Executive Head of Quality

Access Further Education Ltd (Trading as Access Creative College); Manchester; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 54,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous Holiday Allocation

Health Cash Plan & Wellbeing Benefits

Staff Discounts (Accolade)

Enhanced Maternity, Paternity & Sick-P

Cycle to Work

Job summary

Access Creative College is seeking an Executive Head of Quality (Quality Assurance, Performance & Compliance) to lead quality governance and regulatory readiness across a dispersed UK-wide organisation. This 0.4 FTE, fixed-term role supports the Senior Leadership Team and oversees QA systems, SAR/QIP, and inspection readiness.

You will drive evidence-informed improvement and manage complaints and governance, working with the Head of Compliance and Curriculum teams to strengthen quality

Responsibilities

• Quality Assurance Framework & Systems: Maintain and refine QA processes with high-impact focus and data-driven decision support.
• Performance, Data & Reporting: Lead the analysis and delivery of high-level quality performance reports, identify risks.
• Quality Governance: Provide strategic oversight of quality risks and performance to senior leadership.
• SAR & QIP Assurance: Support SAR and track QIP milestones and Ofsted recommendations with robust data and challenge.
• Complaints Oversight: Own complaints process, ensuring fair investigations and actionable learning from root causes.
• Inspection & Compliance Readiness: Maintain constant inspection readiness for Ofsted, awarding bodies and JCQ.
• Curriculum Growth Assurance: Provide risk assessments and quality frameworks for new and expanding provision.
• Executive Leadership: Drive strategic direction as a senior leader within the organisation.

Job description

Executive Head of Quality – Quality Assurance, Performance & Compliance

Salary: £52,000 – £54,000 per annum (pro-rata)

Contract Type: Fixed term - July 2027

Hours: Part-Time | 0.4 FTE (15 hours per week)

DBS Requirement: Enhanced

Location: Geographically dispersed organisation (Access Creative College / ACC)

About the Role

Are you a strategic quality leader with a passion for driving excellence in education and training?

We are seeking an Executive Head of Quality (Quality Assurance, Performance & Compliance) to join our Senior Leadership Team. In this pivotal 0.4 FTE role, you will provide strategic leadership for quality governance, performance intelligence, compliance, complaints, and external inspection readiness.

Working in close partnership with our 0.6 Executive Head of Quality (Quality Improvement, Teaching & Professional Development), you will help complete our robust quality cycle, ensuring that evidence informs judgement, judgement informs improvement, and improvement is evaluated for impact.

You will play a central role in evidencing progress against our Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) and ensuring full readiness for Ofsted and regulatory scrutiny across our geographically spread organisation.

Key Responsibilities

• Quality Assurance Framework & Systems: Maintain and refine clear, reliable QA processes that focus on high-impact areas, providing accurate data to guide strategic decision-making and holding teams accountable for delivery.

• Performance, Data & Reporting: Lead the specification, analysis, and delivery of high-level quality performance reports. Identify trends, risks, and underperformance early, escalating and acting upon them promptly.

• Quality Governance: Provide strategic oversight of organisational quality risks and performance, reporting clear insights to senior leadership and governing bodies.

• SAR & QIP Assurance: Provide robust data, evidence, and challenge to support the Self-Assessment Report (SAR) and rigorously track progress against Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) milestones and Ofsted recommendations.

• Complaints Oversight: Own the organisational complaints process, ensuring fair, timely, and independent investigations. Translate root causes and systemic themes into actionable learning.

• Inspection & Compliance Readiness: Keep the organisation in a constant state of inspection readiness for Ofsted, awarding bodies, and JCQ. Collaborate with the Head of Compliance to safeguard regulatory adherence across all provisions.

• Curriculum Growth Assurance: Work with the Head of Curriculum to provide quality risk assessments and robust quality frameworks for new and expanding educational provision.

• Executive Leadership: Drive the strategic direction of the college as an active member of the senior leadership team, fostering strong relationships and representing the organisation externally.

What We Are Looking For

We are looking for a values-driven, analytical, and collaborative leader who demonstrates:

• A Student & Practitioner First Ethos: A deep commitment to putting student outcomes and the practitioner experience at the centre of every strategic decision.

• Strategic & Analytical Decision-Making: The ability to see the "big picture," using both qualitative insight and quantitative data to solve complex problems and build logical, scalable systems.

• Exceptional Communication & Influence: Proactive, empathetic, and confident communication skills across a multi-site organisation, capable of building trusted relationships, delivering difficult messages with tact, and inspiring high standards.

• Regulatory Expertise: Strong working knowledge of Ofsted frameworks, compliance, risk management, and regulatory quality standards within the education sector.

• Personal Excellence: High standards of professional integrity, continuous personal development, and a visible commitment to Safeguarding, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, and Health & Safety.

Why Join Us?

This is an exceptional opportunity for an experienced quality professional seeking a flexible, high-impact strategic role. You will join a forward-thinking leadership team dedicated to raising standards, empowering practitioners, and transforming the student experience.

Who are we?

We are Access Creative College, formerly known as Access to Music, and we were founded in 1992. We're an Ofsted-inspected provider that reaches every corner of the country, with 7 campuses and over 2,500 students nationwide. We're proud to have achieved the national benchmark for education quality, recognised across the vast majority of our provision - Ofsted's 'Expected Standard' under the new inspection framework. We are part of Access Education Group, which boasts 32 campuses nationwide with over 5,000 students & apprentices across Access Creative College, dBs Institute (Higher Education) & Access Sport College.

What we offer?

• Generous Holiday Allocation
• Wellbeing Benefits: Health Cash Plan, Doctorline GP Service, Employee Assistance Programme, Access to Counselling and Cycle to Work
• Staff Discounts & Benefits: access to Accolade, our benefits platform which offers discounts at over 800 retailers!
• Paid Leave:Enhanced Maternity, Paternity and Sick pay.

A full job description and person specification is available for download alongside our full benefits booklet.

Diversity and open expression are fundamental to creativity. We are committed to promoting a culture of diversity and inclusivity for all our employees and potential employees.

DBS Checks: Enhanced DBS clearance will be required.