Quality Assurance Manager

About the job

SFJ Awards

SFJ Awards are a regulated awarding organisation, delivering high quality qualifications and custom certification for learners through approved centres in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. We are also an apprenticeship assessment organisation approved by Ofqual to deliver assessment services for a growing number of standards in England. SFJ Awards is part of the Workforce Development Trust group.

The Workforce Development Trust

The Workforce Development Trust is a not-for-profit organisation that provides services that support employers to develop skilled, sustainable, and efficient workforces in the UK and abroad. We operate via our collective of four brands; Skills for Health, Skills for Justice, SFJ Awards, People 1st International and ICQ Awards, which deliver specialist, targeted skills interventions to support a variety of frontline public services.

Job summary

SFJ Awards provides a range of Awarding Organisation and assurance functions, including regulated qualifications and apprenticeship assessment. The Quality Assurance Manager oversees the day-to-day operation of assessment and quality assurance relating to apprenticeship assessments, qualifications and non-regulated provision.

They will plan and deliver the risk-based approach for the monitoring of qualification and apprenticeship assessments, in line with SFJ Awards requirements.

The post holder will line manage a team of Quality Assurance Officers and any relevant Quality Assurance staff, maintaining effective relationships with Centres, Associates and other internal teams to ensure the smooth operation of the Quality Assurance function and to ensure good customer service.

The Quality Assurance Manager will support the Head of Quality Assurance by ensuring the achievement of the operational objectives that support SFJ Awards strategic priorities.

Key responsibilities

• Acting as a member of the SFJ Awards Management team to ensure that issues are dealt with effectively, and raised with Senior Management when required.
• Daily management of resources to ensure the efficient handling of quality and compliance across apprenticeship assessment, qualifications and non-regulated provision.
• Ensuring that the team meet deadlines in line with agreed ways of working.
• Oversight of the assigning, monitoring and performance managing the work of Associates in a way that supports SFJ Awards Centre Assessment Standards Scrutiny (‘CASS’) strategy and Apprenticeship Assessment strategies.
• Being responsible for the recruitment and onboarding of Associates as required.
• Maintaining up to date CPD records and conflict of interest records for Associates.
• Ensuring apprenticeship assessments take place in line with SFJ Awards policies and procedures.
• Ensuring the quality assurance of qualification Centres, in line with SFJ Awards published Centre Assessment Standards Scrutiny (‘CASS’) approach.
• Ensuring that Centre and Qualification approval applications are processed in an effective manner, underpinning SFJ Awards professionalism and standards from the start of the relationship.
• Ensuring apprenticeship assessments and qualifications are delivered and assessed in line with regulatory requirements.
• Ensure the Quality Assurance team oversee completion of action plans given to SFJ Awards Centres.
• Manage ‘live’ incidents under the supervision of the Head of Quality Assurance and the Responsible Officer. This may include appeals and complaints, Reasonable Adjustment and Special Consideration requests, malpractice and maladministration.
• Arrange the facilitation of regular standardisation events.
• Overseeing the accurate and timely production of Thematic Reviews and any other requests by the regulator.
• The preparation and production of relevant papers for Quality Forum and Quality and Standards Committee, in partnership with SFJ Awards Management Teams.
• Ensuring high levels of customer service and satisfaction in the delivery of SFJ Awards quality improvement and assurance services.
• Supporting the accurate, reliable, consistent, and timely transfer of data to Regulatory bodies to the ISO 27001 standard.
• Any other task as required by the business to ensure smooth operation and excellent customer service.

Sheffield office with hybrid working available.

Salary: £46,000 per annum. Full time (37.5 hrs) permanent role.

Download the full JD here and our job pack here.

Benefits

• Generous annual leave entitlement of up to 25 days per year with additional days’ leave awarded for each continuous year of service up to a maximum of 28 days, plus eight public holidays and a potential Christmas closure.
• The WDT also provides enhanced maternity, paternity and sickness leaves, alongside this we provide bereavement leave and carers leave.
• Health and wellbeing benefits, which include access to our mental health first aiders, a confidential employee assistance programme, free eye tests and payment for an annual flu jab.
• Pension scheme with a minimum contribution of 4% to a maximum contribution of 6%, matched by the company, along with death in service coverage at three times annual salary.
• Flexible employee benefits, including a portal providing hundreds of discounts, including a cycle to work scheme which is available upon successful completion of probation period, as well as a dress for your day approach to working.
• Frequent organisational development days and departmental training budgets.
• Payroll giving, this is a tax-free way to donate to any charity, good cause or place of worship.

The Workforce Development Trust is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes everyone.

We strongly encourage people of all gender, religion, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation, and individuals with disabilities to apply.

If you need any reasonable adjustments at any point, please let us know. In your application, please feel free to advise on your pronouns, for example she/her, he/him, they/them etc.

How to apply

Thank you for your interest in applying. Please click Apply Now to apply for this role. If your application is progressed, a member of the team will be in touch.