Senior Operations Manager - 7474

Cambridge University Press & Assessment; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days annual leave

Private medical

Discretionary annual bonus

Group personal pension

Life assurance

Green travel schemes

Job summary

Cambridge University Press & Assessment in Cambridge, UK, invites an experienced Senior Operations Manager to lead high-performing teams, drive continuous improvement and ensure world-class service for customers globally.

Reporting to the Head of Exam Services, you will manage cross-functional colleagues across the UK and the Philippines, develop SOPs, manage risks, and uphold quality and regulatory standards in a hybrid working model requiring 2–3 days in the office.

Qualifications

• Experience leading high-performing teams in complex operational environments.
• Strong focus on quality, compliance and service excellence.
• Experience in examinations delivery or regulated contexts is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop teams across operations to deliver excellent service.
• Ensure on-time delivery of services while maintaining quality and regulatory standards.
• Drive continuous improvement and contribute to SOPs and process documentation.
• Collaborate with peers to align objectives and manage risks and non-conformances.

Skills

People leadership

Continuous improvement

Stakeholder management

Problem solving

Job description

Job Title: Senior Operations Manager

Salary: £45,100 - £60,400

Location: Cambridge, UK – Hybrid (at least 2-3 days per week in the office)

Contract: Permanent, Full-time

If you are innovative, customer-focused and great at managing complexity in an ever-changing world, and are looking for a new and exciting challenge, this could be the role for you.

We are looking for an experienced, highly motivated and encouraging Senior Operations Manager to join our team and deliver excellent service to customers around the world. You'll play a key role in leading high-performing teams, driving continuous improvement, and helping us advance our mission of contributing to a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and thrive.

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

About The Role

We are seeking an experienced, highly organised and dynamic Senior Operations Manager who thrives in a changing environment and is motivated by delivering excellent operational service to our customers.

We deliver millions of English language qualifications globally each year and this role is vital to delivering these on time and to our highest standards. Reporting to the Head of Exam Services, you will:

• Lead, motivate, and develop your team, driving engagement and supporting colleagues through changes to products, structures, processes, and systems. Your team will be based across the UK and the Philippines.
• Deliver an excellent operational service to a broad range of customers globally, ensuring work is completed on time, to standard, and in line with agreed service levels.
• Contribute to projects and continuous improvement initiatives as a subject matter expert, representing Exam Services. Make high-stakes operational decisions and project recommendations to ensure quality and regulatory compliance.
• Collaborate closely with another Senior Operations Manager within Exam Services, working together to achieve shared objectives. Being a strong team player is essential.
• Ensure peak processing periods, bespoke sessions, and projects are effectively planned and regularly reviewed, with issues, risks, and non-conformances accurately recorded, investigated, and appropriately mitigated.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with colleagues across the organisation and with key external stakeholders.
• Lead teams across Exam Services in the development and maintenance of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), work instructions, and other key documentation to support business compliance.

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

You are an experienced and supportive people leader with a track record of leading high-performing teams in a complex operational environment. Highly organised and customer-focused, you can balance multiple priorities while maintaining quality, compliance and service excellence.

You thrive in a fast-paced environment and are confident leading teams through change, managing risk, and driving continuous improvement. With strong communication, problem-solving and decision-making skills, you build effective relationships and deliver positive outcomes for customers and colleagues.

If you meet the above minimum requirements, we encourage you to apply. Your application will be even stronger if you can also demonstrate the following desirable criteria:

• Experience of examinations delivery, assessment operations, or another regulated operational environment.
• Project management qualification (Prince 2, APM Project Fundamentals, Lean Six Sigma, etc.)

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 the minimum criteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable and/or appropriate, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long-term health condition.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is an approved UK employer for the sponsorship of eligible roles and applicants under the Skilled Worker visa route. Please refer to the gov.uk website for guidance to understand your own eligibility based on the role you are applying for.

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 are committed to an equitable recruitment process.

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

Why join us

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You will belong to a collaborative team that is exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and 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.