Operations Support Manager - 7584

Cambridge University Press & Assessment; Whittlesford; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 39,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days annual leave

Private medical

Discretionary annual bonus

Group personal pension scheme

Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary

Green travel schemes

Job summary

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is seeking an experienced Operations Support Manager to lead a team delivering accurate, customer-focused Cambridge English Qualifications.

Hybrid role in Cambridge/Whittlesford, 12-month fixed-term, 35 hours per week, with 40-60% in the office; you will monitor workload, drive process improvements, manage recruitment and training, and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Experience leading operational teams in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and drive process improvements.
• Strong communication, problem-solving and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience delivering high-quality service and ensuring process compliance.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of Assessment Operations Coordinators and Senior Coordinators.
• Monitor workload, quality, and delivery against deadlines.
• Manage recruitment, onboarding, training, and performance support.
• Identify, investigate, and mitigate operational risks and issues.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory and business processes.
• Create, review, and approve process documentation and work instructions.
• Drive continuous improvement to processes and ways of working.
• Build relationships with internal teams and external stakeholders.
• Support resolution of customer queries and escalations.
• Deliver training, inductions, and ongoing capability development.
• Contribute to operational improvement initiatives and projects.
• Promote a positive, inclusive, high-performing team culture.

Skills

People leadership

Operational excellence

Stakeholder management

Process improvement

Tools

SAP

Visio

Job description

Job Title: Operations Support Manager

Salary: £29,700 - £38,550

Location: Cambridge/Whittlesford UK – Hybrid with 40-60% of time in the office

Contract: Fixed Term/Secondment (12months)

Hours: Full time35 hours per week

At Cambridge, our work helps millions of learners worldwide demonstrate their English language skills and achieve their ambitions. We're looking for an experienced and inspiring people leader to join our Assessment Operations team, where you'll lead and develop colleagues while ensuring the smooth, accurate, and customer-focused delivery of Cambridge English Qualifications.

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

This is an exciting opportunity to make a genuine impact through team leadership, operational excellence, and continuous improvement. Working within a collaborative and supportive culture, you'll empower colleagues to succeed, drive high-quality service delivery, contribute to strategic initiatives, and help shape an environment where individuals can grow, innovate, and perform at their best.

About The Role

This role is responsible for leading and developing a team of Assessment Operations Coordinators and Senior Assessment Operations Coordinators to ensure the accurate, efficient, and customer-focused delivery of Cambridge English Qualifications examinations. The post holder oversees business-critical assessment processes, supports operational excellence through effective people management, and drives compliance with regulatory and quality standards while ensuring high levels of service for internal and external stakeholders.

Working collaboratively across the organisation, the role combines day-to-day operational leadership with continuous improvement activity, including process documentation, training delivery, risk management, and operational change initiatives. The successful candidate will empower colleagues to perform at their best, contribute to strategic improvements, and help ensure the successful delivery of assessment services that support Cambridge's global mission.

• Leading and developing a team of Assessment Operations Coordinators and Senior Coordinators.
• Monitoring workload, quality, and delivery against agreed deadlines.
• Managing recruitment, onboarding, training, and performance support.
• Identifying, investigating, and mitigating operational risks and issues.
• Ensuring compliance with regulatory and business processes.
• Creating, reviewing, and approving process documentation and work instructions.
• Driving continuous improvement to processes, documentation, and ways of working.
• Building strong relationships with internal teams and external stakeholders.
• Supporting the resolution of customer queries and escalations.
• Delivering training, inductions, and ongoing capability development.
• Contributing to operational improvement initiatives and project activities.
• Promoting a positive, inclusive, and high-performing team culture.

This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40-60% of their time collaborating and connecting face-to-face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements should you require adjustments due to a disability or long-term health condition.

About You

We are seeking a candidate with proven experience in leading operational teams and delivering high-quality service within a fast-paced environment. The ideal candidate will be able to manage multiple priorities, drive process improvements, and support colleagues effectively while ensuring operational standards are maintained. Strong communication, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills are essential, along with the ability to adapt to change and motivate others to achieve team objectives.

• Experience leading, motivating, and developing teams.
• Strong customer service and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience managing operational processes and procedures.
• Proven ability to identify and implement process improvements.
• Experience managing risks, issues, and competing priorities.

If you meet the aboveminimumrequirements, we encourage you to apply. Your application will be even stronger if you can also demonstrate the followingdesirablecriteria:

• Project management qualification or relevant project experience.
• Strong data analysis and reporting capabilities.
• Experience creating process and training documentation.
• Experience using SAP and/or Visio.
• Knowledge of Cambridge English Qualifications and assessment operations.

For a detailed job description, please refer to the link at the bottom of the advert on our careers site.

We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long-term health condition, and who best meet theminimumcriteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practical and/or appropriate, we prioritise those who best meet theminimumcriteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long-term health condition.

Please note that Cambridge University Press & Assessment will not ordinarily be able to provide sponsorship for vacancies of less than 12months in duration. Applicants must therefore have an existing right to work in the UK to be eligible for this position.

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 aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be Wednesday, 7 October. We will review applications on an ongoing basis, and shortlisted candidates can expect interviews to take place on the week commencing Wednesday, 14 October.

• 1 interview round in the office
• Potential 2nd interview if needed

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process due to a disability or long-term health condition, there will be an opportunity for you to inform us via the online application form. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.

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

We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via our official online application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to our recruiters.

Why join us

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential.You willbelong to a collaborative teamthat isexploring new and better ways to serve students,teachersand researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals,societyand the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth,developmentand 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 is 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, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.