Details
Reference number
434572
Salary
£42,806
If you are new to the Civil Service or are a civil servant who is not currently a member of GSR or GES, your starting salary will be £42,806 (national) or £46,971 (London). Upon joining GSR or GES, your salary will rise to £48,999 (national) or £52,799 (London).
A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
GBP
Job grade
Senior Executive Officer
Contract type
Fixed term
Length of employment
2 years
Business area
DFE - Strategy Group
Type of role
Analytical
Policy
Social Research
Working pattern
Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time
Number of jobs available
2
Contents
* Location
* About the job
* Benefits
* Things you need to know
* Apply and further information
Location
Bristol (BS2 0EL), Cambridge (CB2 8DR), Coventry (CV1 2WT), Darlington (DL1 5QE), Leeds (LS1 4AP), London (SW1P 3BT), Manchester (M1 2WD), Nottingham (NG2 1AW) and Sheffield (S1 2FJ)
Please note – Bristol, Leeds and Nottingham currently have site controls in place. Therefore, this location option is only available to existing DfE employees already assigned to this office location.
About the job
Job summary
The Evaluation Services Unit (ESU) – launched by the Open Innovation Team in 2024 – provides expert evaluation services for government.
* We operate like an in-house research consultancy, working at pace to deliver evaluation projects across all policy areas, including health, policing, and government innovation.
* We offer an end-to-end service, from scoping and advice to full delivery of evaluations for policies and programmes.
* We conduct process, impact and value for money evaluations, drawing on a wide range of methods, including randomised controlled trials and quasi experimental designs.
* Our team is made up of evaluation specialists with broad experience delivering evaluation projects inside and outside government.
* We work with the Cabinet Office's Evaluation Task Force to ensure we're joined up and adding maximum value to wider efforts.
We are looking for highly skilled evaluators to join our growing team. As an Evaluation Advisor, you will deliver high-quality evaluation projects on some of the most important policy issues facing the country, while also playing a key role in shaping this new cross-government service. This is a unique opportunity to apply your expertise where it matters most, helping government make better decisions and improving outcomes for citizens.
Professional analytical badging
Candidates must already be part of or be eligible and willing to join the Government Social Research (GSR) profession or the Government Economic Service (GES). Details on eligibility are here: GSR, GES.
If you are already GSR/GES badged, please confirm in your application, including stating the profession.
Job description
Working closely with Senior Evaluation Advisors (G7s), your primary role will be to help design and deliver high-quality evaluation projects for customers across government. You will respond to demand and tailor your approach as needed, supporting the design and delivery of impact, process, and value-for-money evaluations that shape policy decisions and improve outcomes for citizens.
Key responsibilities include:
* Designing and delivering evaluations: Drawing on your research skills to design evaluations that are practical, proportionate and robust, adapting methods creatively to meet the unique challenges of each project and presenting findings in clear, accessible ways.
* Managing projects to a high standard: Oversee multiple analytical projects at once, ensuring they are delivered on time, on budget, and to consistently high standards, with outputs communicated effectively to decision-makers.
* Building relationships: Develop and sustain effective relationships with clients across government including policy teams, analysts, and stakeholders, acting as a trusted advisor and ensuring complex evidence is communicated in ways that are useful and relevant to their needs.
* Identifying and scoping opportunities: Help identify and develop new projects, proactively promote the ESU's services, and pitch for work, generating a pipeline of high impact projects.
* Improving services: Work collaboratively with colleagues to refine existing services and develop new approaches that increase the number and quality of evaluations carried out across government, improve value for money, and support better use of evidence.
Person specification
Essential criteria:
* Delivering policy evaluation projects: you must have experience of designing, managing, and delivering multiple policy evaluation projects simultaneously, ensuring projects are delivered on time and to a high standard.
* Customer service: ability to deliver a high-quality, responsive service that meets the needs of customers/colleagues by adapting to their priorities and providing clear, useful support that helps them achieve their goals.
* Communication skills: experience communicating complex research and evaluation concepts in a policy-relevant way to non-technical audiences, both verbally and in writing, through presentations, reports, and other outputs.
* Developing opportunities and services: ability to identify, scope, and generate new evaluation projects while also developing new services that improve the quality, reach, and value for money of evaluation.
Technical skills
Knowledge and experience of evaluation methods. The successful candidate should have experience with a wide range of evaluative methods, preferably with an emphasis on impact evaluation. You should have experience in applying quantitative methods to policy problems and conducting qualitative research.
The candidate should be proficient in either Stata, R or equivalent. If not, they must be willing to learn.
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
* Knowledge and experience of evaluation methods.
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £42,806, Department for Education contributes £12,400 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
If you are new to the Civil Service or are a civil servant who is not currently a member of GSR or GES, your starting salary will be £42,806 (national) or £46,971 (London). Upon joining GSR or GES, your salary will rise to £48,999 (national) or £52,799 (London).
If you are a civil servant who is already a member of an analytical profession, your minimum salary will be £48,999 (national) or £52,799 (London).
Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department's transfer / promotion policies.
As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension scheme with an employer contribution of 28.97%, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years' service. In addition, all staff receive the King's Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days' bank and public holidays.
We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.
Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.
As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.
We are recruiting based on experience and technical skill.
Application
To apply for this role, applicants must provide:
* a CV, detailing relevant work experience,
* a 1,000 word Statement of Suitability demonstrating how their experience meets the essential criteria listed above (approx. 250 words per criterion),
* a 250 word statement outlining their technical suitability for the role.
We will sift applications based on CVs, Statements of Suitability, and technical statements, each of which will carry equal weight.
If we receive a large number of applications, the sift will be based on the first essential criteria, 'Delivering policy evaluation projects' and 'Technical skills'.
Interview
The interview will last a maximum of 1hr and will assess experience and technical skill.
Experience: candidates will be asked to evidence their experience on the following essential criteria:
* Delivering policy evaluation projects
* Customer service
* Communication skills.
* Development opportunities and services
Technical skill: candidates will be asked to demonstrate their technical skill by responding to a scenario-based question that tests their evaluation expertise.
Written exercise
Interviewees will also be invited to complete a written exercise where they are given a policy scenario and asked to develop an evaluation plan for it.
Other Information
Interviews may be via Microsoft teams or face to face; the vacancy manager will confirm prior to the Interview.
In your application, please don't include personal information that identifies you.
This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment .
Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:
* name/title
* educational institutions
* age
* gender
* email address
* postal address
* phone number
* nationality/immigration status
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.
Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.
The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre- stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.
A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.
Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs
Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.
Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.
Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.
Reasonable adjustments
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
Contact Department of Education via soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Complete the "Assistance required" section in the "Additional requirements" page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Please refer to the attached 'Reasonable Adjustments Guide 05_2025 – accessible version' at the bottom of the advert, for further information.
Childcare Vouchers
Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check .
See our vetting charter .
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
* UK nationals
* nationals of the Republic of Ireland
* nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
* nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
* nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
* individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
* Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles .
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .
Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
* Name : Alessandra Sciarra
* Email :
Recruitment team
* Email :
Further information
The Department for Education's recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages