Qualification Quality Lead

AQA Recruiting; Milton Keynes; Hybrid; GBP 57,000 - 63,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

35-hour week (hybrid)

25 days annual leave

Pension contribution 11.5%

BUPA healthcare

Wellbeing programmes & volunteering

Job summary

AQA is seeking a Quality Lead to shape and implement quality and accreditation standards across qualification development. You will work with the Head of Qualification Quality to embed governance, assurance frameworks and audit approaches that ensure regulatory readiness.

You’ll drive cross‑subject quality alignment, support accreditation submissions and responses to feedback, and partner with senior stakeholders to embed best practice across a complex development landscape.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in quality assurance, regulatory compliance, or qualification and assessment development.
• Ability to identify, develop and embed best practice in qualification development and regulatory compliance.
• Strong ability to analyse, compare, and align content across documents and subject areas.
• Excellent proofreading and attention to detail.
• Experience managing complex documentation and audit trails.
• Comfortable coordinating regulatory feedback and accreditation activities.

Responsibilities

• Quality assure core qualification deliverables for consistency and compliance.
• Develop and embed quality assurance frameworks and governance processes.
• Support accreditation submissions and regulatory engagement.
• Coordinate cross-subject alignment of assessment materials.
• Influence qualification development with senior stakeholders.
• Maintain quality records and audit trails throughout development.

Skills

Quality assurance

Regulatory compliance

Audit

Governance

Stakeholder management

Document control

Attention to detail

Analytical thinking

Tools

Version control

Document management systems

Regulatory submission portals

Job description

At AQA, we’re committed to advancing education and we’re committed to our people. As the largest provider of academic qualifications in the UK, we mark over 10 million exam papers each year and it’s our people who make this happen. Qualification Quality Lead 2 Year Fixed Term Contract Guildford or Milton Keynes: £57,000-£62,500 Manchester: £54,500-£60,000 Hybrid Working

Shape the future of qualification quality at AQA

Quality isn't just about checking what's already there. It's about defining standards, creating robust frameworks and building the processes that make excellence possible.

Purpose of the role

This isn't a role where you'll inherit mature processes and simply maintain them. You'll help define what good looks like. Working closely with the newly appointed Head of Qualification Quality, you'll help establish and embed quality approaches, governance processes and assurance frameworks that will shape qualification development across AQA.

Working across qualification development, assessment design, regulation and compliance, you'll design and embed quality assurance frameworks, develop audit approaches, establish governance processes and support teams to consistently deliver high-quality qualification materials. You'll also play an important role in accreditation activity, helping to ensure qualification materials are submission-ready, supporting regulatory engagement and helping coordinate responses to feedback throughout the accreditation process.

Responsibilities

• Build and shape quality assurance processes from the ground up
• Design and embed quality frameworks, governance processes and audit approaches
• Support accreditation submissions and regulatory engagement activities
• Influence qualification development across multiple subject areas
• Work with senior stakeholders across the business to embed best practice
• Identify opportunities to improve quality, consistency and compliance
• Leave a lasting impact on how qualification quality is managed at AQA

What’s in it for you?

The qualifications you support will directly influence the experience of learners across the UK. You'll have the opportunity to shape how quality is embedded across qualification development, helping to establish the standards, controls and governance processes that others rely upon. You'll be joining at a time when qualification reform is creating a rare opportunity to build and embed new approaches to quality assurance, accreditation readiness and continuous improvement across the organisation.

Interview process

First stage interviews will take place remotely during the week commencing 12 October 2026. Second stage interviews will take place in our Manchester, Milton Keynes or Guildford offices depending on candidates’ location preferences, during the week commencing 19 October 2026.

Benefits

• a 35-hour working week with flexible, hybrid working
• 25 days' annual leave rising to 30, plus Christmas closure days
• up to 11.5 percent combined pension contribution
• BUPA healthcare support
• wellbeing programmes and volunteering opportunities
• an inclusive, values-led culture with employee networks including LGBTQ+, neurodiversity, empowering women, wellbeing, ethnic diversity and Interfaith

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and lived experiences.

You’ll thrive in this role if you have:

• Experience building or improving quality assurance frameworks
• Experience working within regulated environments
• Experience of audit, compliance, governance or assurance activities
• Experience managing complex documentation, audit trails or version control processes
• The ability to identify risks, inconsistencies and opportunities for improvement
• Experience influencing stakeholders and embedding new ways of working
• Experience working across complex, cross-organisational processes involving multiple stakeholders, dependencies and competing priorities, with the resilience to work through ambiguity and the confidence to challenge constructively when needed

Essential criteria:

• Proven experience in quality assurance, regulatory compliance, or qualification and assessment development
• Ability to identify, develop and embed best practice in qualification development and regulatory compliance, sharing key skills and knowledge with the wider qualification development team
• Strong ability to analyse, compare, and align content across multiple documents and subject areas
• Exceptional attention to detail and proofreading skills
• Sound understanding of regulatory and quality assurance requirements within a qualification or assessment context
• Confidence in making and articulating recommendations for quality improvements and coordinating actions arising from regulatory feedback
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to work collaboratively while maintaining independent quality judgement

Full Job Description Summary Purpose:

The Quality & Accreditation Lead is responsible for assuring the quality, accuracy and regulatory compliance of the core qualification deliverables (specification, SAMs and assessment strategies) across a range of qualifications. This role will ensure that all the relevant materials are aligned to one another throughout the development process and that they are fit for purpose and error-free prior to submission to Ofqual. They will ensure that the materials remain aligned with regulatory conditions and internal subject-specific development briefs and meet robust quality standards. They will provide support to the Qualification Development Leads and Assessment Design & Principles Leads throughout the end-to-end development process and will be responsible for implementing any cross-subject alignment strategies, reviewing Ofqual feedback and making recommendations for improvements to materials at a subject and organisational level. They will also be responsible for flagging risks and issues in the development process in order to make recommendations for improvements.

Landscape:

The Quality & Accreditation Lead reports to the Head of Qualification Quality and operates as a key component of the wider qualification development and assurance landscape. The postholder will work closely with Qualification Development Leads, Assessment Design & Principles Leads, the Risk, Regulation and Compliance team and a range of internal stakeholders to support the end-to-end qualification development process. Through a collaborative approach, the Quality & Accreditation Lead will provide authoritative quality oversight and assurance at critical stages of development.

The role will be responsible for:

• Quality assuring core qualification deliverables to ensure they are fit-for-purpose and compliant with regulatory conditions and internal quality standards.
• Supporting with the collation and application of best-practice approaches to qualification design.
• Implementing and embedding quality assurance frameworks, standards and approaches established by the Head of Qualification Quality.
• Making informed recommendations for improvements to qualification and assessment materials and the development process, based on quality assurance findings and regulatory feedback.
• Assuring cross-subject alignment, including matters such as the consistent assessment of mathematics across qualifications and the accessibility and inclusivity of assessment materials.

This role plays a critical part in ensuring that the materials submitted for accreditation are coherent and regulatory compliant, consistent across subject areas and aligned with the original development briefs.

Activities:

• Quality assure qualification materials (specifications, SAMs and assessment strategies) by reviewing, comparing, and synthesising content across multiple documents to ensure consistency, coherence, and alignment.
• Proofread assessment materials to ensure accuracy, clarity and completeness.
• Ensure assessment materials align fully with regulatory requirements and internal design briefs and quality assurance frameworks, working closely with Risk, Regulation and Compliance colleagues.
• Identify, track, and resolve discrepancies, risks, or misalignments across drafts and final materials, escalating significant regulatory or accreditation risks through agreed governance routes.
• Support with the collation of best-practice approaches to qualification design (including assessment strategies), including continuous improvement of practice based on learnings that emerge from the accreditation process.
• Act as an ‘internal consultant’ supporting Qualification Development Leads and other colleagues to apply best practice to qualification materials throughout the development process.
• Provide clear, constructive, and evidence-based feedback to Qualification Development Leads and other colleagues to support improvements to materials.
• Maintain appropriate quality records and audit trails to support internal governance, accreditation and regulatory scrutiny.
• Maintain and oversee the document management for qualification development and quality assurance activities, including quality framework documentation, version control, folder structures, document accessibility and auditability, ensuring materials are appropriately stored, maintained and readily retrievable for governance, accreditation and regulatory purposes.
• Support accreditation readiness by ensuring qualification materials are complete, coherent, evidence-based and submission ready.
• Manage regulatory submission portals and associated processes, including submissions, monitoring communications, coordinating responses to regulatory feedback and rejected submissions, tracking rework and resubmission activity, and maintaining accurate records and audit trails throughout.
• Contribute to the development and continuous refinement of qualification development and quality assurance processes.
• Review regulatory feedback and make recommendations for the improvement of subject specific submissions and more broadly across the organisation.
• Have an awareness of regulatory feedback across multiple qualifications and phases of reform, flagging any inconsistencies in regulatory feedback making recommendations to challenge where required.
• Ensure that standards are aligned across qualifications with regard to cross-subject design principles.

AQA is an independent charity that sets and marks over half of all GCSEs and A-levels in the UK every year. Our purpose is to advance education by helping students and teachers to realise their potential. As part of AQA, you’ll very quickly appreciate the determination and unwavering passion to deliver this goal in everything we do. To help drive these ambitions, AQA invests in the development of its people by offering a range of professional development and learning opportunities leading to over 50% of our permanent roles being filled internally.

Reasonable Adjustments

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process or in the role, please contact the recruiter named in the vacancy advert or your interview correspondence. They will work with you to ensure the appropriate support is in place and that the process is as accessible and equitable as possible. If you're unsure who your recruiter is, or can't reach them, contact Faye Harrison (she/her) at [e-mail] or 07813724161, and she'll direct you to the right person. Please note that Faye cannot assist with temporary vacancy enquiries or non-recruitment matters. For temporary vacancies, contact [e-mail].

Smart Working

We’re operating a smart working model. This allows for our colleagues to work from two days a week in one of our offices across England.

Diversity and inclusion

AQA is 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.

Conflict of Interest

Please note that due to the confidential nature of our work, we are unable to employ people for our temporary roles who are currently a candidate for Key Stage 4 and 5 public examinations.

Safeguarding

AQA is committed to the safeguarding of children and adults at risk. We’re dedicated to reducing the risk of employing or contracting any person intent on abusing their position of trust, along with identifying and responding to any incident of alleged abuse from its employees or associates fairly and swiftly. For more information on safeguarding at AQA please visit the AQA website here.

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