Subject Support Manager, Languages

AQA; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 41,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking organization as a Subject Support Manager for Languages, where you can leverage your teaching expertise to support educators across the UK. This role offers a unique opportunity to influence educational reform and enhance the delivery of GCSE and A Level courses. You will work closely with teachers, providing essential resources and training while also engaging with stakeholders at key events. With a focus on personal and professional growth, this position promises a rewarding career path in the educational sector, allowing you to make a tangible impact on students' learning experiences.

Benefits

Private Medical Insurance

Electric Vehicle Leasing scheme

Health Care Cash Reward Plan

Life Assurance

Employee assistance program

Strong pension offer (up to 11.5% employer contributions)

25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Extra closure days at Christmas

Volunteering leave

Qualifications

• Recent experience in teaching GCSE and/or A-level languages.
• Ability to communicate effectively with teachers and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Support teachers with planning and delivering language specifications.
• Engage with stakeholders and represent AQA at conferences.

Skills

Teaching experience in GCSE/A-level

Communication skills

Presentation skills

Knowledge of assessment processes

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Degree in Education or relevant subject

Job description

Subject Support Manager, Languages

Subject Support Manager, Languages

Apply locations: Guildford, Milton Keynes, London, Manchester

Time type: Full time

Posted on: Posted 12 Days Ago

Time left to apply: End Date: January 7, 2025 (12 days left to apply)

Job requisition id: R6075

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.

Subject Support Manager – Languages

12-month fixed term contract

Locations: Guildford, London, Manchester or Milton Keynes

South: £43,401 - £49,393

North: £41,684 - £47,436

Hybrid with extensive travel

Closing date is 6th January 2025

Would you like to use your language skills in a varied role, with regular contact with teachers/stakeholders in the language community? Would you like to work in a role where you will be helping with the creation of resources and training, as well as attending conferences and delivering presentations?

Tangible influence is in your grasp. This is a truly great time to join AQA, the leading provider of accessible qualifications and support services for teachers and students in the UK, working within your subject specialism as we grow and diversify our support and product offerings.

Landscape

Being part of the Subject Support team at AQA, you will be pivotal in directly supporting our customers across the range of languages we offer and ensure that AQA is the go-to board for your subject. Subject Support is focused on providing high-quality support for all our customers.

You will liaise with a wide range of subject stakeholders across the UK and work closely with Product Management to provide invaluable insight about how the specifications are delivered in the classroom and what matters most to teachers.

Purpose

You will be able to communicate clearly and effectively with our teaching community to support enquiries around our specifications and assessments. As an educational professional, you will understand teachers’ needs and pressures and feed this into the delivery and support materials and events you are involved with. In this role, you will be able to make a real contribution to educational reform and influence subject-level policy for languages.

What's in it for you?

Career

• Fantastic opportunity to take your assessment and curriculum knowledge from the classroom and support teachers across the UK and abroad in the delivery of their GCSE and A Level courses.
• You will gain valuable insight into assessment content and materials.
• Travel regularly to meet with teachers on a face-to-face basis, with occasional overnight stays and take part in team days in our offices to share best practices with colleagues.
• Contribute to and influence discussions in your subject specialism and represent AQA at key external conferences and national events.
• Enhance and develop your career.

Personal

• A focus on personal and professional growth and development.
• A company that focuses on health, well-being and sustainability by enabling access to Private Medical Insurance, Electric Vehicle Leasing scheme, a Health Care Cash Reward Plan, Life Assurance and an employee assistance program.
• A company that invests in your future with a really strong pension offer (up to 11.5% employer contributions).
• 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays, rising to 30 days with service, extra closure days at Christmas and access to volunteering leave.

What you will do as a Subject Support Manager – Languages

• Respond to a range of email and telephone enquiries from schools and education centres providing a high-quality and responsive customer service.
• Deliver key messages around languages to teachers and other external stakeholders.
• Support teachers to plan and deliver our Languages specifications.
• Engage with teachers both face to face and online using our support materials to support their continuous improvement.
• Act as an internal consultant for Languages to provide insight and training for other colleagues in customer-facing teams.
• Work with external bodies such as subject associations, Ofqual and the DfE.

What you need to succeed?

• Recent experience of teaching GCSE and/or A-level in French, German or Spanish, or in another specialist language.
• Ability to travel extensively with overnight stays on occasion.
• Confidence in communicating with and presenting to customers in a clear and empathetic way, handling objections as they arise.
• Sound understanding of the assessment processes at GCSE and A-level along with a good understanding of the wider educational landscape.
• Ability to articulate effectively the key benefits of AQA’s full Languages suite.

If you share our passion for education and possess the experience and qualities we’re looking for, we’d be delighted to hear from you.

What’s next?

Please submit a CV and Cover letter for consideration.

Expected start date to be in line with teacher notice periods or before if appropriate.

#PRO22

Recruitment Agencies

We have a preferred supplier list (PSL) in place. Unsolicited CVs will be treated as a gift. We will not be subject to or liable under your terms and conditions for agency fees.

Full Job Description

Summary

The key purpose of your role is to support customers, improve customer satisfaction and experience to achieve Customer and Product and organisational objectives. Your role will contribute to and support the planning and delivery of all activities for your subject(s).

The focus will be supporting customers and selling our qualifications through subject expertise, to retain and grow our market share. You will also be responsible for using your subject expertise to provide internal consultancy plus building and maintaining relationships with external stakeholders where needed.

The role will require extensive national travel to represent AQA, deliver to customers and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders.

Landscape:

• To understand the educational landscape particularly within your subject area.
• To understand and engage with the strategic priorities of AQA and its evolving structure.

Activities:

• Achieve challenging goals and milestones for delivery of your subject(s).
• Contribute to planning, monitoring, and delivering Customer and Product priorities for your subject(s).
• Use relevant systems, reports and dashboards to support and record delivery for your subject to meet delivery targets.
• Lead and support projects or workstreams within Customer and Product which are of a commensurate level to your role, maximising development opportunities.
• Engage with key stakeholders to support planning and delivery of priorities e.g., Product Management, Marketing, Sales, Customer Training and Events.
• Contribute to effective identification and management of risks and dependencies.
• Ensure your work supports continuous improvement in process and delivery, to improve customer experience and satisfaction.
• Collaborate with other teams to help reduce failure demand from customers e.g. improved first contact resolution of customer enquiries.
• Promote customer centricity, be an advocate for the customer across the business and provide subject-based customer insight.
• Be a brand advocate for AQA with customers and associates.
• Represent the team, subject, and Customer & Product as part of wider organisational projects and priorities.
• Contribute to business-wide processes where needed to support customer-facing activity e.g. incident management and awarding.
• Responsible for the engagement and management of associates to support delivery to customers within your subject(s) in line with the AQA associate strategy.
• Engage with and influence subject-level stakeholders such as subject associations and learned societies to build advocacy and support and to provide both stakeholder and customer insight to inform current and future developments.
• Present at stakeholder events in collaboration with the Product Management team, in line with the product growth strategy, in order to influence stakeholder views and decisions to ensure AQA is seen as the board of choice for the subject.

To be successful in this role, you will need to demonstrate:

• An excellent understanding of the subject, specifications, and current pedagogy.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills in line with AQA brand and tone of voice.
• Former teaching experience or ability to demonstrate credibility with teachers.
• Leadership skills including stakeholder engagement and collaborative working.
• Influencing and brand advocacy.
• Organisation, planning, and prioritisation skills.
• A continuous improvement mindset.
• A big picture mindset.
• The ability to have robust conversations with customers and stakeholders, own and deliver corporate messages.
• Ability to use relevant data to inform effective delivery and support monitoring of impact to customers.
• Modelling of organisational values and behaviours.
• An understanding of AQA’s assessment products, processes and practices relevant to your subject(s).

About Us

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 have any requirements for reasonable adjustments in relation to the application, interview or the prospective job, please contact Faye Harrison (she/her) at [e-mail] or on 07813 724161. We are asking for this information to make the process as equitable as possible for each candidate. Please note that Faye will not be able to assist you with enquiries regarding Temporary vacancies or non-recruitment enquiries. If you have a query regarding Temporary vacancies, please 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.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

AQA is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community regardless of gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, disability status, citizenship, or any other aspect which makes people unique.

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.