Quality Specialist (England)

Location: We offer employees the opportunity to work flexibly from home, providing it is within the UK. There will be a need to visit higher education providers in this role.

Hours: 35 hours per week, flexible working available

This is an exciting time to join an organisation with an essential role in the UK’s tertiary education sector.

QAA is the UK’s independent quality body for tertiary education, and our purpose is to ensure that students and learners experience the highest possible quality of education. We have changed to meet the evolving needs of a sector that has undergone reform across all nations of the UK.

We are the UK’s authority on quality and standards, acting as custodian on behalf of the sector of reference points including the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, Subject Benchmark Statements, and the Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications. 

Throughout the UK we are the trusted partner of governments and funding bodies. In Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, we work in collaboration with the sector to meet the needs of each nation. In England, our highly successful membership programme provides a rich source of resources to strategic leads, quality specialists, and students and learners alike. Globally we are recognised as one of the world's leading quality bodies and support the UK sector as it welcomes international students and extends its reach through transnational education.

We are a world-leading quality agency with unmatched experience of providing impartial regulatory and collaborative quality assurance and enhancement. We support universities and colleges in working with students and learners, governments, funders and regulatory bodies to evidence and enhance the excellent quality and high standards of the education they provide.

We are a remote first organisation and encourage day-to-day flexibility. It’s important to us that our working environment enables us to deliver our services in a way and location that provides the best outcomes for our stakeholders and customers and meets their expectations. Alongside this we want individuals and teams to feel empowered to work where, when, and how they want, providing that business needs are met.

About the role

In this role you will contribute to the development, delivery, and management of QAA's portfolio of services that are available to educational institutions in England (see Products and Services). We offer providers valuable guidance and support relating to the quality and standards of higher education including:

• support for providers applying for registration or conferment of degree awarding powers with the OfS,
• our ESG compliant, kite-marked Elective Quality Review, and
• our Targeted Quality and Standards service that provides a detailed deep-dive and skilled analysis in a targeted area identified by a provider.

These services are founded upon the reputation of QAA as a key upholder of quality and standards. Their flexibility enables us to work with providers in ways that meet their specific requirements with each service built upon transparent and effective processes.

In this role you will liaise closely with relevant providers, stakeholders and organisations to build trust and partnerships across higher education, delivering our services to an exacting and high standard. You will lead teams of reviewers in the delivery of our services and support the Head in managing the portfolio of activities and collaborate in the development and design of new services too.

About you

If you have significant experience of working in quality in higher education in England, we want to hear from you. Your understanding of quality systems and processes will include undertaking and supporting review, validation, and developmental activities. You will be comfortable leading and working closely with a team to deliver high quality outcomes in a logical and transparent, manner, disseminating your findings face-to-face and in comprehensive written reports. Knowledge of the OfS regulatory framework and experience of working with, or to, OfS requirements and criteria will be an advantage.

More information about this role can be found in the job description. If you would like more information in advance of applying please contact careers@qaa.ac.uk

The closing date for applications is 19 January 2025 so please do not hesitate to apply.

To apply, please create a profile on our recruitment portal and submit your CV with a covering letter outlining your experience (via the ‘Apply’ button above). Only applications which include a CV, and a cover letter will be considered for the role.

QAA recognises the positive benefits of equity, diversity and inclusion. Our aim is to be truly representative of all sections of society, and for all to feel respected, free to be themselves no matter what their identity or background, and able to give their best. We value the differences that a variety of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives and skills brings and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants to apply and join us.

We are committed to ensuring accessibility for all applicants. If you need any reasonable adjustments to participate in the recruitment process, please careers@qaa.ac.uk. We are committed to working with all to understand what accommodations are necessary to ensure a fair and accessible process.

If you have not heard from QAA within three weeks of the closing date for this vacancy, then your application has not been successful. Please be aware that we are unable to provide feedback on individual job applications.