Head of Unit Award Scheme in Manchester

• Job Title and Details
• Head of Unit Award Scheme (UAS)
• Hybrid Working

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.

Shape the future of one of education's most impactful programmes Lead something that genuinely changes lives.

The Unit Award Scheme (UAS) has been helping learners gain recognition for their achievements for over 40 years.

Used by an ever broadening range of organisations such as prisons, alternative provision settings, charities, adult learning, schools, colleges and local authorities across the UK, the Unit Award Scheme celebrates learning in all its forms.

Whether a learner is building confidence, developing life skills or taking the next step towards education or employment, UAS helps make achievement visible.

The current Head of UAS is retiring so we're looking for a strategic and commercially minded leader to take the scheme into its next phase of growth.

As Head of UAS, you'll lead the overall direction, performance and success of the scheme.

You'll bring together commercial thinking, customer insight, product development and people leadership to help even more organisations and learners benefit from what UAS has to offer.

This is a rare opportunity to lead an established, respected educational product while shaping its future growth and impact.

• What you’ll be doing
• Develop and deliver the long-term strategy for UAS
• Drive sustainable customer growth and retention
• Lead the commercial performance of the scheme, including budget and revenue targets
• Use customer insight and market intelligence to identify opportunities for growth
• Build and maintain strong relationships with customers, partners and stakeholders
• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team, creating a culture of accountability, innovation and continuous improvement
• Influence product development and digital enhancements that improve the customer experience
• Represent UAS externally, acting as an ambassador for the scheme and the learners it supports
• Work closely with colleagues across Product, Operations, Technology and Customer teams to deliver successful outcomes

Responsibilities and Activities

• Leadership and organisational contribution
• Act as the visible figurehead and ambassador for the Unit Award Scheme, representing UAS internally and externally and promoting its impact through customer engagement, conferences, events, sector networks, speaking engagements and strategic partnerships.
• Champion UAS across AQA, influencing decision-making, building strong internal and external partnerships and ensuring the scheme's priorities are understood and supported at all levels of the organisation.
• Provide leadership across complex matrix teams and programmes, driving collaboration and alignment across UAS, Hypercare, Product Management, Technology, Operations, Customer Success and other business functions to deliver shared outcomes, continuous improvements and customer experience.
• Strategic and commercial leadership Define and deliver the Unit Award Scheme strategy, aligning commercial and customer experience priorities with scheme-development requirements, AQA priorities and measurable growth, engagement and financial outcomes.
• Own commercial performance, including customer growth, participation growth, cost management, pricing strategy and expansion into new markets, sectors and partnerships.
• Develop and maintain clear business plans, performance indicators and reporting routines to track growth, customer experience, participation, engagement, cost management and delivery progress.
• Prioritise investment, resources and activity across the scheme, using evidence and insight to focus effort on the areas with the greatest potential to improve growth, customer outcomes and impact.
• Act as business owner and lead for key third-party suppliers and strategic partners, ensuring effective supplier performance management.
• Customer and market leadership Lead customer retention, growth and acquisition strategies, using market intelligence and insight to shape the scheme direction and deliver increased participation and engagement.
• Build strong, trusted relationships across diverse customer and stakeholder groups, including schools, colleges, alternative provision settings, pupil referral units, special schools, local authorities, training providers, charities, community organisations and other learning settings, acting as a senior representative of UAS and ensuring a consistently high-quality customer experience supported by effective training, guidance, communications and engagement activities.
• Represent UAS, identifying opportunities to raise awareness, strengthen reputation, influence thinking and extend the reach and impact of the scheme.
• Product, quality and innovation Work with product colleagues to shape the development of a relevant and innovative unit offer, ensuring customer insight, market needs and business priorities inform product direction and quality considerations.
• Use insight to identify risks, gaps and opportunities in the UAS offer, working with specialist teams to enhance customer value, impact and effectiveness.
• Influence the future direction of UAS products and services, ensuring the scheme remains responsive to customer needs, educational developments and organisational priorities.
• Operational performance and governance Oversee performance across customer, commercial and financial measures, using data and insight to drive decision-making and improved outcomes.
• Work with operational owners to ensure service performance, systems and processes support UAS customer needs, while operational delivery, risk management and compliance remain owned through the appropriate specialist functions.
• Provide business oversight of cross-functional delivery and Hypercare activities, ensuring coordinated customer support, effective issue resolution, continuous service improvement and successful adoption of new systems, products and services.
• Frameworks, standards and continuous improvement Establish and embed scalable frameworks, standards and ways of working across customer experience, scheme development and service delivery.
• Lead continuous improvement and organisational learning, ensuring lessons learned, customer insight and best practice are captured, shared and translated into measurable improvements.

Essential Criteria

• Ability to own and deliver strategy across multiple functional areas, translating organisational priorities into delivery.
• Experience of leading or operating a product or service as a business unit, with accountability for performance and growth.
• Experience of accountability for commercial and financial performance, including growth, budget management and cost control.
• Ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams and influence through matrix management across organisational boundaries.
• Experience of leading complex cross-functional programmes involving multiple stakeholders, suppliers and delivery teams.
• Experience of managing strategic supplier and partner relationships, including performance oversight and commercial accountability.
• Ability to develop and embed frameworks, standards or operating models across a function or product area.
• Ability to use data, insight and market intelligence to inform decision-making and strategy.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills across senior internal and external networks.
• Ability to act as an organisational ambassador, confidently representing the business at conferences, events, speaking engagements and customer forums.
• Excellent presentation, communication and public-speaking skills, with the ability to engage and influence a wide range of audiences.
• Ability to review complex outputs and provide clear, evidence-based recommendations.
• Ability to solve complex problems, balancing competing priorities and organisational risk.
• Demonstrated ability to drive customer retention, growth and engagement in a service or product-based environment.

Desirable Criteria

• Knowledge of the education and/or assessment sector.
• Experience of working with schools, colleges, alternative provision settings, pupil referral units, special schools, local authorities, training providers, charities, community organisations or other learning settings.
• Experience of customer success, training or product innovation functions.

What we offer

• Generous pension scheme – up to 18.5% combined contributions
• 25 days' holiday, increasing with service, with additional closure days in December
• Flexible and hybrid working
• Access to learning and development opportunities
• Health and wellbeing support – Private Medical Insurance with BUPA and a comprehensive employee assistance programme
• Up to five paid volunteering days each year
• Electric Vehicle Leasing Scheme
• A collaborative and inclusive working environment

Why join us?

Lead a nationally recognised programme - UAS supports thousands of learners every year and is used by organisations across the education and social impact sectors.

Shape future growth - You'll have the opportunity to influence strategy, customer experience, product development and commercial performance.

Make a meaningful difference - The work you'll do will help learners gain recognition for achievements that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Lead a talented and committed team - You'll inherit a knowledgeable team with deep expertise and a strong commitment to supporting customers and learners.

• What we’re looking for
• Experience leading a business unit, product, service or customer-focused function
• A strong track record of delivering commercial growth and sustainable performance
• Experience leading and developing diverse teams through change and growth
• The ability to influence and build credibility with senior stakeholders
• Strong customer focus, with experience using insight and data to shape decisions
• Experience balancing strategic priorities with operational delivery
• Excellent communication skills, including presenting to and influencing a wide range of audiences
• The confidence to identify opportunities, challenge thinking and drive improvement
• It would be helpful, though not essential, if you understand the wider education system and the barriers some learners face, including experience or knowledge of alternative education settings.

You might currently be working in education, assessment, qualifications, membership organisations, professional services, charities, learning services or another customer-focused environment where growth, innovation and stakeholder engagement are central to success.

Reasonable Adjustments

If you have any requirements for reasonable adjustments in relation to the application, interview or the prospective job, please contact Faye Harrison (she/her) at fharrison@aqa. org. uk or on 07813 724161.

We are asking for this information to make the process as equitable as possible for each candidate.

Please note that Faye will not be able to assist you with enquiries regarding Temporary vacancies or non-recruitment enquiries.

• If you have query regarding Temporary vacancies, please contact: temprecruit@aqa. org. uk
• Smart Working

We’re operating a smart working model. This allows for our colleagues to work from two days a week in one of our offices across England.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

AQA is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace where everyone - regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, age, disability, sexual orientation, or background - is valued, respected, and supported to thrive.

Conflict of Interest

Please note that due to the confidential nature of our work, we are unable to employ people for our temporary roles who are currently a candidate for Key Stage 4 and 5 public examinations.

Safeguarding

AQA is committed to the safeguarding of children and adults at risk.

We’re dedicated to reducing the risk of employing or contracting any person intent on abusing their position of trust, along with identifying and responding to any incident of alleged abuse from its employees or associates fairly and swiftly.

For more information on safeguarding at AQA please visit the AQA website here.

Contact

Contact Temporary roles: temprecruit@aqa. org. uk Permanent and Fixed Term roles: opportunities@aqa. org. uk Privacy Policy

Applications will close at 23:59 on Sunday 16 August.

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