Senior Research and Evaluation Officer

The Brilliant Club
Recruitment Pack

Senior Research and
Evaluation Officer

March 2026

Registered Limited Company: 07986971

Registered Charity: 1147771 (England and Wales), SC048774 (Scotland)

Registered Office: Fivefields, 8-10 Grosvenor Gardens, London, SW1W 0DH

Senior Research and Evaluation Officer

Start Date: September (or as soon as possible following this)

Salary: £36,900 (plus £2,000 London weighting for those living in London and within the
M25).

Contract Type: Permanent

About the role
At The Brilliant Club, we mobilise the PhD community to support students from less advantaged
backgrounds to access the most competitive universities and succeed when they get there. We
work with students who, because of their family income, parental history or the postcode they live
in, are at risk of missing out on the life-changing opportunities linked to higher education.

We are delighted to be hiring a Senior Research and Evaluation Officer to join The Brilliant Club.
This pivotal role will support the charity’s research and evaluation consultancy work through
Brilliant Consulting. Through our consultancy work, we have partnered with a range of universities
and education organisations, such as the Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes
in Higher Education (TASO) and The Sutton Trust. The Senior Research and Evaluation Officer will
contribute to improving the evidence base for what works to drive fairer education outcomes and
social mobility. They will do this by supporting mission-aligned organisations to conduct robust
evaluations of outreach and education programmes.

The Senior Research and Evaluation Officer will join a small consultancy team and will be
managed by the charity’s Director of Research and Impact. The team is also supported by several
colleagues from across the organisation who work on specific projects based on their areas of
expertise. The consultancy team is part of the charity’s wider research and impact team, who
collectively have two areas of responsibility: evaluating and reporting the impact of the charity’s
programmes and providing research and evaluation consultancy and strategy support to
education organisations.

The successful candidate will have strong research skills, including in quantitative research, and
will be able to communicate technical information and findings to university access and success
practitioners and educators. They will also demonstrate professional skills in relation to stakeholder
management and project management and will champion the charity’s values and embody
them in interactions with colleagues and partners. While this role can be based at any of our
offices throughout the UK, some travel will be required (mainly to London) to attend in-person
meetings.

About you

The role will best suit someone who

•  Has a degree in a subject involving applied research (e.g., economics, education, policy,

psychology, sociology, statistics).

•  Has quantitative research skills, ideally with experience of constructing comparison groups

and running statistical models to understand impact.

•  Has experience of mixed methods approaches, including qualitative research methods

(e.g., focus groups and interviews).

•  Has knowledge of the UK education landscape, including higher education.
•  An organised and methodical approach, with excellent attention to detail and ability to

manage multiple projects simultaneously.

•  Has excellent written and verbal communication skills, including being able to

communicate with a range of external stakeholders.

•  Will adhere to information security policies included in the charity’s ISO 27001 manual and

complete information security training.

•  Has a demonstrable passion for furthering The Brilliant Club’s mission.

About The Brilliant Club
What we do
Access to higher education and the life-changing opportunities that come from attending the
most competitive universities is not equal. 28 in 100 of the most advantaged students progress to
the most competitive universities. In contrast, only 2 in 100 of the least advantaged young people
access these universities.

We think this is fundamentally unfair. We work across the UK to support less advantaged students
to access the most competitive universities, and to succeed when they get there.

Between 2021 and 2026, we will work with 100,000 students across the UK to help them to develop
the knowledge, skills and confidence to access the most competitive universities. We will also
support 10,000 students from disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed once they enter
universities.

We hope that you’ll consider joining us, as we work to create a fairer society where no child’s
education is limited by their background.

Working for us

•  Hours: 37.5 hours per week Monday to Friday, flexible working with 10am – 3pm core hours,

some evenings and weekends required.

•  Benefits include: 36 days’ holiday (inclusive of bank holidays) increasing by 1 day per year
up to a maximum of 41 days, employer contribution to pension, interest-free season ticket
loan, five professional development day allowance, BUPA health cover cash plan.

•  We’re happy to talk flexible working. We have offices in Leeds and London.
•  After your first month in this role, we expect you to be connecting face-to-face with

colleagues on at least one day per week. In your first month, we’ll ask you to be in offices a
little more regularly than this to make sure you’re getting to know your key colleagues and
feeling connected to the organisation.

Our values
The Brilliant Club has three core values that underpin how we work. We look for people who share
these values:

•  We get to a solution
•  We seek and act on the best data available
•  We understand that little things go a long way

“As the first in my family to go to university and having worked as a teacher in a

state school, I applied to join The Brilliant Club with a real passion for the
charity’s mission. I am grateful every day that I work at a charity that is
supportive of both professional development and flexible working, as well as
being full of kind and passionate colleagues.”

   Leanne, Chief Operating Officer

Diversity at The Brilliant Club
We mobilise the PhD community to support students who are less advantaged to access the most
competitive universities and succeed when they get there. We think it is important that our charity
reflects the lived experience of the communities we work with, and we want to be an
organisation where employees from any background can thrive. We particularly welcome
applications from disabled, Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Non-binary
(LGBTQ+) candidates, and candidates from low-income families.

 “I am the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Engagement Lead at The
Brilliant Club. My role is to help make the charity an inclusive working
environment for all of our colleagues.  I work with our amazing Staff Networks
and colleagues in HR to ensure everyone at the charity has a sense of
belonging.”

Emily - Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Engagement Lead

Safeguarding
The Brilliant Club is committed to proactively safeguarding children, beneficiaries and staff and to
taking reasonable steps to protect all those who come into contact with the charity from harm.
The safety and welfare of everyone affected by the charity’s activities, especially children, is a key
governance priority.

As part of our recruitment and selection process and commitment to safeguarding, we will
undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check of all individuals in this role. Any offer of
employment will be subject to a satisfactory disclosure report.

Responsibilities

Project Management

•  Ensure that consultancy projects are delivered to a high standard and completed within

the project timeframes.

•  Support the Research and Evaluation Manager to secure new consultancy opportunities by

contributing to project proposals and competitive tender submissions.

Stakeholder Management

•  Steward positive relationships with project partners, keeping project leads up to date and

escalating concerns as appropriate.

•  Support scoping meetings with potential project partners to understand their research and

evaluation needs.

•  Support project partners to engage with a range of quantitative and qualitative evaluation

methods.

Research and Evaluation Activities

•  Support the design of impact and process evaluations (e.g., pre-post-test designs, quasi-

experimental designs, randomised controlled trials, focus groups and participatory research
methods).

•  Lead the delivery of evaluations, including quantitative and qualitative data collection and

analysis, ensuring that data protection compliance is adhered to.

•  Conduct robust quantitative analyses to determine impact, including working with sector-
relevant datasets that track long term access and success outcomes (e.g., the Higher
Education Access Tracker).

•  Produce accessible and high-quality research reports that are tailored to specific projects
and audiences. Keep up to date with relevant academic research relating to education
outcomes.

Dissemination Activities

•  Deliver workshops and project presentations to project partners.
•  Produce literature reviews and evidence toolkits as part of consultancy projects and

contribute towards The Brilliant Club’s wider research dissemination activities.

Wider Work

•  Support the Research and Impact team’s wider work, as required (e.g., supporting the

evaluation of the charity’s own programmes).

•  Across the charity we all pitch in to help different teams and areas of work. This may mean

you attend and support with the delivery of other teams’ activities and events. From time to
time, you may also work with another team for a fixed period of time, or collaborate on a
project to ensure we deliver for the young people we serve. We think this is a good way to
gain experiences in different areas of the organisation and enhance your professional skills.

Person specification

Research & Evaluation Experience:

•  Experience in designing and carrying out research and/or evaluation projects, including

quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis in a relevant field.
•  Ability to produce accessible literature reviews and evaluation reports for various

audiences, collating and analysing complex information for reporting purposes.

Time and Resource Management:

•  Excellent organisational skills, with an ability to prioritise and manage time effectively.
•  Ability to identify opportunities to save time/resource.
•  Business development and External Stakeholder Management:
•  Ability to scope out and understand the evaluation needs of different stakeholders (e.g.,
•  universities, schools and other education organisations).
•  Ability to support the team with bid-writing.
•  Excellent ability to steward external partnerships, ensuring their needs are supported and
•  opportunities to grow our impact are found.

Communication:

research and evaluation concepts to audiences with different levels of prior knowledge.
Initiative and Problem-solving:

•  Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. The ability to explain complex
•
•
•  Ability to proactively identify risks and solve problems, especially relating to the challenges
•  of applied research.

•  High level of attention to detail and commitment to ensuring research is conducted to the
•  highest standards.

Developing Self and Others:

•  Ability to work as an enthusiastic and collaborative team member, with a desire to engage

in cross-team support and development.

•  Enthusiasm for personal development and learning new skills.

What comes next
To apply: Please submit your application by clicking here. As part of your application, you will be
asked to submit your CV and complete the answers to some application questions.
Deadline: 5pm Sunday 12th April
Interviews: First round interviews: Thursday 16th April 2026, Second round interviews: Thursday 23rd
April 2026.  Interviews will take place virtually on Microsoft Teams.
For more information: Visit our website or email recruitment@thebrilliantclub.org.