Senior Evaluation Advisor

Job summary

We encourage applications from a diverse range of candidates.

At DfE, we are proud of the commitment we make to diversity and inclusion and of the progress we have made. We have active & vibrant staff networks, special leave policies and workplace adjustments put in place for those who need them. We are continuing to build a diverse DfE, in an inclusive environment which nurtures and realises potential in all, at all levels.

Hosted by the DfE, the Evaluation Services Unit (ESU) is a cross-government unit launched in 2024 to make it quicker, easier and more affordable for the Civil Service to conduct high-quality policy evaluations. We operate like an in-house consultancy, working at pace to deliver evaluation projects across all policy areas, including health, policing, and government reform.

As a Senior Evaluation Advisor, you will play a key role in shaping this new service, delivering high-quality evaluation projects on some of the most important policy issues facing the country, while working closely with the Cabinet Office and other partners to maximise the impact of this exciting new initiative. This is a unique opportunity to apply your expertise where it matters most, helping government make better decisions and improving outcomes for citizens.

Job description

Working with the Head of the Evaluation Services Unit, your primary role will be to deliver high-quality evaluation projects for customers across government. Responding to demand and tailoring your approach as needed, you will design and deliver impact, process and Value for Money evaluations that shape policy decisions.

You will also be responsible for helping to identify and agree new projects. You will proactively build networks across government, promote the team and pitch for work, helping to develop a community of satisfied customers that pays us enough to cover our costs.

This is a fantastic opportunity to shape a new cross-government evaluation service, helping to build it from the ground up. Candidates must have detailed knowledge of evaluation methods and their application to complex policy questions, they must be able to deliver a high-quality service to our customers, and they must have the creativity and resilience to operate effectively in an environment that is more like a business start-up than a government department.

Key responsibilities include:

• Designing & delivering policy evaluations: you will lead the design and delivery of high-quality policy evaluations across a wide range of areas. You will ensure the evaluations you design are practical, proportionate and robust. You will report findings in a clear and accessible way.
• Delivering a quality service - you must be able to deliver a high-quality service to our customers, interpreting their needs accurately, responding creatively, communicating effectively and adapting as required.
• Managing teams & projects: you will take responsibility for a portfolio of work, covering multiple projects simultaneously and managing colleagues as needed to deliver at pace.
• Generating new business: you will proactively promote the ESU’s services, and pitch for work, generating a pipeline of high impact projects to further develop a community of satisfied customers.
• Improving services: you will work collaboratively with colleagues to refine existing services and develop new approaches that improve the quality of the ESU’s offer.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Designing and delivering policy evaluations: you will have significant experience of leading on the design and delivery of high-quality policy evaluations, using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
• Managing a quality service: you must be experienced in managing customers on complex evaluation projects, clarifying their needs and communicating with them effectively throughout.
• Managing people and teams: you will have experience of line managing a small team, task managing a wider group, and collaborating effectively with peers and seniors.
• Generating new business: you must be comfortable networking with stakeholders, promoting the work of the team, finding new opportunities and converting these into paid projects.

Technical Skill:

• Evaluation expertise: The successful candidate will have substantial experience applying a range of evaluation techniques to policy programmes and interventions. In particular, you must have a strong track record in designing and delivering counterfactual impact evaluations, alongside experience using qualitative research methods. You will be confident in planning and executing high-quality policy evaluations from end to end. Proficiency in R, Stata, or an equivalent statistical software package is expected, or you must be willing to learn.

Memberships

Professional analytical badging: Candidates must already be part of, or be eligible and willing to join the Government Social Research (GSR) profession or the Government Economic Service (GES). Details on eligibility and how to become a member are here:

GSR - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-government-s…
GES - https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service-government-ec…

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Evaluation expertise

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £60,222, Department for Education contributes £17,446 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

Part‑time hours available, from a minimum of 0.8 FTE.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.

Stage 1 - Written Application

To apply for this role, you will be required to provide a CV, Statement of Suitability, and one Technical Statement.

• Your CV should include details of your employment history, and the skills and experience gained in those roles.
• Your Statement of Suitability (max 1000 words) should demonstrate how your experience meets the essential criteria listed above.
• You will be required to provide a 250-word example demonstrating how you demonstrate the Technical Skills listed above.

Stage 2 - Sift

We will use your CV and statement to assess your suitability for the role against the essential criteria listed in the person specification section above.

We will assess your 250-word technical statement against the Technical Skill listed above.

To confirm, the maximum word count for the personal statement is 1000. Please adhere to this limit as anything over 1000 words will not be taken into account.

In the event of a large number of applications, we will sift on Technical Skill and the first essential criterion ‘Designing and delivering policy evaluations’ only.

More guidance on personal statements can be found here – completing your application.

Stage 3 - Technical Presentation

Candidates successful at sift will be invited to a Technical Presentation assessment. This will assess the Technical Skill listed above.

Candidates will be provided with a brief and given 60 minutes to prepare a short presentation (5-10 minutes), followed by up to 10 minutes of questioning.

Please ensure the exercise reflects your own thinking. AI tools may be used to enhance presentation or clarity, but they must not be used to generate the substantive content.

Stage 4 - Interview

Candidates successful at the Technical Presentation will be invited to interview. The interview will last approximately 1 hour.

At interview you will be asked questions to assess your Experience in line with the essential criteria listed above. You will also be asked a scenario-based question to test the Technical Skill listed above.

Information Session

If you would like to know more about the role, we'll be running an information session for interested candidates on 14th October 10:00-11:00 via Microsoft Teams. Drop an email to debbie.blair@evaluationservices.gov.uk to learn more.

Other Information

Interviews may be via Microsoft teams or face to face; the vacancy manager will confirm prior to the Interview.

In your application, please don’t include personal information that identifies you.

This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment (opens in a new window).

Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:

• name/title

• educational institutions

• age

• gender

• email address

• postal address

• phone number

• nationality/immigration status

We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.

The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks.DFE@education.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs

Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.

Reasonable adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Department of Education via centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Please refer to the attached ‘Reasonable Adjustments Guide 05_2025 – accessible version’ at the bottom of the advert, for further information.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Debbie Blair
• Email : enquiries@evaluationservices.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk

Further information

The Department for Education’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via CentralRecruitment.Operations@education.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages

Attachments

DFE Terms & Conditions - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 215kB)Reasonable Adjustments guide 05_2025 - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 723kB)OGD Transfer Supplementary information - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 327kB)