Head of Assessment Delivery

Salary: £66,000 - £72,000 per annum

Location: Cambridge, UK

Contract: Permanent, full time 35 hours per week

Leading the assessment delivery strategy for educational reform projects that directly support learners and students around the world, you can make an incredible impact on our work.

This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced assessment professional to apply their skills and knowledge to a wide range of projects in a dynamic and supportive team.

We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.

About the role

The Assessment Reform Group (ARG) is part of the Assessment and Customer Services Division. We are an experienced team of assessment experts and we work closely with our typesetting team. ARG works to the same incredibly high standards as the wider division but applies these to a frequently changing portfolio of projects.

ARG works closely with the Partnership for Education delivering the assessment aspects of its educational reform projects. These include, for example, writing assessment items to populate item banks, supporting the establishment of new awarding organisations, designing and delivering new assessments, and advising governments and other agencies on their assessment policy.

You will be part of the leadership team of ARG and will support on the design of technical assessment solutions for projects with the Partnership for Education. You will provide technical assessment input into responses to tenders and other business opportunities, including costing the delivery of the project. You will also plan, and if required lead, the inception phase of new projects; establishing teams and ensuring that they are set up to deliver projects to quality and budgetary targets.

You will represent Cambridge University Press and Assessment for ARG with clients in Cambridge, in virtual meetings and internationally.

You will support the strategy for the resource planning of ARG, including ensuring that the team contains staff and has access to consultants who have the correct skills to meet future predicted demands of project.

About you

We are looking for a candidate with an in-depth understanding of assessment theory and practice, the application of assessment in the classroom and international education. You must be a problem solver and able to go back to first principles and apply these to create new and efficient solutions to novel problems. You will be a good listener and be able to understand the needs of clients, their context, and constraints. You should be able to manage assessment managers effectively and work independently under pressure.

You will be able to represent Cambridge to senior stakeholders and be credible in a range of circumstances and be confident to adapt your ideas on-the-fly during discussions.

Key Qualities:

• Qualified to degree level plus a postgraduate qualification or experience in an education or assessment-related area.
• Substantial experience in education, preferably in a range of international contexts and at different stages of education.
• Experience in line management.
• Excellent interpersonal, diplomacy, and communication skills.
• Positive customer focus and confidence in presenting information.
• Willingness to work flexibly and to travel.

If you would like to know more about this opportunity and what will make you successful, please see the full job description attached to the bottom of this vacancy on our careers site.

Rewards and benefits

We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package, featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including:

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Group personal pension scheme
• Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary
• Green travel schemes

We are a hybrid working organisation, and we offer a range of flexible working options from day one. We expect most hybrid-working colleagues to spend 40-60% of their time at their dedicated office or location. We will also consider other work arrangements if you wish to work more flexibly or require adjustments due to a disability.

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.

We review applications on an ongoing basis, with a closing date for all applications being 30 April 2025 although we may close it earlier if suitable candidates are identified. Interviews are scheduled to take place in the week commencing the 12 May 2025.

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

Why join us

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You'll belong to a collaborative team that's exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it's safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background.

We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities.