Head Of Operational Planning And Assurance

Head of Operational Planning & Assurance

Salary: £57,100 - £76,500

Location: Cambridge or Coventry / Hybrid

Contract: Permanent

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

Delivering the best experience for our customers, learners and regulators

We have an exciting new position for a collaborative Head of Operational Planning & Assurance, who will be accountable for establishing and leading a new focussed and coherent Planning and operational assurance function, within UK & International Education Operations.

We are in the process of digitally transforming our assessment operations, not only progressing from paper-based exams to digital exams, but also transforming how we deliver those exams. The Head of Operational Planning & Assurance is pivotal to the success of our innovative new shared Operations function, building the workforce Planning and reporting capabilities we need to be ready to deliver a wider, more flexible range of products in time as digital evolves.

Are you ready to empower and enable the successful delivery of all operational activities and supporting services?

About the role

As the Head of Operational Planning & Assurance you will have accountability for providing the workforce planning, reporting and Assurance required within Education Operations, facilitating effective decision making, managing risk and driving organisational change.

Fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, you'll ensure that operational activities and services are delivered effectively, making a difference every day to our students; allowing them to fulfil their potential.

You'll bring your natural problem-solving skills, focusing on organisation design, processes, services and systems, ensuring they are reliable, modern and fit for purpose to deliver to immovable deadlines. You will meet these challenges positively, using your strong leadership and people management qualities, with the ability to inspire and develop high performing teams.

An expert in data analysis, you will use these skills to create meaningful outcomes, impacting how we deliver timely and accurate examinations and results.

Excited by the opportunity to grow our business, you'll play a pivotal role in leading and coordinating work across Education Operations, involving workforce planning, the provision of management information, resource deployment and risk management. As such, day-to-day you will collaborate with colleagues in International Education and UK Education ensuring Education Operations is on track to deliver the best experience for our learners and teachers.

Learn about our Purpose in this inspiring short film: t.ly/IZnYj 

About you

• Demonstrable experience at a senior level managing and leading Operational teams, you will have examples to share in driving transformational operations change and ensuring a compelling vision for people.
• A strategic thinker with the ability to identify critical factors and variables that will influence the long-term success of the Education Operations team.
• You'll use your data science skills to extract meaningful business insights from data and interpret for a range of audiences.
• Experienced in having full budget accountability and the ability to stay on target with high level financial understanding of levers to drive more profitable processes.
• Excellent written and spoken communicator, you will be able to conduct business and represent Cambridge at the highest levels of industry and government on a global scale, tapping into your high level of intercultural competence.
• Able to develop and cultivate powerful relationships with internal and external colleagues and stakeholders, you'll be able to influence and bring people along on the journey of change.
• Open-minded, curious, and ready to learn, your learning mindset will help you to explore and experiment with latest thinking and approaches on Operational delivery, improving our efficiency, effectiveness, and digital capabilities.

If you would like to know more about this opportunity and what will make you successful, please see the full job description attached to the bottom of this vacancy on our careers site.

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 a hybrid working organisation, and we offer a range of flexible working options from day one. We expect most hybrid-working colleagues to spend 40-60% of their time at their dedicated office or location. We will also consider other work arrangements if you wish to work more flexibly or require adjustments due to a disability.

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.

We review applications on an ongoing basis, with a closing date for all applications being 28 January 2024 and interviews are scheduled to take place w/c 5 February 2024.

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'll belong to a collaborative team that's 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 everyone has a voice, and where we learn continuously to improve together. Ensuring that everyone feels they belong is essential to who we are, and to the contribution we make to society and our planet.

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.