2 Department lead jobs

What You’ll Do:

Working in the Finance and Business department, you will lead the development and implementation of Thirtyone:eight’s organisation-wide approach to impact, outcomes and evaluation, aligned with our strategy and Theory of Change. You will develop robust, proportionate qualitative and quantitative methods, embed evaluation across teams, and translate data, research and lived experience into clear insights that improve our work and demonstrate its difference to internal and external audiences.

Why You’ll Love Working Here:

• Purpose-driven work: Everything you do helps protect children and vulnerable adults.

• Flexible working options: Balance your life and work with hybrid arrangements.

• Professional growth: Opportunities to learn, innovate, and lead.

• Supportive culture: Join a friendly, collaborative team that values your ideas.

Main Responsibilities

1. Build our impact and evaluation approach

• Lead the design, implementation and ongoing development of an organisation-wide impact and evaluation framework aligned with our strategy, translating strategic ambitions into clear outcomes, indicators, measures, baselines and realistic evaluation questions.

• Create proportionate evaluation plans for services, projects, partnerships and influencing work, recognising that different activities need different methods.

• Develop credible approaches to evaluating complex and longer-term safeguarding outcomes where change may take time, be difficult to observe directly, and result from several contributing factors.

2. Design and deliver mixed-method evaluation

• Design and manage evaluations from scoping and methodology through to data collection, analysis, reporting and learning.

• Develop accessible research tools and data-collection materials that produce useful evidence without creating unnecessary burden for staff or participants.

• Advise where external research or evaluation support including specialist or independent input is required.

3. Bring together data, evidence and insight

• Work with colleagues to improve the consistency, quality and usefulness of data collected through our services and systems.

• Analyse qualitative and quantitative evidence to identify patterns, trends, outcomes, gaps and emerging themes.

• Develop accurate, accessible ‘dashboards’, reports and visualisations for technical and non-technical audiences, helping leaders and teams monitor progress and make informed decisions.

4. Embed learning and evidence across Thirtyone:eight

• Build productive relationships across the organisation and act as a trusted source of advice on impact, outcomes, evidence and evaluation, helping create a culture in which impact is understood as a shared responsibility rather than the work of one postholder.

• Build colleagues’ confidence and capability through practical guidance, templates, coaching and training.

• Create regular opportunities to review findings, reflect on what is and is not working, and agree improvements.

• Use evidence to inform service design, strategy implementation, resource decisions and organisational learning.

5. Participation, ethics and safeguarding

• Develop meaningful and accessible ways for survivors, children, adults at risk, adults with learning disabilities and other people with lived experience to shape evaluation questions and definitions of success.

• Ensure participation is voluntary, inclusive, trauma-informed and appropriately supported, with clear consent and feedback processes.

• Ensure research and evaluation activity is ethical, proportionate and compliant with safeguarding, confidentiality, data-protection and information-governance requirements.

• Recognise and manage the risks involved in collecting sensitive information, escalating concerns in line with organisational procedures.

6. Reporting, influence and communication

• Produce high-quality impact reports, briefings, presentations and evidence products for the Executive Leadership Team, trustees, staff, funders, members, partners and external audiences.

• Work with the communications team to translate complex findings into clear messages, practical recommendations and compelling, responsible narratives of change.

• Strengthen the evidence underpinning our guidance, training, consultancy, policy and influencing activity.

• Work with communications, business development and fundraising colleagues to use evidence appropriately in external communications, bids and reports.

• Represent Thirtyone:eight externally on impact and evaluation matters when required and contribute to relevant professional networks.

General responsibilities

• Plan and manage a varied workload, budgets and commissioned support to agreed standards and deadlines.

• Maintain accurate records and keep methods, tools and systems under review so they remain useful and proportionate.

• Contribute actively to organisational meetings, planning, learning and wider priorities.

• Model Thirtyone:eight’s values and expected behaviours and comply with all relevant organisational policies.

• Undertake other reasonable duties consistent with the purpose and level of the role.

Person Specification

A) Essential qualifications

• A relevant qualification or equivalent professional experience in evaluation, social research, data analysis, public policy, psychology, statistics, education, public health or a related discipline.

B) Essential Experience and Knowledge:

• Demonstrable experience of designing or substantially developing outcomes, impact and evaluation frameworks across an organisation, programme portfolio or complex service area.

• Strong working knowledge of Theory of Change, logic models, outcomes frameworks, indicators and evaluation planning.

• Experience of designing and delivering mixed-method evaluations from inception to reporting and learning.

• Strong quantitative capability, including survey design, outcome measurement, baseline/follow-up approaches and analysis of service or administrative datasets.

• Strong qualitative capability, including interviews or focus groups, coding, thematic analysis and synthesis of complex evidence.

• Experience of evaluating complex change where outcomes emerge over time and cannot be attributed easily to one intervention.

• Experience of turning analysis into clear conclusions, proportionate recommendations and high-quality reports for different audiences.

• Understanding of research ethics, informed consent, confidentiality, data protection and responsible handling of sensitive information.

• Experience of working collaboratively with delivery teams and senior stakeholders to improve practice through evidence.

C) Essential Skill and Abilities

• Ability to think strategically while creating practical tools and processes that colleagues can use day to day.

• Ability to analyse, interpret and integrate quantitative and qualitative evidence, including recognising limitations and avoiding overclaiming.

• Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to explain technical ideas clearly to non-specialists.

• Strong facilitation, relationship-building and influencing skills across different roles and levels of seniority.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines with a high level of organisation and attention to detail.

• Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgement and know when to seek specialist advice or escalate risk.

• Commitment to inclusive, participatory and trauma-informed ways of working.

D) Desirable:

• Experience of participatory evaluation or co-production with people who have lived experience, including children, survivors or adults with learning disabilities.

• Knowledge of safeguarding practice, organisational culture change or the evaluation of prevention and early-intervention work.

• Experience of contribution analysis, longitudinal evaluation or other approaches to assessing complex social change.

• Experience of presenting evidence to trustees, senior leadership teams, funders or external partners.

E) Personal Qualities

• Curious and analytical, with a genuine desire to understand what is changing and why.

• Practical and solutions-focused, able to balance methodological rigour with organisational capacity and purpose.

• Collaborative and encouraging, able to build confidence rather than make evaluation feel inaccessible.

• Sensitive and thoughtful when working with difficult subject matter and people’s lived experience together with a deep understanding of what confidentiality and ethical data handling means in the environment we are working within.

• Honest about what the evidence does and does not show, with high standards of integrity and professional judgement.

• Committed to equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

• Committed to Thirtyone:eight’s purpose and to helping organisations create safer places.

Equal opportunities

We want our workforce to reflect the communities and organisations we serve. We welcome applications from people with a wide range of backgrounds and lived experiences and will make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process. Applicants will be assessed against the requirements of the role.

Important note

This job description describes the main purpose and responsibilities of the role. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list. Duties may evolve in discussion with the postholder as Thirtyone:eight’s strategy, services and impact approach develop.