Senior Manager Assessment Design & Principles

• locations
• Guildford
• Manchester

• time type
• Full time

• posted on
• Posted Today

• job requisition id
• R7752

At AQA, we’re committed to advancing education and we’re committed to our people. As the largest provider of academic qualifications in the UK, we mark over 10 million exam papers each year and it’s our people who make this happen.

Senior Manager – Assessment Design & Principles 

Permanent 

Manchester  

Salary:  £52,000 - £60,500 

Hybrid 

This is your opportunity to shape the future of assessment for millions of learners. 

 
As our Senior Manager for Assessment Design & Principles, you’ll lead a team of experts who define and champion what high quality assessment looks like - both paper and digital. 

You’ll be the organisation’s trusted point of escalation for assessment expertise, the person people turn to for key assessment design decisions because reform needs a steady, experienced hand. With your leadership, AQA’s assessments will remain fair, valid, reliable and inclusive. With assessment reform and OFQUAL’s digital exam consultation on the horizon, you will influence the future of education and make a national impact.

Key Responsibilities 

• Lead, support and develop a team of Assessment Design & Principles Leads.

• Ensure assessment design principles are implemented consistently and effectively.

• Oversee assessment model design for both paper-based and digital contexts.

• Provide expert guidance and act as the escalation point for complex assessment design issues.

• Collaborate closely with internal teams, including Product, Assessment and digital teams, to shape assessment models and digital assessment solutions that are fair, valid, reliable and deliverable.

• Represent the area in governance and strategic initiatives, including regulatory responses.

• Manage risks, resources, priorities and performance across your portfolio.

What’s in it for you 

If you're someone who wants their work to matter, this role will speak to you. Your team’s work shapes the assessment experience for hundreds of thousands of students. The policies and principles you set ripple out through assessment models, exam papers, digital platforms, and the decisions teachers and learners make every day. 

You’ll be influencing the direction of reform specifications and digital assessment across the organisation. You’ll join conversations early, help define the roadmap, and ensure technology genuinely enhances assessment, rather than complicating it.

And you won’t be doing it alone. You’ll be surrounded by colleagues who care deeply about getting assessment right, from product and research partners to operations, policy and regulatory specialists. It’s a role where your judgement is trusted, your voice is heard, and your expertise makes a very real difference.

AQA benefits also include a fantastic pension which could see combined contribution of 18.5%, 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 with service) and additional office closure of up to 4 days at Christmas, Private medical insurance with BUPA, a variety of employee networks (including LGBTQ+, DisAbility, InterFaith, Parents and Carers, Neurodiversity, Empowering Women) and up to 4 days for volunteering with charities and causes that are important to you.

You’ll thrive in this role if you: 

• Have deep expertise and experience in translating assessment theory into practice

• Can embed research evidence design principles into assessment models in reformed qualifications.

• Bring deep experience in digital assessment or digital transformation at scale.

• Understand digital assessment platforms and can translate assessment needs into technical requirements.

• Are confident in accessibility and inclusive design in paper based and digital assessments.

• Know how to communicate complex issues with clarity and calmness.

• Are a natural coach who develops and motivates people.

• Feel comfortable influencing senior stakeholders and balancing competing priorities.

• Can interpret data and apply evidence to guide decisions.

• Are decisive, pragmatic, and able to deliver at pace.

Diversity and Inclusion 

At AQA, we are committed to fostering a workplace that celebrates diversity and promotes equity and inclusion. We believe that a diverse team brings richer perspectives and drives better outcomes. Our ED&I strategy ensures that everyone—regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, age, disability, sexual orientation, or background – is valued, respected, and empowered to thrive.

We actively promote inclusive language, avoid stereotypes, and strive for representation across all dimensions of diversity. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and lived experiences.

How to apply 

Upload your most recent CV with a covering letter explaining your motivation and suitability for the role.

Applications will close at 23:59 on Monday 6 April

Interviews will be over two stages:

• Teams interview in the week beginning 13 April

• In person interview in the week beginning 20 April, this will include you giving a presentation, details will be given following successful shortlisting after the first stage interview.

All applications will receive a response

#PRO22

Recruitment Agencies

We have a preferred supplier list (PSL) in place.

Unsolicited CVs will be treated as a gift. We will not be subject to or liable under your terms and conditions for agency fees.

Full Job Description

Summary

They work closely with colleagues across Assessment ensuring excellence in AQA’s assessment design and development by championing the principles of validity, reliability, fairness, and manageability. They maintain strong links to other teams in Assessment, Associate Services, Operations, Research and Evaluation, Standards and Awarding, and Product teams. They will use their assessment expertise, including digital assessment, to feed into wider business work to ensure AQA’s assessments are fit-for-purpose and appeal to customers. The role is a point of escalation for any issues that might impact the quality of an assessment design during specification reform, and will represent the Assessment Leadership Team in projects and strategic initiatives around the business to champion assessment quality and best practice.Each year over 2,000 question papers, assessment artefacts, mark schemes and modified large print papers are created, quality assured and sent to press for domestic and international qualifications by teams across Assessment. These materials are sat by 100,000s of students across three examination series and are pivotal part of their next step in education.The Assessment Principles & Design team sits within Assessment and is accountable for leading initiatives and establishing design principles to ensure validity, reliability, fairness, and manageability of AQA GQ assessments, both paper-based and digital. The team provide assessment expertise on GQ qualifications to AQA to support work on redevelopment and reform as well as any external regulatory work. They work closely with internal teams across Assessment and EDD as well as the wider business to champion assessment quality and best practice.The Senior Manager for Assessment Principles & Design role reports into the Head of Assessment Development and works closely with Assessment Principles & Design Leads in the team.

Activities (aligned to our AQA values):

Leadership & management

Lead and manage the allocation of work and change initiatives across Assessment Principles and Design Leads, looking to continuously improve them.

Provides regular progress reports and ensures action plans are in place to manage resource effectively.

Recruit and performance manage Assessment Principles and Design Leads to ensure strong personal performance with high quality outcomes, good cultural fit and personal development.

Quality check the work of Assessment Principles and Design Leads (and Coordinators and Graduates where applicable) to ensure high quality is delivered and feedback provided.

Contribute to leadership across the Assessment area and work closely with the Head of Assessment Principles and Design to determine and monitor activity, budget and resources needed, including for strategic activity.

Ensure quality of work within and across projects in Assessment Principles and Design, and own and manage the respective risks and issues that occur.

Stakeholder relationships & influence

Build and foster strong working relationships with colleagues and key stakeholders across Exams Delivery Directorate and the broader business.

Negotiate and manage different priorities with internal and external stakeholders, including balancing key assessment values with technical requirements in digital assessment contexts

Assessment design

Work with the Product team to understand what customer expectations are, and with Assessment Managers, Assessment Principles and Design Leads, and associates to design assessment models that are valid, fair, reliable, operationally deliverable, and comply with all regulatory conditions.

Oversee the implementation and operationalisation of design principles to support valid, fair and reliable paper-based and digital assessments that align with research recommendations and best practice.

Lead Assessment Principles and Design Leads to ensure digital assessment platforms provide fair and construct relevant assessment experiences for students.

Work with Product team and contribute to the digital exams roadmap to ensure valid, meaningful and operationally deliverable selection of digital assessment products.

Assessment expertise

Act as a point of internal escalation for issues related to assessments, using knowledge and expertise to provide the right outcomes.

Lead Assessment Principles and Design Leads to ensure clarity on assessment design principles with the aim of driving consistency in GQs

Leading on assessment expertise across assessment, providing guidance on assessment challenges that arise during qualification reform, and serving as an escalation point for assessment-related issues.

Understand and champion good assessment practice, both paper-based and digital, across the organisation, with a particular focus on promoting validity, fairness and reliability in assessments

Governance & compliance

Represents Assessment Principles and Design team on governance groups and manages relationships with other stakeholders in monitoring, reporting and ensuring assessment quality.

Lead, or input into, Assessment or wider business projects and governance groups.

Lead, or input into, AQA’s response to regulatory matters, reports or correspondence.

To be successful in this role, you will need to:

Have experience of digital transformation and implementing digital assessments at scale​

Have in-depth understanding of multiple different digital assessment providers, their functionalities and development potential​, as well as the implications these have for assessment design decisions.

Have in-depth knowledge of inclusive design in digital exams (eg WCAG accessibility standards & ITC guidelines for technology-based assessments)​ and the ability to translate these into practice.

Can translate assessment needs into technical specifications (and vice versa)​

Understand broader considerations in digital assessment (eg, digital security, data protection, AI and machine learning) and the impact of these on assessment design.

Have excellent people leadership skills, effective performance management, talent spotting, creating development opportunities and team engagement.

Role model organisational leadership habits and values and behaviours. Be able to have robust conversations, own and deliver corporate messages.

Have a good understanding of the educational landscape, particularly relating to digital assessment, and of the regulatory environment in which AQA operates and likely impact of the regulator on assessment design and qualification reform.

Have an understanding of good assessment practice and ability to explain this to others.

Have good understanding of data analysis, including statistical data and the ability to interpret data to inform decision making, and monitor performance and impact.

Have experience of effective risk and issue management.

Good interpersonal skills in a variety of situations and communications skills to create and explain a succinct and coherent view of complex issues.

Demonstrate resilience and calmness under pressure to meet tight deadlines in complex contexts.

Be confident in working with, influencing and managing internal and external stakeholders, to ensure the design of valid, fair and reliable assessments that meet customer needs and regulatory requirements, including appropriate prioritisation and resource management to achieve that.

A “results-focused” mindset and the ability to make pragmatic decisions and deliver at pace.

A “step-up “mindset to use sound judgement when analysing data and taking accountability for actions.

“Work and learn together” by producing high levels of performance from direct reports and teams by modelling leadership behaviours with confidence and providing clarity, challenge, feedback, coaching and development in line with business objectives.