Head of Standards & Verification

This job is brought to you by Jobs/Redefined, the UK's leading over-50s age inclusive jobs board.

Job Description

Permanent Full-time

Location: Remote/Agile, UK

Reports to: Chief Regulatory Officer

Salary: Depending on experience

Line management responsibilities: Yes

Overview

About TQUK

Training Qualifications UK is the fastest-growing Awarding Organisation in the UK, and a market-leading End-Point Assessment Organisation. We work with over 500 schools, colleges, universities, and training providers across the world to provide qualification certificates, endorsements, and apprenticeships to over 150,000 learners.

What's the secret to our success? Simply put, we do things differently here!

About the role

The Standards and Verification Pillar is at the heart of our awarding and quality assurance. It ensures that every certificate we issue reflects genuine achievement, and that employers, educators, and learners can trust in the quality of our awards.

We are seeking an experienced and strategic leader to head up both our External Quality Assurance (EQA) and Awarding functions. The Head of Standards will be accountable for the delivery of awarding and quality assurance processes across all TQUK qualifications, ensuring that standards are set, maintained, and continuously improved. This role is central to safeguarding the integrity of our qualifications and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the Awarding, External Quality Assurance, and Centre Compliance teams.
• Own and deliver TQUK's awarding and quality assurance strategies, ensuring they are fully embedded across processes and compliant with Ofqual and CCEA Regulation.
• Set and maintain robust standards for assessments, supported by clear evidence.
• Oversee the investigation and resolution of malpractice and maladministration cases, ensuring appropriate escalation and regulatory compliance.
• Monitor and analyse assessment performance data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
• Collaborate with Product Development, Compliance, and other senior leaders to ensure qualifications are delivered and awarded efficiently, effectively, and compliantly.
• Manage budgets and resources to deliver projects on time, within scope, and to a high standard.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, efficiency, and psychological safety within and across teams.
• Develop and implement systems, processes, and structures for efficient service delivery and optimal resource use.
• Ensure customer requirements are embedded in awarding and quality assurance processes.
• Act as a senior representative of TQUK, engaging confidently with regulators, stakeholders, and sector bodies.
• Keep up to date with sector and regulatory developments in assessment, awarding, and quality assurance, in the UK and internationally. Identify and manage potential conflicts of interest, escalating as necessary.
• Contribute to sector engagement through articles, events, and forums.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Proven leadership experience, ideally in an awarding organisation or regulatory environment.
• Strong understanding of assessment principles, awarding processes, and Ofqual/CCEA regulatory requirements.
• Analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex data and make evidence-based decisions.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage diverse stakeholders.
• Experience leading teams through change and building collaborative, improvement-focused cultures.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Knowledge of the vocational education landscape and current sector reforms.

Key Benefits

• Training, Qualifications & Apprenticeships. It's what we do!
• 25 days annual leave plus 8 days Bank Holiday (33 in total)
• Additional annual leave day each year, after 2 years of continuous service (up to 28 days)
• An extra day off to celebrate your birthday
• Annual Loyalty Bonus
• Annual salary review
• Bupa healthcare benefits
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• NEST pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• A positive and supportive working environment
• Comprehensive onboarding
• A workplace that supports a healthy work/life balance.

Please see the full person specification here.

* We are an equal opportunities employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Should you require any additional support during the recruitment process due to a disability, please contact us so we can assist you.