Job description for research post with People and Work

1. Research and Evaluation Role
Introduction
People and Work is a Welsh company and charity founded in the 1980s in response
to the economic and social dislocation caused by deindustrialisation in Wales. Since
then, we have changed lives through a unique mix of funded community work and
commissioned research and evaluation work. Any surplus from earned income goes
to support work with communities.
Our research and evaluation work includes an exciting mix of flagship government
policy development, locally developed responses to issues around skills and
employment and voluntary sector work to build sustainable change. Recent work for
the Welsh Government includes:
 An evaluation of the Young Person’s Guarantee for Wales
 An evaluation of Communities for Work and Communities for Work Plus
 A Review of the Demand, Capacity and Design of Neurodevelopmental
services
 A review of British Sign Language Provision in Wales
 Refugees’ employment and skills support study
 A review of evidence on all age mental health services
 An evaluation of the CAMHS In-Reach to School programme
 A review of youth work in Wales
We also work on studies for the voluntary sector including, A Study on the Social
Value of Youth Organisations ; An Evaluation of Invest Local ; evaluation support for
Meddwl Ymlaen In North Wales; a review of adult education in Wales and smaller
projects including evaluating a community theatre company’s work and a a support
programme for older people in farming families.
The focus for all our work is that it should be meaningful, objective and effective. We
are a very small team that, nevertheless, achieves a lot through using data,
intelligent analysis and reflection skills in all our work.

2. Research and evaluation role
We care about the work we do and we want to find someone who will care about it
as well. The work is often intense, working to deadlines, but also really interesting
and much of it has the potential to make a real difference to people’s lives in Wales.
We value and invest in our staff and support their continuing professional
development.
The role will be developed around the experience and skills of the successful
candidate but could involve:
 Literature and policy reviews
 Surveys
 Interviews and focus groups
 Qualitative and quantitative data analysis
 Report writing
 Identifying potential work
 Preparing tenders
 Evaluation support for People and Work’s community work team
The successful candidate will join a team of three other researchers and a wider
team of associate researchers and will be expected to work closely with colleagues.
Work base
The office base is in Cardiff and the community team are in Rhondda. The research
and evaluation worker can work remotely or from the office as they wish but will be
required to visit the base in Rhondda at least once a month and Cardiff more often.
The rest of the research team are in the Cardiff office one or two days a week,
working from home the rest of the time. While much of our research work is now
done remotely, our research still undertakes some fieldwork such as interviews and
focus groups in person and the new worker would be expected to contribute to this,
which would involve travel across Wales.

3. Salary
We are interested in finding the right person and so are seeking to be as flexible as
possible in relation to the stage they are at in their career. A recent graduate with
limited experience of research and evaluation work can expect to be paid £23,000
plus 5% pension contribution for a full time post. A very experienced research and
evaluation worker able to write study reports and tenders and assist in securing
future work can expect to be paid £33,000 plus 5% pension for a full time post.
Between these two extremes the amount and type of experience, skill and capacity
to contribute to our work will be taken into account in determining the salary to be
offered.
A candidate who wishes to work less than full time will be paid on a pro rata basis.
Recruitment process
Applications MUST be made using the application form and should include a CV.
The application deadline is 8am on March 20th and any application arriving after that
time cannot be considered. Interviews will be held face to face in Cardiff on March
31st.

4. Person specification
Required
Educated to degree standard
Curiosity and interest in Welsh policy in areas such as education, training and
employment, community development, (reducing) inequalities, disability and health
An investigative and analytical mind
Excellent written and verbal communication skills (e.g. as an interviewer and in
communicating findings to others|)
IT skills (e.g. MS Word, Excel, Teams, PPT)
Happy to work alone and self-directed but also to be part of a team
Committed to producing high quality work; attention to detail.
Honest, reliable and open to new challenges
Willingness to travel across Wales.
Desirable
Welsh language
A Masters degree or above in research methods, social policy or economics (or
similar)
Experience of evaluation and/or social or community health research
Quantitative and/or qualitative research and/or analysis skills

5. Application form
Please use this form in conjunction with your CV to give us as clear a picture as you
can of why you would like to join our research team and what you can offer.
People and Work: please take a little time to look at People and Work’s website and
the reports you can access through the links in the job description. Please explain
why you would want to work with us (up to a maximum of 750 words).

6. Your background: please attach your CV and, in addition, set out below as clear a
picture as you can about what you feel that you can offer People and Work. This
should include how your skills, experience to date, both paid and voluntary, and your
interests would contribute to our work (up to a maximum of 750 words).

7. Tackling inequalities and disadvantage: much of our work is focused on ways that
research and evaluation can be used to address educational, economic, social and
health inequalities. What, for you, are the key challenges Wales faces in the next few
years and how would you like to see research and evaluation being used to address
these issues (up to a maximum of 750 words)?

8. Accessibility: People and Work aims to make the workplace accessible and
remove unnecessary barriers to effective working.
Safeguarding: All the research team are required have an up to date DBS check.
Having a conviction is not necessarily a bar to employment depending on its nature.
Is there anything that we should know about you that would emerge through a DBS
check?
Please return this form with your CV to admin@peopleandwork.org.uk by 8am
on March 20th. Interviews for shortlisted candidates will be held in Cardiff on
March 31st.