Salary: £33,000 - £35,000 FTE (£19,800 - £21,000 pro rata) dependent on experience
Working pattern 0.6 FTE (with Wednesday as a core working day)
Reports to : Assistant Director
Location: Hybrid or remote, with preference for location near to one of our regional hubs or Cambridge office
Closing Date: 5 pm, Tuesday 23 June 2026
Interviews: 1st Stage: w/c 29 June 2026
To apply please visit www.villierspark.org.uk/jobs and download an application form and email with a short covering letter to [email protected].
Applicants must have the right to work in the UK at the time of application. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.
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An introduction from our Assistant Director
We are seeking a Data and Insights Manager to play a vital role in strengthening how Villiers Park understands, evidences and communicates its impact as we continue delivery of our 2025–30 strategy. This is an exciting opportunity to lead our approach to monitoring and evaluation at a key moment, ensuring that high-quality evidence underpins our programmes and future growth.
Villiers Park is a national social mobility charity with a strong track record of delivering impactful programmes that support young people from under-represented backgrounds to fulfil their potential. The ability to demonstrate impact clearly and credibly, both to inform our own learning and to evidence our effectiveness externally, will be critical to achieving our strategic ambitions.
As a core part of our 2025-30 strategy, the Data and Insights Manager will work to embed consistent and robust evaluation across the organisation. This will be achieved by approaches such as Stories of Change, which combines quantitative data with rich qualitative insight to build a compelling and nuanced understanding of the difference our programmes make.
Our work is possible because of a brilliant team of staff, trustees and volunteers and committed funders and partners who believe in what we do and want to make the greatest possible difference. The Data and Insights Manager will work closely with colleagues across programmes, communications, fundraising and leadership, you will ensure that data and evidence are actively used to inform decision-making, improve delivery and demonstrate impact to funders, partners and the wider sector.
This is a highly collaborative role with organisation-wide impact, offering the opportunity to shape how Villiers Park learns delivers on its long-term strategic ambitions.
What we do
- We are experts in working with young people aged 11-19 from under-represented backgrounds. We believe that every young person should have an equal opportunity to excel at school, at university and into their careers.
- Our unique and highly-tailored programmes increase aspirations for learning and motivation, develop academic, employability and personal skills and raise attainment.
Who we are
- Founded over 100 years ago, Villiers Park is committed to advancing and promoting education.
- Our vision is a future where every young person has the opportunity to realise their full potential. Yet for too many, this is limited by economic, social and personal barriers not of their making. As a national social mobility charity, we exist to change that.
Key responsibilities:
- Working closely with the Assistant Director, develop, implement and review monitoring and evaluation approaches for all programmes, ensuring that the data outputs can be used in a range of ways.
- Collaborate with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and wider staff team to develop, implement and review Theories of Change.
- Work with the Programmes team to design and deploy monitoring and evaluation methods to capture and store relevant quantitative and qualitative data from a range of sources, including individuals and via schools/colleges and partner organisations.
- Undertake data analysis and write reports for internal and external audiences on process and impact evaluations for all programmes, including annual school impact reports.
- Support the Communications and Fundraising Teams by providing regularly updated data and evaluation, regional contextual demographic data and comparative national datasets.
- Manage programmes and impact data storage to ensure relevant access is delivered for SLT, Programmes, Fundraising and Communications teams and compliance with GDPR.
- Keep up to date with changes in regulation and best practice in data management and data protection/consent, especially when data subjects are under 18.
- Ensure that all data management and evaluation practices are compliant with statutory safeguarding and GDPR regulations and Villiers Park’s safeguarding, data protection and privacy policies.
- Deliver evaluation training and evaluation review meetings to inform and engage the wider organisation with evaluation practices and the implementation of data and insights.
- Undertake other duties as required to support the mission and work of Villiers Park.
Knowledge, experience and abilities (essential)
- Experience of, and strong interest in, high quality evaluation methodologies, including programme theory, process evaluation, mixed-methods approaches.
- Strong experience of critically appraising data and evidence, and staying abreast of developments within evaluation of youth-based charities and university widening participation, using this to support proportionate, well-evidenced conclusions.
- A strong track record in planning, coordinating and delivering successful evaluation activity across programmes, sites or stakeholder groups, including managing complex workloads, setting priorities and working to agreed timelines and standards.
- Experience of effectively communicating evaluation findings, both written and verbal, to different audiences. Strong analytical, problem-solving and decision-making ability, including using evidence, judgement and stakeholder input to resolve challenges in evaluation delivery.
Skills and competencies (essential)
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build effective relationships and influence stakeholders, articulating evaluation concepts and findings clearly and concisely.
- Skilled in planning, prioritising and managing multiple strands of work to deliver high quality evaluation outputs.
- Analytical and methodical, with the ability to interpret evidence carefully and proportionately.
- An effective manager of evaluation activity across teams, hubs and programme cycles. Strong qualitative and mixed-methods analysis skills, including interpretation and reporting Ability to anticipate and identify challenges in evaluation delivery, and work with colleagues to resolve these productively.
- Demonstrate a curiosity about other evaluation methodologies and research from the wider evaluation sector. Strong IT and digital skills including Microsoft suite and data management systems.
- A collaborative team member who can also take initiative, work proactively and operate independently where needed, and who has excellent interpersonal skills to facilitate learning conversations and support and advise colleagues to use evidence confidently in practice.
Desirable
- Familiarity with longitudinal or progression tracking and/or data-sharing partnerships.
- Experience of contributing to fundraising proposals with ready evidence and an understanding of fundraising audiences.
- Proficiency in qualitative analysis software, such as NVivo, to support coding, thematic analysis and synthesis.
- Confidence using data management tools such as Dataverse, MS Forms and PowerAutomate, and Power BI for reporting or visualisation.
- Understanding of value-for-money or ROI-related analysis in a social context.
Additional Information:
- The postholder will have some travel to schools, events and partner organisations.
- An enhanced DBS check will be required.
- On occasion, evening work and overnight stays may be required.
Safeguarding
Villiers Park Educational Trust is committed to safeguarding and to providing a safe and supportive environment, which secures the well-being and best outcomes for the young people with whom we work.
Safeguarding is embedded in all aspects of Villiers Park's work and integral to the commitment we make to our schools, partners and the young people and communities we serve and work with. All employees and volunteers are expected to share this commitment by adhering to our organisational safeguarding procedures, attending regular in-house training and keeping up to date with developments in policies and legislation.
All employees and volunteers will also agree to undergo an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Services check and successfully complete our mandatory online training courses including NSPCC Safeguarding in Schools and PREVENT training.
Pay: £33,000.00-£35,000.00 per year
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Cambridge CB4 2HY