• Job Description

  Req#: R4923

  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.

  Head of Curriculum Maths

  Manchester with extensive nationwide travel

  1-year Fixed Term Contract

  £60,000 - £70,000

  Are you looking to put your Education leadership, influence and Maths subject matter expertise towards a real and tangible purpose in a charitable setting?

  If you are passionate about Maths, this is an opportunity to join the biggest awarding body for GCSE and A Levels in the UK and be part of understanding and shaping the future of qualifications, Maths being a key priority for AQA, and ensuring we provide the best support for teachers to help students get the results they deserve.

  You will have access from day one to an incredibly generous pension scheme with employer contributions jointly totalling up to 18.5% and 25 days annual leave allowance + Bank Holidays and Christmas . Come and help “Shape the Future” whilst focusing on your own personal development.

  You will benefit from a peer group across all subject disciplines and have 3 subject matter experts as direct reports – Support, flexibility, purpose and collaboration are built into the foundations of this department.

  What will you do?

  • You will act as AQA’s lead subject expert for Maths, being the direct interface with our customers: Teachers, subject leaders, MAT subject leads as well as subject associations, learned bodies, DfE, OFQual, JCQ will help you to empower and drive forward future Maths leaders and communities.
  • Act as a key part of the sales ecosystem engaging with 1000’s of customers to drive achievement of business growth, acquisition, and retention targets.
  • Creating and delivering content and quality-assuring materials and activity to support teachers’ understanding of our qualifications. Provide subject and qualification expertise to support teacher queries.
  • Provide insight and expertise to internal colleagues, contributing to the subject strategy and product plans and ensuring that subject-specific considerations and teachers’ and stakeholders’ perspectives are represented in internal decision-making.
  • Influence external subject stakeholders to ensure that AQA is the go-to board for assessment insight. Work with external stakeholders to help shape product development, policy, and regulation to ensure valid assessment.
  • You will play a pivotal role in the future direction of assessment, impacting the wider assessment sphere with your subject matter expertise at a time where we are exploring all manner of possibilities and diversification digitally and beyond.

  What you need to be successful? - You are already demonstrating innovative and positive leadership behaviours and are comfortable in building and bringing about change which will help you to directly support, influence and deliver AQA’s strategy.

  • An understanding of the challenges faced by Maths teachers and senior leaders in Education.
  • An excellent understanding of the subject, specifications and up to date pedagogy.
  • Think strategically for the subject and qualification products looking outward and ahead to shape tomorrow.
  • The ability to place the customer front and centre in decision making.
  • Ability to set and deliver to challenging to operational targets demonstrating customer impact.
  • Use relevant systems, reports, and dashboards to interpret data, plan and record delivery for your subject to meet delivery targets.
  • Operational Management skills
  • An understanding of AQA’s assessment products and be able to advocate and promote them.

  As the Head of Curriculum for Maths you’ll be the face of AQA for this subject, responsible for delivering excellent support to our customers by drawing upon your specialist subject knowledge, influencing skills and market insight.

  This really is a true opportunity to influence. You will want to get out and about and meet with our customers and teams so frequent UK travel will be a real and welcome part of this role.

  Too good to be true? Not at all.
  
  What next
  This application requires a cover letter concisely outlining your motivation and transferable skills as well as a full and up to date CV by the closing date of Thursday 8th February at 23:59 2024

  Interviews will be held via Teams middle of February with outcomes by February 21st 2024.

  Expected start date to be in line with teacher notice periods of April 2024 or before if appropriate.

  #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

  Act as AQA’s lead subject expert for Maths, both internally and externally, managing a small team.
  Work collaboratively across teams to keep the customer front and centre, creating and delivering content and quality-assuring materials and activity to support teachers’ understanding of our qualifications. Provide subject and qualification expertise to support teacher queries.
  Influence external subject stakeholders to ensure that AQA is the go-to board for assessment insight. Work with external stakeholders to shape product development, policy and regulation to ensure valid assessment. Be a thought leader in the subject and qualification landscape.
  Provide insight and expertise to internal colleagues, contributing to the subject strategy and product plans and ensuring that subject-specific considerations and teachers’ and stakeholders’ perspectives are represented in internal decision-making.
  Act as a key part of the sales ecosystem collaborating with other business areas and engaging with customers to drive achievement of business growth, acquisition and retention targets.Landscape:
  This role is the subject lead in the Curriculum team, which sits in the Customer and Product directorate. The Head of Curriculum Maths is part of the senior leadership team in Curriculum and in addition to leading the maths team they have a wider leadership responsibility leading relevant projects, having a continuous improvement mindset and driving relevant changes across the department. The role reports to the Head of Curriculum Delivery. The role is focused on ensuring customers are front and centre and are able to effectively use our qualification products, to ensure retention and to support the product growth strategy. In addition, essential to the role is leading on external subject stakeholder relationships.
  
  Activities:
  Contribute to subject level product strategy and product plans to ensure that curriculum and customer is strongly represented.
  2. Deliver key messages to internal and external stakeholders and customers. Collaborate with the Assessment Design Team to ensure assessment design and curriculum is aligned and support good teaching and learning.
  3. Work collaboratively with Marketing and Customer Training and Events to contribute to planning and quality assurance of customer engagement activities and the creation of supporting resources and copy such that it has the maximum impact with the resource available.
  4. Engage with and influence those subject level stakeholders identified in the stakeholder engagement strategy such as subject associations and learned societies.
  5. Present at stakeholder events in line with strategy in order to influence stakeholder views and decisions such that we influence curriculum and assessment design at a national level and AQA is seen as the board to talk to about the subject.
  6. Use networks and understanding of external environment to generate ideas for changes to curriculum design and delivery (including aligning curriculum and assessment, changes to teaching practice and new support resources) and feed this into the product plans. Create materials and collateral and deliver events in line with the subject curriculum plan, Product Growth Strategy and product plans.
  7. Provide training, briefings and written material for staff and associates on subject and curriculum to meet the needs of the business including information and briefings for 1st line support to increase their product knowledge.
  8. Ensure 2nd/3rd line issues, queries etc are responded to in a timely manner in line with brand and tone of voice guidelines and use this information to identify common themes and issues and develop ideas for supporting information and resources that will help teachers.
  9. Identify changes to information and content to switch off failure demand or improve customer support and service and produce copy and other resources to do this.
  10. Identify suitable subject experts to produce resources and deliver events and other activities and contribute to the recruitment and appointment of those experts and the review of their performance as appropriate.
  11. Coordinate subject expert input and quality assure external facing activities as appropriate for the subject including:
  NEA advice where relevant
  Teacher resources
  Text books
  Ad hoc advice
  Customer training and events
  Teacher standardising and training
  Reports on the exam.
  12. Contribute to awarding to gain understanding of awarding decisions and be able to explain and justify these decisions to external stakeholders
  13. Manage associates (as appropriate).
  14. Lead Higher Education expert panels (A-level subjects only).
  
  Need to know (to be successful in this role, you will need to know):
  Relevant experience and subject expertise in the education sector is essential to be credible with our customers and stakeholders.
  The ability to place the customer front and centre in decision making
  Think strategically for the subject and qualification products looking outward and ahead to shape tomorrow.
  Be able to work collaboratively with colleagues across AQA to ensure we work and learn together and deliver our shared purpose.
  Know that results matter and be results focused, knowing when good is good enough to ensure the right outcomes are delivered at pace.
  Step up and be a decision maker taking accountability for actions.
  General accountabilities:
  To model leadership behaviours with confidence and to get the very best from direct reports and teams by providing clarity, feedback, coaching and development, while continuously seeking to enhance performance in line with business objectives. To comply with all AQA’s policies and other legislative requirements, including but not limited to HSE, Equal Opportunities and ISMS. Where business needs change, to undertake other responsibilities which are of a commensurate level outside the terms of this role profile.

• About the company

  AQA, formerly the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, is an awarding body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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