Director of Qualifications and Markets

AQA is the largest provider of academic qualifications taught in schools and colleges in England. With a team of circa 900 employees, we help young people realise their potential, empowering them to realise life opportunities. Our UK qualifications are highly valued by employers and universities around the world. They are taught mainly in schools and colleges and include GCSEs, AS and A-levels, the Extended Project Qualification, the AQA Baccalaureate, Tech-levels and Technical Awards.

We set and mark the papers for around half of all GCSEs and A-levels taken every year and our UK qualifications are internationally recognised and taught in some 30 countries. With nearly 40,000 teachers, lecturers, subject experts and academics helping to set and mark our exams, AQA’s qualifications are highly valued by employers and universities alike, enabling young people to progress to the next stage of their lives. Our turnover is in excess of £170 million and as an independent charity, we reinvest any financial surplus back into education.

As a key member of the Executive Team, our new Director of Qualifications and Markets has a major role to play in determining both AQA’s and the Qualifications and Markets directorate’s strategic direction. Constantly looking ahead to the next examination series, this is a role which requires excellent vision to ensure our strategy for subjects and qualifications aligns seamlessly to market trends, changing customer needs and business strategy. Responsible for enhancing our position with policy makers and a broad range of business-critical stakeholders, this is a role which reaches right across our UK and international markets.

AQA is a unique business and we mark more than 7 million exam scripts every year, and it’s essential that you bring the insight, pace and commercial approach required to succeed in a complex organisation such as ours. With the gravitas and professional credibility required to build strong, sustainable relationships with a wide range of senior stakeholders and regulators across the education sector, you will be an ambitious and inspiring strategic leader ideally with a significant understanding of the examination or education sectors. This role is also a potential future successor for our CEO.

For an informal, confidential discussion about the role please contact our advising consultants at GatenbySanderson: Nick Roberts (07393 013697) or Hilda Gjika (07809 195386).