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Head of assessment management and improvement

Manchester
AQA
Manager
Posted: 8h ago
Offer description

Description

Summary

Purpose:
The two Head of Assessment Management roles have accountability for the assessment quality of all domestic and international General Qualification (GQ) assessment materials, including applied general qualifications and entry level certificates, produced by AQA and OxfordAQA for their respective portfolios. They lead their respective subject teams made up of Senior Managers and AQA’s GQ assessment experts who collectively manage our chief examiners and associate authoring teams. Each role has accountability for the assessment quality in their give subject portfolio.

In addition, this role will have accountability for the productivity and continual improvement for the Assessment Management team. The post holder will take accountability for managing and measuring the impact of a range of change initiatives, reporting progress to senior stakeholders.

Working with the Head of Assessment Delivery, this role is responsible for the creation of assessment materials for current and new specifications, paper based and digital, for our domestic and international GQs to time and budget. This role is accountable for compliance with the specification, subject level and general conditions of recognition, universal design, design principles, house style guide and customer needs such that these GQ assessments are recognised as best in class.

Working with Head of Assessment Delivery, Head of Assessment Quality, Head of Standards and Innovation, Heads of Operations, Head of Associate Resourcing and appropriate Heads of Product, this role has accountability for the end-to-end assessment quality, as defined by the Assessment Quality Framework, for their portfolio of subjects. This accountability requires influencing change across other areas of the business. Critically for our chief examiners and authoring teams, this role is accountable for their recruitment, training, pay and contract performance (including compliance), this includes driving positive relationships and working practices with our associate community
Working with the Head of Assessment Development, this role will be responsible for translating best practice and innovative thinking in assessment design into practice, driving consistency across all subject areas. They will also be responsible for ensuring a strong pipeline of talent with assessment expertise.
Reporting to the Director of Assessment, the Head of Assessment Management and Productivity is accountable for ensuring assessment best practice and appropriate subject-specific assessment representation in key projects, and initiatives round the business including specification development and reform. They lead the continuous review of and improvement to existing assessment products to increase the validity and reliability of assessment outcomes.

Working with the Director of assessment they will be responsible for translating the future vision for the team into practice.

The Head of Assessment Management engenders high levels of performance by modelling best practice in
AQA’s leadership habits and by modelling and championing AQA’s values and behaviours.Landscape:Each year over 2,000 question papers, assessment artefacts, mark schemes and modified large print papers, accounting for over 10 million question items and associated materials for over 6,000 schools and colleges annually, are created, quality assured and sent to press for domestic and international qualifications by teams across Assessment. These materials are sat by thousands of students across three examination series and are pivotal part of their next step in education. The team of approximately 60-70 AQA staff and 100s of associates work closely with other teams across Assessment and COO as well as the wider business. Assessment Management is split into 7 subject groups across 2 portfolio areas; English, Humanities, Arts and Technology, Languages and Maths, Science, Social Sciences.

Activities (aligned to our AQA values):Results matter: Drive good assessment practice across the organisation, with a particular focus on promoting validity in assessments and developing a community of high-quality assessment experts in Assessment Management with a supporting talent pipeline. Continually assess the current and future assessment expertise required across the organisation and plan to close any gaps which may emerge. Working with Associate Services, this role is accountable for the recruitment, contract management, talent pipeline and overall relationship of high quality, high performing Chief Examiners and associate authoring teams, which underpins the ambition for best in class assessment quality.
Customers front and centre: Lead the Assessment Management Team to continually seek ways to improve the validity, reliability, and comparability of assessments which are both cost effective to deliver and time efficient and drive customer delight. Work with teams across AQA including to influence development of products which balance forward thinking assessment practices with meeting customer and regulatory expectations.
Shape tomorrow: As AQA’s experts in domestic and international GQ assessments, establish strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including Ofqual, to shape, influence and ensure ‘best in class’ assessment quality. Help drive the evolution of AQA and OxfordAQA GQ assessments finding the optimal balance between assessment quality, value for money delivery and customer need. Present at stakeholder events and represent AQA with Ofqual, DfE and other key stakeholders on matters of GQ assessments. Represent the aims of the Assessment Management team on various AQA groups and committees, e.g. Assessment Quality Management Group (AQMG), Regulatory Steering Group (RSG) and Audit & Risk Compliance Committee (ARCC).
Work and learn together: Develop mechanisms to measure productivity, pioneer and managing initiatives to improve productivity, reporting on the progress and outcomes of these initiatives to senior stakeholders. Strong resource planning needs to be implemented and maintained to ensure that activities (such as Awarding and Reform) requiring GQ assessment expertise, can be suitably resourced, there is clarity over prioritisation and where necessary business cases for additional assessment expertise to meet demand. Deputise for the Director of Assessment when required.

To be successful in this role, you will need to:Demonstrate excellent people leadership skills and role modelling of excellent leadership behaviours – delivering high levels of performance and engagement from the team whilst spotting and developing talent. The ability to have robust conversations, to own and deliver corporate messages is important. Challenge self and others to create solutions and strive for improved ways of working.
Set direction for the Assessment team and inform and drive the work of Senior Assessment Managers and Subject Assessment Leads to ensure all aspects of E2E assessment quality are implemented, monitored and delivered.
Measure, analyse, and continuously improve team productivity by leveraging data-driven insights, setting clear performance benchmarks, and implementing strategies that enhance efficiency without compromising quality.
Demonstrate the ability to lead and embed significant change within a highly diverse team, balancing differing perspectives and levels of change readiness. You will need to engage, influence, and inspire colleagues to create alignment and commitment to transformation initiatives. Foster team cohesion by building trust, encouraging collaboration, and creating a shared sense of purpose. Address barriers to effective teamwork and implement strategies that unite diverse perspectives into a high-performing, aligned group
Although a formal qualification in assessment is desirable, the ability to demonstrate excellent knowledge of assessment design and delivery strategy and approaches is critical. This should extend to an understanding of requirements for assessment design in different subjects and the ability to advise on developing products which meet the requirements that define market leading assessments whilst recognising customer and stakeholder needs
Understand assessment products and practice in AQA and limitations of systems and possible future opportunities for how technology can be harnessed to improve assessment creation and management. Establish approaches to performance measurement and management in a customer, product or technical environment.
Have a good understanding of the educational landscape and of the regulatory environment in which AQA operates and likely impact of the regulator on assessment creation and management.
Be able to think strategically and understand the national and international context in which assessments operate, including a understanding of the different assessment practice on a global scale and excellent understanding of assessment practice in England.
Be able to analyse and synthesise complex and diverse data and information, including statistical data, to make decisions in the face of complex and/or incomplete evidence.
Be able to define and articulate issues for research and shape investigations into assessment performance questions.
Demonstrate leadership within an educational setting and credibility with educational stakeholders. Be confident in dealing with influential external parties, the regulator(s) and government. Demonstrate good networking, influencing, persuasion and engagement skills to help ensure desired outcomes are delivered.
Be an ambassador for our positive culture and consistently role model AQA’s behaviours including resilience, transparency, collaboration and support with the other members of the Assessment Leadership.
Have a “Shape tomorrow” mindset; open minded but with a willingness to challenge orthodoxy and the thinking of others in a constructive manner and to champion good assessment principles.

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