Senior Evaluation Manager in London

The Youth Endowment Fund is here to prevent children and young people from becoming involved in violence. We do this by finding out what works and building a movement to put this knowledge into practice.

All of us will experience violence at some point in our lives. For many children, it is a daily reality. Each year, tens of children are killed, hundreds are hospitalised, 1 in 5 teenage children are victims and the majority admit to feeling afraid of violence. It scares them when they travel home from school, prevents them from going out and makes the most vulnerable feel like they don’t matter. It is taking lives, traumatising families and dividing communities. It robs potential, progress and hope. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The Youth Endowment Fund exists to try and permanently change things. To succeed, we must build an exceptional body of knowledge about violence affecting young people and how we reduce it. This knowledge has to be both rigorous and highly relevant to those making decisions about how to support vulnerable young people. We need to find out what works and what doesn’t through evidence synthesis, data analysis and qualitative research into children’s lives. We need to convert this into highly accessible content on what works, how delivery organisations need to change their practice and how the systems they operate in need to be reformed. We then need to work with the right people that can make change happen, across systems, policies and practice, to have a real impact on reducing violence affecting children’s lives.

The evaluation team contributes to the design and implementation of the fund’s various funding rounds. The team is also responsible for assessing, appointing, monitoring, and the quality assurance of rigorous impact evaluations from experts in the field. The Senior Evaluation Manager will play a key role in leading evaluation work. The post holder will also lead a team of evaluation managers, ensuring they have the support to deliver a portfolio of evaluation projects.

The core of your job is to ensure that we are excellent at evaluation, so that we can find out the very best ways to prevent young people and children from becoming involved in violence.

Working with the Head of Evaluation the post holder will:

• Implement the processes for assessing the quality of evidence underpinning applications to the fund and making funding recommendations to the Grants and Evaluation Committee.
• Shape the evaluation approach for individual grant rounds, including leading on this for a small number of rounds.
• Act as a source of expertise on the statistical underpinnings of YEF’s evaluation work, including on issues such as power calculations, regression analysis and missing data.
• Lead the delivery of YEF’s evaluation work, designing, commissioning and managing complex and large-scale RCTs and QEDs.
• Be responsible for YEF’s evaluation policies and reporting templates, ensuring they remain consistent and fit for purpose.
• Be responsible for the ongoing development of YEF’s commissioning guidance.

The post holder will likely lead the recruitment, management and development of a team of evaluation officers and will:

• Ensure they have the knowledge, skills and support to carry out their work effectively.
• Provide regular feedback and coaching on written outputs.
• Supervise and project manage the team’s evaluation work, providing quality assurance and monitoring of progress against project plans and project budgets.

The post holder will contribute to the wider YEF team and will:

• Be accountable to YEF’s Fund Leadership Team for the delivery of evaluations, on time and on budget, including reporting on risks and issues.
• Work closely with colleagues across YEF and specifically the Programme team.
• Ensure high‑quality evidence is at the heart of all YEF activity and that the evidence we produce is communicated in a clear and accessible way which will drive sustainable change.
• Support the management of YEF’s panel of evaluators and expert panel.

The post holder may be involved in other elements of YEF's projects, working with senior colleagues to commission, scope and deliver projects.

You are this sort of person:

• You don't want your days to pass without making a difference. You want to play a significant part in reducing the level of youth violence and see the value in an evidence‑informed approach.
• 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 non‑experts.
• You have a post‑graduate degree (Masters or PhD) in social science, social policy, public health, health services or another field, with a significant quantitative component, or relevant experience equivalent to a Masters qualification.
• You have strong knowledge, experience and technical expertise in evaluation methodologies including experience of RCT design and/or design of complex quasi‑experimental evaluations such as propensity score matching, regression discontinuity design, instrumental variables.
• You have quantitative analysis skills including experience of using advanced analytical software such as R, Stata or SPSS.
• You have significant experience in carrying out or commissioning research including designing all aspects of the research and managing external contractors. This may be in academia, government or a related sector.
• You have strong relationship management skills. You are comfortable working with a wide range of people, including senior academics and other research experts, children and their families, practitioners, and policy makers. You’re able to provide constructive challenge when required.
• 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 strong relationships across the whole organisation. You are happy to help out when and where it’s needed.
• You have excellent project and time management skills and the ability to deliver high‑quality work in a fast‑paced environment.
• You learn fast but remain humble. You like learning. You’re very good at synthesising information. You know how much you don't know and that you can always learn more.
• You work well in a team. You care more that good things happen than who gets the credit. You support your colleagues to produce excellent work.
• You’re committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. You believe and act in a way that celebrates and encourages a range of experiences, views and values.

• A good level of knowledge and understanding of crime or serious violence. You know the facts, understand the issues, know the key people, and can discuss the theories. You’re knowledgeable on this topic and at ease discussing it with experts. Alternatively, you might have a strong understanding of a relevant area such as education, youth work or social care.
• We are especially interested to hear from applicants who have lived experience of youth violence.

It’s also important to us that the people we hire do not discriminate. We believe in being inclusive and giving everyone an equal chance to succeed. Applications are welcome from all regardless of age, sex, gender identity, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, race, sexual orientation, transgender status or social economic background.

The office is based in Central London. Those living in and around London are expected to be in the office for a minimum of 2 days per week. If you live outside of London and work remotely, you’ll be expected to work from the London office 2 days per month. As part of our commitment to flexible working we will consider a range of options for the successful applicant. All options can be discussed at the interview stage.

To apply, please send a CV, cover letter and the monitoring form via our application page by 5:00pm on Monday 6th July. When applying for this role, please ensure that your cover letter can answer within a maximum of 1000 words the following questions:

• Tell us about why you want to work at the Youth Endowment Fund, and any experience you have that demonstrates your commitment to preventing youth violence.
• Tell us about your experience in designing, commissioning and managing evaluations. We’re particularly interested in hearing about the methodologies and tools you’ve used to ensure evaluations are rigorous and produce robust evidence.
• How do you ensure that your work – whether technical analysis or collaborative evaluation management – is inclusive and accessible?

You should also include the contact details of two referees, one of whom must be your current or most recent employer. Referees will only be approached with your express permission. You will also be required to provide proof of your eligibility to work in the UK.

Shortlisted candidates will be sent a technical task to complete before the interview. Interviews will take place on the week commencing 20th July 2026.

Your personal data will be shared for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes our HR team, interviewers (who may include other partners in the project and independent advisors), relevant team managers and our IT service provider if access to the data is necessary for performance of their roles. We do not share your data with other third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and we make you an offer of employment. We will then share your data with former employers to obtain references for you.