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 seven million GCSEs and A-levels each year and it’s our people who make this happen.

Associate Outreach Manager

Permanent

Hybrid Working

Guildford / Milton Keynes: £70,107- £78930
Manchester: £68,004 - £76,562

Looking for a role with real meaning and impact?

Do you understand assessment, and the critical role it plays in education?

Do you have credibility, influence, and a desire to make things happen?

As our Associate Outreach Manager, you will be working internally and externally to build and strengthen our relationships with teachers, Multi-Academy Trusts, and teaching organisations resulting in greater number of Associates and an improved experience for our existing Associate community.

Our Associates are at the core of what we do – and what we do is to deliver results that matter to more than a million young people every year. Our aim is to never let a learner down, and our associates consult, advise, design and examine our GCSE and A-Level qualifications. We rely on a community of 35,000 teaching professionals ever year.

Your mission will be to partner with institutions and organisations to promote associate roles as a form of Continuous Professional Development, a way to build deeper knowledge of assessment methods, for the positive impact it can have on outcomes for students, and the networking opportunities it presents to teachers.

You will need credibility – you’ll be working with senior leadership teams, CEOs of MATs, and our existing associate community. You’ll be influential – able to shape solutions, persuade and partner with stakeholders, and lead cross-functional teams through matrix management. You’ll be full of initiative – shaping solutions to complex challenges, initiating projects and overseeing them to successful completion, operationalising a strategy to deliver tangible outcomes.

You’ll likely come from a teaching background, with deep experience in assessment and experience in a Senior Leadership role. However, other background will be considered including those who’ve worked with centres, MATs, and other teaching bodies. You’ll be happy in a stand alone role that’s part of a wider team and be looking for a job with autonomy and the freedom to shape your work to deliver on pre-agreed outcomes.

What’s in it for you:

At AQA we recognise our employees' contribution and in return we are proud to offer an extensive reward and benefit package.

This includes:

• 25 days' annual leave rising to 30 days with service, plus all Bank Holidays and additional Christmas office closure
• Flexible working environment and professional and personal development at your fingertips.
• 35 hour working week
• Excellent contributory pension (6% - 11.5% dependent on employee contribution)
• Life assurance, BUPA PMI and Health Cash Plan
• Enhanced maternity/paternity scheme

Want to know more?

Click on apply and share your CV with us – making sure to highlight your experience of working cross-functionally, building an operational plan to deliver on a strategy, and working with external education organisations to achieve common goals. Adverts close on 7th November, with first interviews w/c 13th November and a final stage w/c 20th November.

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

Landscape
AQA includes a community of 35,000 education and assessment professionals who are contracted to support the creation and delivery of our assessment and other exam services (our AQA ‘Associates’). Reporting to the Director of Associates, and working closely with the Head of Talent Acquisition, Head of Associate Engagement, Director of Customer and Sales and other senior leaders across AQA, this role is responsible for working with MATs and education organisations to support recruitment and retention of associates.

Purpose
Working with education organisations to ensure the appointment and retention of a pool of Associates of the requisite size, quality and calibre to enable the successful delivery of all business requirements, with a focus on continuous improvement.

Manage the associate community linked to the different organisations, working with all areas of the business, to ensure they are leading experts in assessment, have clear expectations of the services they provide, and expected deliverables, enabling them to provide AQA with a high-quality service. The role is key in building positive and effective partnerships with key external colleagues, individual associates and the associate community as a whole, ensuring associates receive a high-quality experience and in return, become advocates for AQA.

Activities
Relationship Management
• Contribute to a successful workforce plan in collaboration with key stakeholders, in particular Resource Management and Recruitment Teams, that meets the needs of the business, ensures continuous improvement whilst operating within and achieving financial targets
• Work with the customer and sales team to identify key staff in relevant customer organisations to cultivate positive trusted relationships which lead to the recruitment of high calibre associates ensuring supply meets targets set with regards to delivery and contingency needs
• Undertake research, identify opportunities and build relationships with other education organisations where an associate community could be developed to meet resourcing targets
• Preserve and manage the relationships created with external organisations ensuring timely resolution of any issues that arise
• Use Management Information effectively to provide accurate monitoring of capacity to meet agreed milestones for resourcing • Provide regular reports to the Director of Associates and other senior stakeholders

Associate Experience
• Work in partnership with associates, creating a positive experience for associate training & query management to ensure high levels of retention and that associates are advocates of AQA
• Manage escalated associate issues and liaise with the wider business to ensure that appropriate actions are taken to deal with these issues
• Leverage relationships with internal and external stakeholders and work collaboratively to identify improvements to create a positive associate experience
• Work with the Head of Associate Experience on continuous improvement activity and deliverables

Other Accountabilities
• Drive and deliver continuous improvement, through leading the teams in implementing and embedding change, across people, processes and technology
• Management of risks that could impact delivery. Develop, monitor and maintain plans to mitigate these risks, reporting and escalating as relevant to stakeholders to highlight the possibilities
• Create innovative approaches to problems; forming and maintaining strong relationships with key stakeholders, even though challenging circumstances.
• Where business needs change, to undertake other responsibilities which are of a commensurate level outside the terms of this role profile.

To be successful in this role you will need:

Skills
• Build positive and productive relationships with colleagues, associates and key external stakeholders, using appropriate influencing techniques
• Strong customer focus, with expertise in focusing own and other teams work to the best outcome from the customer’s perspective
• Communicate effectively both orally and in writing with an ability to convey information to both large and small groups of internal and external stakeholders
• Use management information effectively to deliver targets and drive continuous improvement
• Meet resourcing and financial targets
• Able to think strategically and to provide clear, balanced and challenging advice on strategic issues

Experience
• Working in an area of the political, educational and business context within which AQA works (e.g. high schools, regulators or awarding organisations)
• Working at a strategic level, managing large and complex senior leader relationships including stakeholders within a regulated, ideally exam board, environment.
• Translating vision into achievable goals and provide clear direction to achieve organisational objectives • successfully designing, delivering and evaluating business processes to improve efficiency and delivering change
• Delivering targets across quality, efficiency and cost measures
• Delivering customer focused services

Behaviours
• Ability to translate a vision into achievable goals and provide clear direction to achieve organisational objectives
• Inspire and motivate colleagues across the business to work collaboratively to achieve business targets
• Ability to work independently, create opportunities and be self driven.