Impact Evaluation Manager

Drinkaware is the UK’s leading alcohol charity.

Drinkaware was set up in 2006, through discussions between the alcohol industry and government. At the time, alcohol was a major public issue with concerns about binge drinking and alcohol-fueled social disorder regularly in the news.

But as we know, the world has changed a lot since then. The way people purchase and consume alcohol has changed, with more people drinking at home and more alcohol bought online.

Drinkaware was established to convene all key players across industry, retailers, government, researchers, academics and charities. We use our collective expertise to promote informed decisions about alcohol and how to reduce the harm it can cause.

Our work is as relevant today as it was in 2006.

By continuing to be independent, working with our partners, providing advice and guidance based on the evidence, and commissioning research into under-explored areas we are helping to reduce alcohol harm in the UK.

Our Vision: Working together to reduce alcohol harm across the UK.

Our Mission: Using our expertise to give governments, industry, communities and individuals the knowledge and support to make informed decisions about alcohol and how to reduce the harm it can cause. Delivered though:

• Public-facing campaigns and digital services, information and guidance Evidence-led advice to governments and industry Independent research, consumer insight and evaluation

Our Values: Solid Reasoning; Clarity with Empathy; Understanding and Connecting; Principled Partnership; Determination and Curiosity

As Impact Evaluation Manager you will support Drinkaware to plan for and measure the impact of its digital products, campaigns, research, public engagement and its partnerships. This role is crucial to assessing our contribution to reducing alcohol harm in the UK and in driving a learning culture from evaluation.

You are a mid-careerist with a solid track record working in impact. You will have a strong, hands-on understanding of monitoring, evaluation and learning methods and approaches, have experience of failing fast, review and reflection and are happy in a test and learn environment. You will need to be able to think analytically and creatively, combine rigour with pragmatism, and innovation with collaboration with other teams, external partners and experts.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Expertly commission / conduct and manage a mixed portfolio of robust innovative impact evaluations, both short term and longitudinal from start to finish for a range of interventions; digital products, campaigns; research and policy engagement; among others
• Act as a trusted mediator between internal teams and external funders, partner and experts to choose appropriate methods, and to co-produce and co-manage monitoring and evaluation work
• Produce and present high-quality monitoring, evaluation and learning related outputs; tender documents or frameworks with clear methods / approaches; literature reviews, evaluations and meta-evaluations, presentations, blogs and other material
• Manage external stakeholders using your experience and judgement to help triage, prioritise and plan external partnership projects, making these as impactful as possible
• Deepen these external relationships and subsequent projects through a test and learn approach
• Foster and develop internal impact champions across our Directorates to ensure consistent use of our theory of change, our data and insights, and support a dynamic culture of learning
• Work closely with the internal data owners to make sure our monitoring and evaluation systems are effective and well-implemented, ensuring high quality data for evaluation projects, for our impact monitoring framework and our critical paths that deliver our strategy
• Create and deliver an effective timetable and programme of organizational learning based on reviewing our outcome and impact indicators and evaluation findings
• Collaborate with the Head of Impact to identify and address impact and evaluation gaps
• Publish and present insights and findings to prompt systems and cultural change among external stakeholders, and to develop your own expert network to collaborate with Drinkaware on impact and evaluation projects
• Undertake horizon scanning activity, keep up to date with, and make judgement calls to introduce, best practice and innovative methods as they relate to evaluation of individual culture and organizational change, co-production and lateral accountability

Accountable for:

The rigour of evaluations, from tendering or research set up, to delivery of final analysis Recommending experts, agencies and approaches that balance quality and value for money PERSON SPECIFICATION – essential and desirable criteria for the role

Qualifications and/or experience

1. At least four-five years of experience in impact, research and evaluation roles within government, charities, academia and other sectors
2. Experience of designing evaluation frameworks, tendering and managing consultants and experts and / or conducting research or evaluation projects, which assess the impact of a wide range of interventions, from digital products to national campaigns
3. Experience of managing relationships and projects with senior staff, external partners and experts
4. Experience in embedding evaluation and learning in an organization including and especially through building capacity among colleagues with little or no relevant impact experience
5. A track record of effective evaluation dissemination for publication, particularly in engaging partners and funders to deepen relationships through testing and learning
6. Experience of managing budget lines and financial reporting relevant to evaluation projects

Key knowledge, skills and abilities

1. In-depth hands-on knowledge in mixed methodologies, including two or more of these or other methods; RCTs, cohort studies, ethnography, surveys, focus groups, interviews, social web analysis (please include others – this list is not exhaustive), learning from stretch and failure
2. Thorough understanding of research ethics, consent processes and GDPR/data protection
3. Strong project management, relationship and facilitation skills and the ability to drive complex projects forward
4. Strong skills in synthesizing complex quantitative and qualitative findings, aided by software such as NVIVO or similar, and sharing these in clear, succinct and convincing ways
5. High level of data literacy with strong numerical skills
6. Ability to work independently using creative problem solving, and also as a member of a multi-disciplinary team
7. Strong commitment to Drinkaware’s Values and to reducing alcohol-related harm.
8. Excellent interpersonal and networking skills and confident working with internal and external stakeholders