Evidence and Evaluation Advisor – (Principal Research Officer), College of Policing

This post is open to applicants who can meet the College’s nationality, UK residency and vetting requirements.

About us: We’re the professional body for the police service in England and Wales. We work with everyone in policing to set standards, to share knowledge and good practice and to support the development of police officers and staff. Our mission is to drive a consistent approach across policing where the public and the service expect it, to boost professionalism and to improve leadership at every level.

Although we're a small organisation, our work has a big reach. We are uniquely placed to work both with national policing organisations and local forces to support frontline officers, staff and volunteers in their day-to-day roles.

This role will be part of the Operation Soteria team working to transform the policing response to victims of rape and other serious sexual offences (RASSO).  It has already started to show green shoots of improvement in the response to RASSO in participating forces.  

We offer a supportive and inclusive environment for people to thrive. Our extensive flexible-working policy, employee wellbeing support, family friendly policies, employers network for equality and inclusion (ENEI) membership and status as a disability confident employer means everyone can bring their whole self to work.

Job description

Do you have robust research and analysis skills combined with the passion to improve policing through an evidence-based approach? If so, we look forward to reading your application for the role of Evidence and Evaluation Advisor 

The selected candidate will work in partnership to improve policing through providing expert research and analytical support to the design and delivery of College products and services and wider policing programmes. 

The areas of work the selected candidate may be involved in include Operation Soteria which is working to transform the policing response to victims of rape and other serious sexual offences (RASSO).

Person specification

You will:

•    Provide strong, leadership for your team, motivate and mentor them through challenging situations and empower them to drive forward change. Promote continuous improvement and accountability for compliance with College policies and promote proactive wellbeing practices to ensure their continuing high performance.
•    Engage with Delivery Leads and wider College and external stakeholders to provide expert advice and understand their evidence needs; translate unfocussed requests and ideas into effective research designs. Provide advice on where research can add most value to inform prioritisation of research and analytical resources. Develop own knowledge of the policing landscape and evidence base in the delivery area to be in a position to provide expert advice. 
•    Lead the planning, designing and commissioning/conducting of research and analysis projects to meet evidence needs of stakeholders, using appropriate methods including innovative approaches and complying with Government Social Research and College standards.  
•    Quality assure research design and outputs, including analytical plans and reports to ensure they meet the required standards. Review proposed drafts for new and revised professional policing practice and associated learning standards to confirm that assumptions and recommendations are valid, properly referenced, tested and evaluated, and are acceptable for cost-effective implementation across policing.
•    Communicate complex research information both written and verbal to a variety of audiences, including senior non specialist customers, drawing out key facts and issues to enable informed decision-making. Promoting and ensuring the appropriate use of evidence in decision-making and communications, performing a challenge function where required.

To be successful in this role you’ll need to:
•    Meet the eligibility criteria for Government Social Research Membership (see Government Social Research eligibility criteria - Government Social Research Membership and Eligibility Guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk))
•    Have evidence of ongoing commitment to continuing professional development
•    Hold an established track record in designing, carrying out and managing social research and providing and publishing research-based advice and briefings. 

Please see the attached job description which contains full details of the role.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Evidence of evaluating and integrating research information from variety of sources, coming to logical conclusions and communicating this effectively to senior non-specialists, assisting them to take on key findings and implications.
• Excellent oral and written communicator with the ability to write, speak and present complex concepts concisely, fluently and persuasively.