Insight and Evaluation Officer - 18 month FTC

Insight and Evaluation Officer

Fixed Term, Full Time

Up to £32,035 per annum

Location: Witham

Please note that this is a fixed term contract / secondment opportunity for a period of 18 months. The position will be office based in Witham, however the requirements of the role require the post holder to be operational across Essex. Some evening and / or weekend work will be required.

Interview dates: 6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th May 2024.

Here in Essex, we continue to raise the bar about practice and our investment in our workforce is second to none. It's an exciting time to join us. Not only have we been named Outstanding by Ofsted, we are delighted and at the same time humbled to have been crowned Social Work Employer of the Year for the second time in the last three years!

The Opportunity

partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers, and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.

The Insight and Evaluation Officer will work alongside the Involvement Service to help design and deliver a research and Evaluation project as part of the Essex Staying Close Pilot that will enhance our understanding of the lived experience of young people in care.

This role will provide support and assistance to the Senior Insight and Evaluation Officer and will undertake both quantitative and qualitative analysis to inform strategic evaluation tools and processes.

This position is office based in Witham, however the candidate will need to be operational across Essex.

Accountabilities

• Provide Insight and Evaluation capability and capacity within the Involvement Service and work with teams from across the Council and with partners, for specific programmed pieces of research activity to deliver improved outcomes for children and young people receiving social care support.
• Plan and implement a research and Evaluation project specific to the Essex Staying Close Pilot which offers enhanced support for young people in care and care leavers up to 25 years old to improve support for and outcomes for care experienced individuals.
• Plan and deliver Essex Children in Care Council activity to ensure young people's voices are recorded and analysed to develop evidence and insight to inform the Council's learning and decision making.
• Identify key insights and learning through qualitative analysis of recorded research discussions to inform research reports, presentations and meetings with key stakeholders.
• Write research reports which are insightful and engaging and include learning recommendations and communicate with managers and delivery partners to inform decision making.
• Design and implement regular reports to the programme team and delivery partners on progress and learning from the Staying Close project for all stakeholders to understand the impact of the Staying Close offer on improving outcomes for care leavers.
• Engage in safeguarding training and ensure processes are followed to make sure young people are kept safe in line with Children and Families' organisational objectives.
• Flexible working is required with evening and weekend work as standard so that research can be undertaken with young people outside of education and employment commitments.

The Experience You Will Bring

Essential:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent by experience.
• Evidence of continuing professional development and knowledge in research, analytics or evaluation methodologies
• Knowledge and understanding of the MS Office suite of programmes, with an ability to create reports and PowerPoint presentations, with excellent Excel skills
• Knowledge and understanding of qualitative analysis techniques and coding software, such as NVIVO

Desirable:

• Experience of engaging with others to build good working relationships and communicating effectively with a broad range of individuals at different levels and sharing Insight and Evaluation into recommendations.
• Experience of writing reports, providing analysing of data
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, both written and verbal, with an ability to present clear and engaging communications.
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to forward plan, work independently and manage own workload