Lead specialist - appraisal and evaluation

The purpose of this role is to manage the evaluation function across our portfolio of programmes.

Innovate UK recognises the importance of work-life balance and we will be happy to discuss any requests for flexible working arrangements.

The Economic Appraisal and Evaluation team is part of the Strategy directorate in Innovate UK. Innovation is a key component of economic growth, and it is the team’s role to ensure that appropriate evidence is collected and interpreted to inform Innovate UK’s decision making through economic appraisal and evaluation. This evidence will show how the overall balance of Innovate UK’s support may be best directed to achieve the benefits that are central to Innovate UK’s strategy.

Job Purpose:

• Manage the evaluation function across our portfolio of programmes.
• Coordinate and maintain high quality evaluative evidence across IUK.
• Write strategic and proportionate evaluation plans for IUK's growth areas.
• Ensure the successful delivery of process, interim impact, as well as final and economic impact evaluations.
• Help to build M&E plans and structure ITTs for external contractors.
• Provide evaluation thought-leadership in IUK.
• Develop and deliver training on evaluation to the wider organisation.

You will lead the wider development of Innovate UK’s capability to create, understand, and use evaluation evidence to inform strategic decision making and design future interventions. You will report to the Head of Economic Appraisal and Evaluation and will need to build close professional links to, and working relationships with, programme teams across Innovate UK and analysts from UKRI, DSIT and other government departments.

Innovate UK is a non-executive public body, so this post offers the opportunity for the post-holder to work in an environment which faces both the public and private sectors. The post will require building an understanding of how businesses work, especially with regards to their innovation activities, and how the public sector analyses the impact of policy.

The successful applicant will be proactive, professional and ambitious, always pushing to create, build and deliver projects through a mix of communications channels. You will have the confidence to operate across busy multi-organisation teams and have the skills to manage a variety of tasks, which will include building relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

• Lead the design of Innovate UK’s evaluation strategy.
• Manage a programme of process and impact evaluations for Innovate UK activities.
• Have knowledge of a broad range of evaluation methodologies, identify which are most suitable for specific programmes, and oversee the delivery of evaluations by independent researchers.
• Have a keen understanding of both the Magenta and Green Book which will allow you to easily unpack the validity of evaluation approaches.
• Activities will include:
• Drawing on best practice to scope and specify evaluations of Innovate UK programmes.
• Assess proposals from independent researchers to select high quality evaluations.
• Provide day-to-day management of evaluation projects being conducted by contracted researchers.
• Provide constructive challenge to such contractors to ensure high standards and robust analyses are delivered.
• Developing a coherent communication strategy to enhance the use of evaluations across Innovate UK.
• Consider how AI may be used responsibly and sustainably by programme teams and contractors to enhance the evaluation process while maintaining high quality standards.

You will lead stakeholder engagements and undertake analysis that leads to the development of Monitoring and Evaluation plans for public sector business cases. In doing so you will have or develop a strong understanding of the rationale for public support for innovation, and the evidence informing the most effective means of delivering it.

You will work with the IUK sector leads and their teams to develop sector-wide Monitoring and Evaluation plans which align with a rubric-based approach.

You will be responsible for the development of a high quality IUK level Theory of Change with the Executive Leadership Board as well as an appropriate contractor.

You will work with other team members to support government-facing innovation evidence to inform Innovate UK’s policy. This will include working with other research organisations which have similar needs in terms of evidence, as well as engaging with research that can improve our evidence base and understanding of impact.

You will support the directorate by leading analysis to support innovation systems and policy analysis.

This is not an exhaustive list and you might be encouraged to undertake any other duties across the wider directorate, commensurate with the Band and level of responsibility of this post, for which the post holder has the key experience and/or training.

Person Specification:

Experience & Qualifications:

• Essential – Applicants must either have a degree-level (or higher) qualification in a course which contained at least 50% of one of the following: Mathematics, Economics, Statistics and data analysis, Social Research using qualitative or quantitative methods, or have considerable experience applying these skills in a relevant work environment.
• Knowledge of a range of quantitative or qualitative analysis methods.
• Broad experience in applying these methods and in interpreting their results.
• Evidence of strong written and oral communications skills, including explaining technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience in writing reports, working papers or research publications.
• Experience in the evaluation of investments within the public sector, using Magenta Book principles and an awareness of Green Book principles.

Competencies:

All team members demonstrate compatibility with and capability against our Core Competencies such as: Analytical Skill, Thinking and Problem Solving, Stakeholder management, Communication skills, Influencing, Self-awareness/self-management, Strategic awareness, Working with others, Project management.

The following competencies will be assessed in your cover letter as well as in the interview: Analytical Skill, Influencing, Self-awareness/self-management, and Working with others. Please follow the STAR approach in highlighting your skills in this area in your cover letter. In the event of a high volume of applications, sifting will be done according to Analytical Skill.

Travel Requirements:

Field-based: You will be based at home. There will a requirement to travel (which will be paid for by IUK) from time to time for key meetings or conferences, mostly national, and there is some flexibility in this. Innovate UK staff make extensive use of telepresence tools for meetings to minimise unnecessary travel.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

Innovate UK is a diverse workforce of people. We believe that encouraging these differences and drawing the best from them will build a productive environment in which everyone feels valued, where talents are fully utilised and in which organisational goals are met. Underpinning this is a belief that it is a fundamental right for everyone to be treated equally, with fairness, respect and dignity. We will act directly and use our influence to ensure that this right is promoted and upheld; we encourage applications from all those who meet the criteria set-out in our role profiles.

Equal Opportunities:

We are an equal opportunities employer, committed to employing any person who meets the criteria for our roles. When undertaking recruitment we may require applicants to undertake certain tests or assessments, some of which will be online and others may be in-person. If you have a disability, health condition or specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia then you may be entitled to support with undertaking this type of assessment exercise. Where you feel that reasonable adjustments are required to support you, we ask that you advise your recruitment point of contact in a timely fashion, providing further information. In confidence, Innovate UK will then review your application for adjustments and provide support as required.

Employee Benefits:

We offer a benefits package crafted to provide an excellent work/life balance. This includes 30 days’ annual leave, 10.5 public and privilege days, flexible working hours, an exceptional defined benefit pension scheme, and access to a variety of support networks and discount schemes.

Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI):

Flexible Working: We understand the importance of work-life balance, and are happy to discuss the possibility of flexible working with applicants.

Pre-employment Screening:

To enable us to hire the very best people we will conduct a comprehensive pre-employment check on successful applicants as part of the recruitment process. The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role. UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.