Senior Evidence and Learning Adviser

Senior Evidence and Learning Adviser - UK Evidence and Learning
£38,250-£45,000 pa
Location: Home Based/Any UK Office (Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London or Manchester)

Division: Policy, Advocacy & Campaigns | Department: UK Impact | Team: Evidence and Learning

Do you want to play a key role in an organisation which stands up for children? Join us as a Senior Evidence and Learning Adviser and help us to generate the evidence that will unlock our understanding of the ways in which can reduce the impact of poverty on children’s lives and support their early learning outcomes.

Every child has the right to ensure that their basic needs are met, and to receive the encouragement and help which enables them to reach their full potential. The greatest barrier to this in the UK is poverty and inequality. Our mission is to secure a sustainable reduction in the number of children growing up in poverty and work to narrow the early learning gap between those children and their better off peers.

We believe this future is possible. It requires more money to be put back into the pockets of parents and carers, decent jobs, more opportunities for young children to play and learn, and policies and services which centre children and families’ needs, reduce discrimination, and that are designed to help children to flourish by preventing difficulties at the earliest possible stage: in pregnancy, at birth, in the crucial first 1,001 days of life and throughout childhood.

We work closely with the communities we aim to support. We recognise their diversity and strengths as well as the challenges they face, and we aim to reflect their diversity and experiences in our UK staff team.

The UK Evidence and Learning team generates evidence that enables us to secure changes to policy and practice, in every nation of the United Kingdom. Through our work, we demonstrate what is effective in improving lives for children and families; we collect evidence directly from children and families to help us understand how current practice affects their lives; we develop and test promising, sustainable interventions in communities; and we gather and synthesise evidence from local partners, organisations in our sector, and academia. We draw on all this learning to work with colleagues to influence decision-makers and advocate for policy and practice change, with and on behalf of families.

As a Senior Evidence and Learning Adviser, you will:

• Develop strategies for generating evidence and learning, especially focussing on qualitative research, participatory practice and other open research and intelligence gathering approaches.
• Undertake primary research and evaluation, analysis and evidence syntheses.
• Support teams to implement evidence strategies, building their capacity and confidence to support evidence and learning practice and ensuring that the approaches put in place are rigorous and practical.
• Support teams in developing and using theories of change and outcomes frameworks.
• Capture and disseminate our data and learning.

To be successful you will:

• Hold expertise in evaluation and evidence generation across a wide range of methods, although we are particularly interested in hearing from candidates with a strong technical background leading qualitative, ethnographic, innovation and participatory research practice.
• Have experience of and be confident in undertaking evaluation and research with both children and families and with marginalised groups.
• Hold expertise in learning and improvement methodologies and have experience of using data and evidence for improvement.
• Hold strong analytical skills, be able to interpret complex data and make it meaningful to others.
• Be adept at developing relationships and working with a wide range of individuals, teams and in different policy and practice contexts.
• Be a confident and experienced user of data analysis software, such as Nvivo or Atlas.ti

Diversity & Inclusion 

To help us attract and encourage applications from a wide range of people, we are holding an open information session so that you can find out more about working at Save the Children, the UK Impact team and our vision and mission for children in the UK.  

You can sign up for that here ukimpactcareers@savethechildren.org.uk

Save the Children UK is committed to diversity and equality of opportunity in all aspects of our work both external and internal. We strive to be an inclusive employer and particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups such as returning parents or carers who are re-entering work after a career break, people who are LGBT+, from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, with a disability, impairment, learning difference or long-term condition, with caring responsibilities, from different nations and regions, and from less advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds.

At Save the Children we are committed to the safeguarding and protection of children in our work. We will do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work with children are recruited to work for us. This post is subject to a range of vetting checks including a criminal records disclosure.

If you share our belief in the power of children, join the fight. It takes relentless determination, creativity, and a commitment to real change. Because every child should be able to make their mark on their world and help to build a better future. We look forward to hearing from you.

Closing date: 28 February 2021