JOB SUMMARY

The Sport and Gambling Analysis team is a dynamic and energetic group of individuals, with a drive to use data and evidence to shape and inform better policy decisions. We are an analytical spoke team, part of the wider Sector Analysis team, supporting Sport and Gambling policy directorate, where we get to work on areas as diverse as hosting a major sporting event, providing support for swimming pools, building new football pitches, designing regulatory framework for gambling and getting people across the country physically active.
The role of S&G Analysis team is to ensure high-quality evidence informs all stages of policy development and delivery through rigorous analysis and building a robust evidence base. More recently, our work has been focussed on Government’s missions, including Health, Growth and Opportunity Mission. You’ll also benefit from being embedded in the policy directorate and therefore work closely with policy officials, esp on the Gambling side, with regular opportunities to engage and present to senior stakeholders and at conferences.
We are an inclusive, welcoming and friendly team comprising around 10 analysts with a diverse range of skills and backgrounds. There is a brilliant, collaborative culture across DCMS policy teams and the wider DCMS analytical community, too. In this role you will be part of both analytical and policy teams, meaning you will get the best of both worlds!

JOB DESCRIPTION

We are looking for a highly-driven and data-confident social researcher / economist (with relevant evaluation experience) to lead on the development, management and delivery of the Gambling Act Review Impact Evaluation, and other Gambling and Lotteries research priorities. This is a unique and exciting opportunity to work on DCMS’ high-profile regulatory programme and its evaluation.

The key responsibilities for this role will include:

• Leading on the highly complex evaluation for the Gambling Act Review, which will include process and impact evaluation.
• Working closely with policy, the regulator (Gambling Commission) and industry stakeholders as well as managing the contract with the supplier to deliver on the full range of activities, from early delivery through to final reporting, including proactively managing risks.
• Communicating updates on the evaluation with a range of stakeholders, including senior officials within DCMS and GC.
• Steering agenda and meetings with the Evaluation Advisory and Steering groups.
• Drafting technical reports, advice papers and analytical notes to a high standard for senior stakeholders and clearly communicating complex concepts.
• Working on other projects across the Gambling Analysis team, as required, providing advice on evaluations, research methodologies and consultations.
• Working with other analysts and policy colleagues across Gambling and leading on improving our evidence base to support better data driven policy decisions, either via commissioning research or through internal analysis.
• Being a visible, effective leader in the analytical spoke, DCMS and the wider sector.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Experience in application of evaluation research approaches, including advanced evaluation approaches (e.g. theory-based, experimental/quasi-experimental approaches);
• Strong team leadership skills, including an ability to lead, develop and inspire teams to deliver analysis in complex policy areas.
• A track record of building strong relationships with policy customers and external partners, to ensure analysis is trusted and used effectively.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to articulate the value of research and evaluation and communicate technical information to a broad range of stakeholders;
• Ability to make judgements about which research methods are appropriate in different situations;
• Membership of either Government Social Research or or Government Economic Service, or eligibility to become a member.

DESIRABLE SKILLS:

• Experience of working on large-scale evaluations, including experience of contract management in the delivery of research and/or evaluation;
• Knowledge of the Gambling sector or regulatory policy and/or enthusiasm for it.
• Ability to quickly understand technical and complex policy areas.

We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Sukriti Verma, and will take place on:

• Thursday, 27th March, 2-3 pm

The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.
Please register your interest by filling out this Registration form here by 26th March 5 pm and you will be sent an invitation.
Please note that the session will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to recruitment.team@dcms.gov.uk

TECHNICAL SKILLS

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

“

• Application of knowledge” in the GES Technical Framework (Level 3 / G7); or “Technical skills” in the GSR Technical Framework (Principal Research Officer).

NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

The key responsibilities for this role will include:

• Leading on the highly complex evaluation for the Gambling Act Review, which will include process and impact evaluation.
• Working closely with policy, the regulator (Gambling Commission) and industry stakeholders as well as managing the contract with the supplier to deliver on the full range of activities, from early delivery through to final reporting, including proactively managing risks.
• Communicating updates on the evaluation with a range of stakeholders, including senior officials within DCMS and GC.
• Steering agenda and meetings with the Evaluation Advisory and Steering groups.
• Drafting technical reports, advice papers and analytical notes to a high standard for senior stakeholders and clearly communicating complex concepts.
• Working on other projects across the Gambling Analysis team, as required, providing advice on evaluations, research methodologies and consultations.
• Working with other analysts and policy colleagues across Gambling and leading on improving our evidence base to support better data driven policy decisions, either via commissioning research or through internal analysis.
• Being a visible, effective leader in the analytical spoke, DCMS and the wider sector

To apply for this vacancy, you will need to submit the following documents which will assessed against the experience success profile:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the “Job History” section on Civil Service Jobs on the Civil Service Jobs application form.
• A Statement of Suitability (max 1000 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed however these will not be considered in the assessment of your application except in circumstances where there are a high number and calibre of candidates