Exciting opportunity to support government evaluation!

Background

The Evaluation Task Force aims to put evidence at the heart of government spending decisions. As part of this, we oversee the Evaluation and Trial Advice Panel, a free advisory service to support the design of robust evaluation across government. Since 2015, the ETAP has provided advice on evaluation designs to over 160 government programmes.

About the role

We are looking for evaluation experts from government departments and external organisations to join our prestigious and highly valued Evaluation and Trial Advice Panel (ETAP). This is a voluntary position with a 2-year term (with potential to extend for 1 year) commencing 1st March 2023. Panel members will be asked to commit approximately 2 hours per month.

As a panel member, you will be expected to provide advice to government departments on the design and implementation of evaluations. This may include:

• Reviewing key documents such as preliminary evaluation designs and theory of change
• Attending surgery-style workshops to provide advice on specific evaluation designs, including theory-based, quasi and experimental evaluations
• Appraising the feasibility of different design options based on specific policy or intervention designs
• Responding to ad-hoc requests for advice via email; and
• Peer reviewing final reports

There will be a range of opportunities to network with other panel members throughout your term. We will also ask panel members to provide regular feedback to support the ongoing success of the panel. To find out more about the work of the panel to date, please visit the Evaluation and Trial Advice Panel webpage.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for experienced policy evaluators from within and outside of government. You should be a well established evaluator, with excellent written and verbal communication skills along with substantial experience of designing and delivering evaluations. You should be passionate about evidence based policymaking and keen to make a contribution to improving the what works landscape across the UK.

For external candidates, we encourage applications from individuals working in a range of different organisations, including: universities, What Works Centres, research and consultancy organisations.

Specifically, we are looking for individuals with the following:

• An ability to turn expert knowledge into practical, helpful advice;
• An understanding of the policy environment and the realities of undertaking evaluations at pace in complex areas of social policy;
• Substantial work experience in the field of evaluation and extensive practical/applied evaluation skills (e.g. through published evaluations); and
• Extensive experience in the design and delivery of evaluations using a range of methods and approaches, with detailed expertise in at least one of the following:
  • Experimental designs: including Randomised Control Trials, stepped-wedge, cluster designs, multi-arm trials, A/B testing
  • Non randomised and quasi-experimental designs: including Regression Discontinuity Design, matching, synthetic controls, difference-in-difference
  • Theory based evaluation
  • Contribution analysis
  • Qualitative comparative analysis
  • Process tracing
  • Machine Learning
  • Natural Language Processing
  • Economic evaluation
  • Process and implementation evaluation
  • Theory of Change and realist evaluation
  • Pre-testing, including rapid cycle testing

All panel members will be required to treat restricted government information in confidence and will be expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the handling and sharing of government information.

All panel members must have and will keep in place adequate procedures to manage and monitor any actual or perceived bias or conflicts of interest. Perceived or actual conflicts will need to be registered with government departments.

Benefits

• Opportunity to have a real impact on public spending by influencing the generation and use of evidence in policy-making across government
• Contributing to a cross-government programme to increase the use of high quality  evaluation in the design and delivery of policies and programmes
• Provides insight into the needs of government decision makers across a wide range of  policy areas, including crime and justice, housing, welfare, environment, health, and transport.
• Relationship building and networking with government stakeholders and other panel members

Compensation

Panellists are reminded that no compensation is provided and this is a voluntary role. Meetings will be held virtually.

Application process

Individuals wishing to join the Panel will be required to complete a short online application form. andIf provideapplicants are successful, we will then request a letter of support from your line manager. Recruitment will close on the 24th November 2022.

Applications will be assessed by an internal panel. Applications will be assessed against a core criteria to ensure the panel represents a diverse range of evaluation expertise. If you have any questions about the role please email trialadvicepanel@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.