledge mobilisation or evidence-use functions in a social sector, public health, research, policy or charity context.
• Experience turning complex evidence from multiple sources into clear, useful insight for strategy, funding, delivery or influence.
• Experience designing and embedding learning processes that help teams reflect, adapt and make better decisions.
• Strong understanding of evaluation, research and evidence methods, with enough technical confidence to assess quality, limitations and implications.
• Experience developing learning products, insight outputs, evidence briefings or knowledge resources for different audiences.
• Ability to assess and adapt evidence approaches to different contexts, intervention types and organisational needs.
• Experience influencing senior stakeholders through evidence, facilitation and clear strategic sense-making.
• Experience managing complex cross-organisational work, including prioritising across multiple demands.
• Experience of line management, supporting performance, development, and delivery.
• Desirable:
• Knowledge of urban health, health inequalities, or the social determinants of health.
• Understanding of systems change and/or place-based approaches to health.
• Extensive experience leading social research and evaluation in a social sector context.
• Experience of commissioning and managing external research, evaluation, or evidence and insight delivery partners.
• Expertise in developing inclusive evaluation designs in a test and learn and innovative context.
• Experience of influencing policy and practice through evidence, and evaluation of influencing work.
• Evidence of thought leadership in learning, evidence use, knowledge mobilisation, research or evaluation, such as publications, presentations or sector engagement.
• Experience of successful partnership working with a range of external organisations.
• Experience of working in a community, charity or social enterprise context with an understanding of the barriers that are commonly experienced in implementing learning practices and how to overcome them.

Benefits

• Contributory pension
• Annual personal development budget
• Annual health and wellbeing personal allowance
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, and parental leave pay accessible without length of service requirements.
• Health and wellbeing programme that offers optional free yearly health check-ups.
• Support for healthy eating via fruit bowls and onsite lunch facilities.
• Agile working, flexible hours, and supportive IT kit.
• Shower facilities and bike lock area.
• Generous annual leave (27 days + bank holidays)
• Subsidies for glasses
• Employee Assistance Programme