Deputy Director – Research and Evaluation – CSA Centre, Barnardo's

Join the dynamic, multidisciplinary team at the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre) as the new Deputy Director, Research and Evaluation. This key leadership role is central to our ambition to raise awareness of the scale and nature of sexual abuse and to drive evidence‑informed improvements in policy and practice.

About the role:

• Lead and develop the CSA Centre’s research and evaluation plans, ensuring publications, practice resources and policy activity are robust, evidence‑informed and accessible.
• Oversee the highly skilled research and evaluation team and drive real change across England and Wales.
• Strategic engagement: collaborate with research and evaluation leads across government departments, key stakeholder groups and senior leaders at local, regional and national level.
• Translate organisational objectives into a strategic and cohesive research and evaluation plan, drawing on an in‑depth knowledge of the current research landscape in relation to child sexual abuse.
• Show demonstrable expertise in qualitative and quantitative research and evaluation and experience of designing, planning and overseeing research projects and programmes of monitoring and evaluation on child sexual abuse.

Key qualifications:

• Senior experience in managing and leading research and evaluation teams, with a strong record of delivering evidence‑based policy and practice change.
• Extensive knowledge of child sexual abuse research, and a proven ability to use a wide range of methodologies to inform policy and practice.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce accessible outputs for a wide audience.
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills and experience working with multi‑agency, multi‑disciplinary teams.

We work fully flexible with a home‑based role and regular travel, primarily to London.

Equality, diversity and inclusion: The CSA Centre is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce. We actively encourage applications from disabled candidates and candidates from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. All applications are considered equal under equality legislation. Barnardo’s is an equal opportunities employer and complies with the Equality Act 2010.

All roles are subject to a range of pre‑employment checks, including a Criminal Records Enhanced Disclosure.