Senior Manager, Assessment Development and Delivery, DP/CP Language Acquisition
Salary: Circa £62,000 per annum depending on experience
Job Type: Permanent, Full-Time, 37.5 hours per week
Location: IB (International Baccalaureate®) Global Centre, Cardiff
Hybrid working opportunity, 1 day in the office per week
About the IB
The International Baccalaureate supports more than 6,000 schools across over 160 countries through world-class educational programmes and services. A career with the IB offers the opportunity to contribute to an internationally respected organisation that is committed to educational excellence, innovation and meaningful impact.
About the Role
This is a senior leadership opportunity within the Assessment Development and Delivery (ADD) team, with responsibility for the Diploma Programme (DP) and Career-related Programme (CP) Language Acquisition portfolio. It is a role for a leader who combines sound judgement, strong people leadership and a commitment to assessment quality in a high-stakes international environment.
The role combines strategic and operational leadership, with accountability for assessment quality, subject-management delivery, examination-session readiness and continuous improvement. Examination sessions are focused peak periods, while the months in between are dedicated to assessment creation, curriculum-linked development, quality assurance and the delivery of improvement activity across the portfolio.
Reporting to the Head of Assessment Development and Delivery (ADD), the Senior Manager is a key member of the ADD leadership team and is accountable for delivering high-quality, valid and reliable assessment materials and for leading the subject-management aspects of each examination session for DP and CP Language Acquisition courses.
ADD also contributes to wider IB priorities through innovation initiatives, curriculum development and school engagement across all educational programmes. Senior Managers make decisions that directly affect IB assessment outcomes and play a critical role in protecting the organisation’s global reputation for quality, fairness, academic integrity and innovation.
Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities
This role sits within the ADD extended leadership team. There are six ADD Senior Managers who, together, share responsibility for assessment development and delivery across the IB programmes. In the DP/CP Language Acquisition portfolio, you will:
Lead DP and CP Language Acquisition subject-management and exam publishing activity to deliver a valid, reliable and timely assessment service in line with IB policies and regulatory requirements.
Oversee the development of high-quality IB assessments within the Language Acquisition portfolio, from assessment design input through to the authoring of live examination content.
Ensure assessment production workflows are governed effectively and deliver to agreed milestones, quality standards and operational-readiness requirements.
Lead operational risk management, contingency planning and lessons learned activity to support examination-session readiness.
Ensure fair, consistent and defensible assessment outcomes through robust standardisation, quality control and evidence-based decision making.
Ensure schools, examiners and relevant internal stakeholders receive accurate and timely assessment information.
Handle complex assessment-service queries and concerns, working across the Assessment and Operations office and wider IB where required.
Work with the IB Educator Network (IBEN) team to secure, induct and develop assessment authors and senior examiners for the Language Acquisition portfolio.
Champion the IB educational philosophy and translate it into assessment practice that supports schools and protects assessment integrity.
Coach, support and develop subject managers through clear leadership, meaningful performance conversations, capability building and succession planning within the helix management structure.
Build strong, productive relationships with senior colleagues across Assessment, Curriculum Development, CP&D, Recognition and Professional Learning.
Set clear portfolio and team objectives, distributing leadership responsibility to enable effective delivery, ownership and accountability.
Lead or contribute to projects and initiatives with organisation-wide impact across IB programmes.
Lead the implementation of key organisational and assessment change, building alignment and embedding sustainable process improvement.
Apply best-practice standards in the handling of confidential and sensitive data, with appropriate attention to governance, security and professional judgement.
Build a positive, inclusive and accountable working culture through distributed leadership, collaboration and continuous learning.
Qualifications
About You
You will bring strong assessment and leadership experience, the ability to work confidently through complexity, and a commitment to developing others while delivering high-quality outcomes.
Key Requirements
- Significant leadership experience in assessment, education or a comparable high-stakes or regulated environment.
- Substantial assessment experience as a teacher or in a position of responsibility within an assessment environment such as an examining body or equivalent.
- A strong track record of leading people through both direct line management and influence.
- Experience of leading business change, process improvement or organisational development in an education or related context.
- Strong understanding of assessment development, assessment delivery and quality assurance in complex delivery environments.
- Experience of budgeting, resource allocation and delivery planning.
- Ability to demonstrate intellectual leadership through knowledge of relevant developments in learning, assessment and qualification frameworks.
- Strong judgement and the confidence to take responsibility for complex decisions, communicating them clearly and sensitively to internal and external stakeholders in an international context.
- Resilience and the ability to work under pressure while responding to changing priorities, delivery demands and deadlines.
- Good statistical understanding and the ability to interpret evidence to support assessment and operational decisions.
- Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills, with the credibility to influence across functions and levels.
- Commitment to inclusive leadership, professional integrity and the development of others.
Other Special Requirements
- Occasional international travel required (e.g. to represent the Assessment Development and Delivery team at external conferences).
- Occasional weekend working required.
In addition to your salary, we offer an attractive range of benefits including:
- 10% employer pension contribution from first day of employment (minimum contribution required from yourself is 3%)
- 30 days annual leave, plus public holidays
- 10 days work from anywhere leave (per calendar year)
- Enhanced family friendly benefits
- Life assurance 4x annual salary
- Paid volunteering leave (one day per calendar year)
- Flexible benefits allowance at 1.5% of your annual salary
- Excellent continuous professional development
- Health and wellness schemes
- Disability Confident Employer
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Discounts on a range of products, including days out and gym memberships
- Cash back opportunities available from a wide range of retailers
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Free onsite parking
Applications will be accepted until 11:55pm BST, 30 June 2026
We are committed to building a working environment that values respect, diversity, and compassion. The International Baccalaureate is proud to be an equal opportunities employer, and we welcome applications from all qualified applicants. As a global employer, we adhere to all relevant employment legislation in the countries in which we operate, and we’re happy to provide any reasonable support or adjustments as needed to ensure applicants can fully participate in our recruitment process.
Contact Details:
International Baccalaureate Recruitment Team
