Associate Management Delivery Lead

AQA; Guildford; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

35-hour work week (hybrid)

Flexible hybrid working

25 days annual leave

Pension contributions

BUPA healthcare support

Wellbeing programmes

Volunteering opportunities

Free on-site parking

Job summary

AQA is seeking an Associate Management Delivery Lead to drive delivery of exams operations with a hybrid working pattern—minimum 2 days in the office. You’ll own operational resourcing for a portfolio of subjects, lead and coach a team of administrators, and use data to monitor demand, spot risks early and implement contingency plans.

You’ll build strong relationships with senior examiners and cross‑functional teams, escalate issues, drive process improvements and ensure high quality, compliant

Qualifications

• Experience in a senior or supervisory role.
• Experience working with data, systems and spreadsheets.
• Organisation and prioritisation skills.
• Customer and stakeholder management skills.
• A curious, improvement-focused approach to simplifying processes.

Responsibilities

• Own operational resourcing for a portfolio of subjects, ensuring delivery against key milestones.
• Lead, coach and support a team of administrators across your portfolio.
• Use data and management information to monitor resourcing, identify risks early and put effective contingency plans in place.
• Work collaboratively with Recruitment and other teams to ensure the right associate resource is available when needed.
• Build strong relationships with senior examiners, providing clear updates and working together to resolve resourcing challenges.
• Act as a point of escalation, resolving issues and driving improvements to processes, service and ways of working.
• Maintain high standards of quality and compliance, while identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Lead your team to deliver a positive, high-quality experience for examiners.

Skills

Senior supervision

Data analysis

Stakeholder management

Prioritization

Process improvement

Tools

Excel

Job description

Job title: Associate Management Delivery Lead

Contract type: Permanent

Working arrangements: Hybrid working - minimum 2 days a week in office

Are you ready to take the lead when the pressure is on and help keep one of AQA's most critical operations on track? This role is more than supervising administrators; this is where planning turns into delivery. You'll be understanding the examiner resource we need, spotting the gaps and leading the action to make it happen.

Our Associate Management team plays a vital role in making sure we have the right people in place to deliver each exam series successfully. As an Associate Management Delivery Lead, you'll lead and support a team of administrators responsible for a portfolio of subjects, making sure we have enough suitably skilled examiners and associates in place when they're needed. You'll use data to understand demand, monitor resourcing levels and spot potential issues early. When things don't go to plan, you'll help the team develop practical contingency plans and make sure risks are managed effectively. You'll also build strong relationships with senior examiners and teams across AQA, acting as a point of escalation and helping everyone work together to deliver the exam series successfully.

What you'll do

• Own operational resourcing for a portfolio of subjects, ensuring delivery against key milestones.
• Lead, coach and support a team of administrators across your portfolio.
• Use data and management information to monitor resourcing, identify risks early and put effective contingency plans in place.
• Work collaboratively with Recruitment and other teams to ensure the right associate resource is available when needed.
• Build strong relationships with senior examiners, providing clear updates and working together to resolve resourcing challenges.
• Act as a point of escalation, resolving issues and driving improvements to processes, service and ways of working.
• Maintain high standards of quality and compliance, while identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Lead your team to deliver a positive, high-quality experience for examiners.

You'll thrive in this role if you have:

• Experience in a senior or supervisory role, including coaching colleagues and dealing with escalated issues.
• Experience working with data, systems and spreadsheets and identifying issues, risks and opportunities.
• Organisation and prioritisation skills, with the ability to manage competing demands and deadlines.
• Customer and stakeholder management skills, including working collaboratively across teams and with senior stakeholders.
• A curious, improvement-focused approach and an interest in making processes simpler and more effective.

Why this role matters

AQA works with around 39,000 Associates who help design, produce, mark and award qualifications for more than one million young people in the UK and overseas.

The Associate Management team makes sure this community is appropriately resourced, contracted, onboarded and supported.

As a Delivery Lead, you'll be at the centre of that work, combining people leadership, data analysis, problem-solving and stakeholder management to help make sure we have the right expertise in place to deliver each exam series successfully.

What's in it for you?

Alongside the opportunity to lead a key part of exam series delivery, support a vital community of Associates and make a real impact on how we resource our assessments, you'll benefit from:

• A 35-hour working week with flexible, hybrid working.
• 25 days' annual leave, rising to 30 days with service, plus additional Christmas closure days.
• A comprehensive benefits package including pension contributions, BUPA healthcare support, wellbeing programmes and volunteering opportunities.
• Free on-site parking.

Diversity and Inclusion Statement

At AQA, we're committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels they belong and can do their best work. We value the different perspectives, experiences and backgrounds our people bring, knowing they strengthen our culture, decision-making and impact. We foster an inclusive environment where everyone is treated with respect, has access to opportunities to grow and contribute, and feels able to be themselves. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and lived experiences.