Senior Quantitative Evaluation Roles - Social Policy

About this role

RAND Europe is an independent, not-for-profit research organisation whose mission is to help improve policy and decision-making through rigorous and independent research and analysis. We benefit the public interest through the impact and wide dissemination of over 200 projects per year. Our work at its most impactful changes policy, practice and process to the benefit of the public good. That is also our organisational mission.
RAND Europe has approximately 200 staff across offices in Cambridge, Brussels, and the Hague. Our staff represents 22 nationalities, speaks over 20 languages and covers 31 academic disciplines. Our multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches to research generate unique perspectives and insights for our wide-ranging government, foundation and other NGO clients.
Our methods are typically rooted in the social sciences – members of the Health and Care research group have backgrounds in health services research; health economics; epidemiology; public health; psychology; health innovation; sociology and other social science and health related disciplines.
About the roles
RAND Europe is a leading provider of complex policy evaluations for UK and European government, public bodies and charities. With a growing portfolio we are recruiting for two roles in our Social Policy Directorate.

• A senior quantitative researcher/analyst in our Education, Employment and Skills team delivering impactful evaluation findings concerned with education policy, skills and the labour market.

• A senior quantitative researcher/analyst providing in one of our other Social Policy teams supporting evaluations in areas such as health and social care, environment and the impact of emerging technologies.
This is an opportunity to work on complex, policy-relevant projects that generate robust evidence for decision makers.

• Our Education, Employment and Skills team deliver impact evaluations for clients such as the Department for Education, Youth Endowment Fund and the Education Endowment Fund often combining primary research with secondary analysis of datasets such as the National Pupil Database (NPD) and Individualised Learner Record.

• Our Health and Social Care and Science and Emerging Technology teams deliver flagship evaluations for clients including the Department of Health and Social Care, National Institute of Health Research, the Department for Science and Information Technology as well as UK Research and Innovation funded projects.
For both of these roles, you will combine strong quantitative and analytical capability with effective communication, project management and client engagement skills. The role is suited to a quantitative social science researcher, applied economist or evaluation specialist with strong causal inference skills, and at least five years’ experience delivering comparable evaluation or research projects. You will be confident applying quantitative methods, interpreting findings, and explaining technical approaches clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
You will also support the development of early career colleagues and help to maintain high standards of quality and methodological rigour across project delivery. You will contribute to competitive tenders for contracts, supporting the development of credible and innovative approaches to policy evaluation requirements.
You will be able to share your thinking and analysis with more qualitative colleagues and work on mixed methods evaluations and research.
Responsibilities
Evaluation design and delivery

• Support the design and delivery of proportionate, credible experimental and quasi-experimental impact evaluations of public policies, programmes and interventions.

• Lead analytical workstreams within larger mixed-method evaluations, from design through to reporting.

• Support the interpretation and synthesis of quantitative and qualitative evidence.

• Critically assess assumptions, risks, limitations and the strength of causal claims.

• Lead (desirable) or support (essential) economic evaluation and Value for Money (VfM) assessments with input from subject matter experts.
Quantitative analysis

• Manage, clean, link and analyse complex administrative and survey datasets.

• Apply experimental and quasi-experimental methods, including, where appropriate, randomised controlled trials, matching, difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, interrupted time series and synthetic control methods.

• Produce transparent, well-documented and reproducible analytical outputs, primarily in R or comparable statistical software (e.g., Stata, Python).
Project leadership, communication and client engagement

• Manage discrete projects and substantial analytical workstreams, including activities, budgets, risks, timelines and deliverables.

• Supervise and mentor analysts and research assistants, providing clear direction, feedback and quality assurance.

• Present methods and findings to clients and stakeholders, explaining technical concepts clearly to non-technical audiences.

• Facilitate workshops and stakeholder discussions where required.

• Build effective working relationships with government clients and other external partners.

• Produce concise, high-quality reports, presentations and technical documentation.
Business development and capability building

• Contribute to bids and proposals by developing compelling, feasible and proportionate research and evaluation approaches.

• Support the continued development of the team’s quantitative evaluation capability and share good practice across the organisation.

Requirements
Essential experience and skills

• Strong quantitative research skills and experience analysing complex datasets.

• Experience conducting quantitative impact evaluations of policies, programmes or interventions.

• A strong understanding of causal inference, counterfactual evaluation and the conditions required for credible impact estimation.

• Hands-on experience with…