Strategic insight & Evaluation Manager

Salary: £50,000 - £57,000 per annum

Employment type: Permanent

Hours per week: 37

Reporting into: Head of Operational Research

Department: Analysis, Insights and Performance

Click here to read the full job description and view our excellent benefits here

This role operates on a hybrid working arrangement that will require travel into one of our Coventry head office and UK campuses listed below, at least once a month. Our working model arrangements are a non-contractual benefit so please note that an Arden work location is added to our employment contracts.

• Coventry head office

• Birmingham campus

• Leeds campus

• Manchester campus

• Nottingham

• Newcastle

• London area (Tower Hill, Holborn & Ealing)

About Arden University:

We are an aspirational and multi-award-winning university, delivering rapid growth with ambitious plans to disrupt the HE sector through our passion for innovation and digital education. Our vision is to become the first-choice university for career-focused lifelong learners worldwide, ensuring that everyone, everywhere can access higher education.

There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines, forge worldwide partnerships, and expand our locations.

About our Department:

The Analysis, Insights & Performance department at Arden University plays a vital role in driving data-driven decisions. By providing valuable insights, monitoring performance, and promoting innovation, the team supports the university's mission to enhance student outcomes and drive continuous improvement.

About the Opportunity:

As Strategic Insight & Evaluation Manager at Arden University, you will play a key role in shaping how data and insight inform decision-making across the institution. Working closely with senior leadership, you’ll lead the development of high-quality, actionable insight that supports governance, performance management, and long-term planning.

You’ll be responsible for delivering a clear and structured reporting suite aligned to the University’s strategic priorities, while also leading the student survey agenda to ensure the student voice is meaningfully embedded into institutional insight. Alongside this, you’ll focus on using data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities across the organisation.

Acting as a trusted partner to executive stakeholders, you’ll provide expert analysis, challenge, and evidence-based recommendations to drive continuous improvement and informed decision-making.

About You:

You’re an experienced insight and evaluation professional with a strong track record of turning complex data into clear, strategic insight. Whether through academic study or extensive practical experience, you bring expertise in research design, analytics, and insight generation, alongside the confidence to engage and influence senior stakeholders. You’re comfortable operating in complex environments, balancing multiple priorities, and delivering impactful, evidence-based recommendations that drive organisational improvement.

Essential Skills / Experience:

• Degree or significant equivalent professional experience in insight, evaluation, or analytics roles

• Advanced analytical and digital capability, including Microsoft 365 and data visualisation tools such as Power BI (non technical)

• Strong expertise in research design and evaluation methodologies, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method approaches

• Proven ability to translate complex data into clear, executive-level insight and strategic recommendations

• Experience presenting to and influencing stakeholders and executive committees

• Ability to synthesise cross-functional data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities

• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build credibility and collaborate effectively across teams

• Ability to work autonomously, exercise sound judgement, and manage competing priorities

• Experience delivering large-scale, organisation-wide insight or evaluation projects

Desirable Skills:

• Experience working within Higher Education or a similarly regulated environment

• Exposure to Executive-level committees, including presenting or supporting senior decision-making forums

• Experience developing or implementing intervention tracking and evaluation frameworks

• Knowledge of student lifecycle metrics and sector frameworks (e.g. NSS, OfS, TEF)

• Strong understanding of systems and services within an insight, research, or analytics function

• Awareness of current and emerging trends within the Higher Education sector

• Broad understanding of the priorities, challenges, and future direction of the sector

Why Arden:

At Arden, you will become a part of a passionate and dedicated team who are committed to removing unnecessary barriers to learning and making education more accessible. Our people work hard to ensure our students journeys are the best they can possibly be, as such we want to reward our people with fantastic benefits. Employees benefit from:

• 30 days holiday + bank holidays on-top, and even a Christmas closure!

• A generous Aviva pension plan, company contributions starting from 7%

• SimplyHealth plan option

• Private Medical Insurance coverage (applies to certain job roles)

• Access to Perkbox benefits

• Study any Arden course for free, with a discount for all family and friends

• Plus, other excellent benefits

• Our ‘Golden Ticket’ which allows you to gift anyone in your life a free Arden education

Our Values:

Stand out, Progressive, Accessible, Resourceful, Kindness, reflect who we are as an institution, a team and as individuals. If they also reflect you and you are excited by the chance to be the driving, creative force within a growing business, we want to hear from you.

There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines and locations.

Closing Date: Thursday 14th May (Midnight)

We reserve the right to close this vacancy before the specified closing date should we receive sufficient applications or in order to respond to business needs. In order to avoid missing an opportunity to apply please submit your application as early as possible.

If you are a current Arden student or have an upcoming course with us, you are not eligible to apply for Student Experience roles due to a conflict of interest related to system access.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion:

Arden University is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. This means that if you have a disability, as defined by the Disability Equality Act 2010, you may be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria for the role.

If you wish to be considered under this scheme, you can indicate via the application form below. By doing so, you are also consenting for this information to be shared with the hiring team. For more details on what qualifies as a disability under the Disability Equality Act 2010, please refer to the guidance here.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. Therefore, we make sure that our recruitment and selection processes never discriminate based upon people's age, disability, gender, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances, and actively welcome applications from all groups.