• Start the new year fresh in a new role with an organisation making a difference to the lives of children across Australia
• Small, motivated and collaborative team
• Hybrid and flexible work conditions
• Additional time off offered for staff wellbeing and birthdays

About Schools Plus

Australian Schools Plus (Schools Plus) help children facing disadvantage succeed at school. Schools Plus purpose is to close the education gap caused by disadvantage by empowering schools in disadvantaged communities with funding, coaching and resources to create lasting change, which helps their students succeed.

The Role

The role will support the whole organisation and have two broad areas of focus, including:

1. Leading and managing school project data quality assurance processes and management, analysis and interpretation of Schools Plus data. A key priority of this will be the ongoing refinement and successful implementation of the Schools Plus evaluation conceptual framework, tools and impact measurement in 2023.
2. Leading the development of insights by drawing on research, reports and both internal and external data and research to support the organisation's communication and marketing, knowledge sharing and school program management and delivery.

The successful applicant will have proven skills and experience as a researcher and data analyst, including evaluation, in the field of school education and the not-for-profit sector. They will be curious and proactive in drawing on external advice and best practice in evaluation to support their work. They will be able to apply their skills and knowledge for different audiences and purposes.

The role will suit a person who is an effective communicator and has the proven ability to work independently and collaboratively in small, dynamic teams.

This role reflects the priority placed on evaluation and research in all aspects of Schools Plus’ work as it strives to contribute to improving education outcomes for children in less advantaged communities across Australia.

It is based in Sydney and will be offered initially as a 2-year fixed term employment contract commencing in January 2023 with a potential to extend or become permanent in time.

Selection Criteria

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate:

• Skills and experience in successfully leading evaluation activities including design and implementation of evaluation frameworks, tools, data collection, impact measurement, collation, analysis and interpretation for multiple purposes and audiences.
• Expertise with quantitative and qualitative data analysis; proficient in use of basic analytical tools and software.
• Strong root-cause analysis and problem-solving skills.
• Relevant tertiary qualification and/or equivalent experience with a focus on evaluation, research methodology and data analysis in education, statistics, health sciences, psychometrics, psychology, education and/or research.
• Knowledge of public datasets for demographic and educational purposes.
• Understanding of, and/or experience working in the national education landscape to ensure what is being drawn out is accurate and relevant for the education sector desirable.
• Excellent written and interpersonal skills, including the ability to translate evidence and data for use in relevant and clear communication for specific target audiences.
• Proven success and experience in leading, and working collaboratively, with diverse teams to achieve a common goal and build evaluative capability.

Personal Attributes

• Ability and confidence to work independently, collaboratively, and flexibly across multiple, geographically distributed teams in an environment with changing demands.
• Strong communication skills including the ability to take lots of information, synthesise and communicate it simply – both written and verbally.
• Excellent organisational, time and change management skills.
• Systems-thinking mindset and ability and willingness to problem solve.
• Attention to detail and outcomes focused.
• Positive, adaptable, resilient.
• Committed to lifelong learning.
• Passion for education and wanting to make a difference.