Evaluation Specialist

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 279737**Salary**:

- £27,273**Job grade**:

- Higher Executive Officer- Specialist**Contract type**:

- Permanent**Type of role**:

- Science**Working pattern**:

- Full-time, Job share, Part-time**Number of jobs available**:

- 1Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- East Midlands (England), East of England, London (region), North East England, North West England, South East England, South West England, West Midlands (England), Yorkshire and the HumberAbout the job

**Job summary**:

- This position is based Nationally**Job description**:
**The team**

We are the Government’s statutory advisor for the natural environment, playing a vital role in delivering the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan. This describes an ambitious vision, bringing new opportunities to protect and enhance, and to achieve real outcomes for the environment.

At Natural England, we love what we do. We’re here to make sure people and nature can thrive. A healthy natural environment is fundamental to our wellbeing, prosperity and happiness - that’s why we collaborate with scientists, lawyers, project managers and experts to implement environmental policy and shape decisions.

We work with a wide range of partners, stakeholders and customers on a huge range of projects, from influencing construction, advising farmers and landowners how they can manage their land in a sustainable way for the benefit of the environment, gathering and analysing environmental data, and carrying out vital statutory duties. Across the country, we’re helping nature to support people and our planet.

We are focusing our efforts on six key programmes:

- ** Greener Farming and Fisheries** - supporting those who manage land and sea to operate in harmony with the environment.
- ** Sustainable Development **- creating great places for people to live and work.
- ** Connecting People with Nature** - promoting health and wellbeing through the great outdoors
**Resilient Landscapes and Seas** - protecting and restoring wildlife and natural beauty for future generations.
- ** Specialist Science and Evidence** - an evidence-led organisation that is driven by science.
- ** Managing the Organisation** - gathering business data to enable decision making.

**About the role**

We are ambitious about the role of evaluation in Natural England, and the Evaluation Team is leading work on how Natural England can become a learning organisation. We see evaluation as crucial in helping us to deliver better outcomes and in securing greater investment in the natural environment. The work of the team includes raising capability, providing direct advice on priority evaluations, embedding evaluation in our systems and processes and playing a leadership role across the environmental sector.

The purpose of this role will be to work across Natural England’s evaluation agenda to help shape decisions, provide support in building evaluation capability and undertaking project management to support the delivery of the work portfolio.

Wherever possible Natural England accommodates requests for both full-time and part-time hours and other flexible working patterns to help employees achieve a good work/life balance and maintain their health and wellbeing.

From induction to ongoing learning and development, everyone in Natural England is supported to develop their skills and capabilities. Where appropriate there will be offers of training under our apprenticeship schemes.

**Job description**

**Key tasks**:

- Support the delivery of a portfolio of evaluation projects, working collaboratively with other evaluation specialists across the organisation.
- Support with evaluation planning, including the development of Theory of Change.
- Undertake project management to ensure we meet deadlines, manage resources, and provide support as required.
- Provide critical feedback and quality assurance on evaluation outputs.
- To support the delivery of a programme of capability building.
- To play a lead role in management of evaluation resources including our internal Evaluation SharePoint online site.
- To collect and analyse relevant data to feed into evaluation processes, including undertaking primary research (e.g. quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods) in line with our Evidence Standard.

**Specialist Skills and Knowledge**
- An understanding of the value and purpose of evaluation in driving change and improvement.
- Experience of working across virtual teams working with colleagues in evidence, strategy, and delivery.
- The ability to provide support to a programme of work through planning and organising a complex range of activities.
- Knowledge of theory of change and how it can be applied to inform evaluation planning and project management.
- Ability to coordinate across internal teams and external contractors when managing projects.

**Competencies**

**Competence 1**

Professional competency

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