Senior Evaluation Consultant - Northern Ireland

Role Overview

The Ipsos Northern Ireland team sits within the Ipsos Public Affairs policy offering. It is one of the most innovative and fast-moving professional services operations within Northern Ireland. We respond to the needs of government, helping to design, deliver and evaluate policies in areas, such as Energy, Education, Early Years and Housing.

We work with prestigious clients such as Dept. for Energy Security and Net Zero, DHLUC, DE (NI), DoH (NI) and other NI public and voluntary sector organisations.

We are looking for an Evaluation Consultant to join us to support the continued growth of the team and the delivery of our evaluation work in these key areas.

As a Senior Evaluation Consultant, you will be responsible for the day-to-day management and delivery of mixed-method evaluations of social policy-related programmes. You will manage inputs from evaluation and research project teams, as well as partners.

You will also play an important role in business development, supporting the growth of social policy evaluation by contributing to winning evaluation proposals and identifying market opportunities, while supporting the team and wider management of the business.

Working across the social policy space, you will be uniquely positioned to evaluate interventions at the intersection of society’s most pressing problems. You will be supporting an established team of evaluators and policy specialists to advance the use of key methodologies, such as randomised controlled trials (RCT), quasi-experimental designs, and other mixed methods studies. Many evaluations are complex and will require nuanced designs such as trauma-informed approaches, systems thinking, and more.

What will I be doing..? 

Managing evaluation projects through the full project cycle, from evaluation design, to data collection and analysis, through to developing conclusions and recommendations

Developing client relationships while ensuring projects are delivered to budget and timescale

Close working with research teams and partners to execute evaluation studies and provide consultancy inputs

Drafting accessible and concise reporting outputs of evaluation findings

Presentation of results to clients and stakeholders

Developing research tools (. questionnaires, discussion guides)

Contributing to evaluation proposals as part of a wider team

Developing specialist expertise in a policy or methodological area

Line management of junior staff

Involvement in the team-based and wider professional development of the Policy and Evaluation Unit

Ipsos UK offers a hybrid working environment, 3 days in the office and working the rest from home. 

What do I need to bring with me? 

This role would suit a candidate with experience of delivering evaluations within in a commercial environment.

Track record in managing evaluation projects through the full project cycle, from evaluation design, to data collection and analysis, through to developing conclusions and recommendations

Proven ability to work well in teams and manage projects to timescale and budgets with limited supervision

Expertise in both quantitative and qualitative approaches for evaluation problems

Ability to apply critical thinking and problem solving approaches to the design/delivery of complex evaluations

Experience of establishing and managing strong client relationships

Knowledge of policy in one or more of the following areas: crime & security; education, children & families; employment welfare & skills; politics & society

Curiosity and drive to support a business to move into new areas and experience of contributing to winning evaluation proposals

Time management skills and ability to work across multiple projects, prioritising tasks efficiently

Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate complex concepts clearly and persuasively to non-technical audiences both in writing and verbally

Interest in developing junior members of the team to fulfil their potential

Highly desirable: Knowledge of statistical or econometric methods for conducting impact evaluations using quasi-experimental designs and/or randomised controlled trials- skills and experience

What is in it for me? 

Ipsos UK offer an attractive basic salary and a rewards package including 25 days annual leave, a pension scheme and a great range of flexible benefits to suit your personal needs. For roles at Research Manager level and above we also offer private healthcare.

In addition to this we have a fantastic Learning & Development offer delivered through a mix of face to face, online or on-demand; you can read more by clicking .

We realise you may have commitments outside of work and will consider flexible working applications - please highlight what you are looking for when you make your application. 

Ipsos is committed to equality, treating people fairly, promoting a positive and inclusive working environment and ensuring we have diversity of people and views. We also recognise that this is important for our business success - a more diverse workforce will enable us to better reflect and understand the world we research and ultimately deliver better research and insight to our clients.