Head of STEM and Innovation

At AQA, we're committed to advancing education and we're committed to our people. As the largest provider of academic qualifications in the UK, we mark over 10 million exam papers each year and it's our people who make this happen.

Head of STEM Product and Innovation

Contract type: Permanent
Location: Manchester / Milton Keynes / London / Guildford
Salary: £95,000-£113,000 South / £92,000-£109,000 North
Working arrangements: Hybrid, with two days per week in an AQA office or offsite with customers and stakeholders

Shape the future of Science and Maths qualifications at a moment when the choices made now could influence millions of learners for years to come. This is a rare opportunity to take strategic ownership of two nationally significant subject portfolios at a pivotal point of reform. You'll have the scope to set the vision for Science and Maths, turn ambitious ideas into viable products and shape how world-class qualifications and brilliant teacher support come together to support outstanding Science and Maths education. You'll work at the intersection of education, product and commercial strategy, with the visibility to influence decision-making inside AQA and represent your thinking with government, regulators and the wider STEM community. With more than 700,000 learners taking AQA GCSEs in Maths and Science each year, the reach of your decisions is substantial.

Responsibilities

• Setting and owning the strategy for the Science and Maths portfolio through qualification reform, with accountability for market share, revenue and profitability.
• Shaping the strategic design of future GCSE and A-level Science and Maths qualifications and the support that helps teachers deliver them well.
• Combining ambitious vision with commercial decision-making, balancing educational quality, customer need, market opportunity and long-term sustainability.
• Impactful, inclusive leadership within your own portfolio and across the organisation.
• Leading product innovation across the portfolio, contributing to cross-organisation thinking in areas such as digital and non-exam assessment.
• Leading and developing a combined Science and Maths Product team eight colleagues through two sector leads.
• Using your credibility and judgement to influence senior stakeholders including the Department for Education, Ofqual, subject associations and the STEM education community.

Requirements

• The subject credibility with the strategic and commercial judgement to turn ideas into decisions, products and outcomes.
• Significant experience and credibility in secondary Science and Maths.
• Experience leading at a senior strategic level, with evidence of setting direction and making commercially grounded product or portfolio decisions.
• Experience of leading significant change, innovation or product development in assessment, qualifications, educational publishing, EdTech or a comparable education setting.
• The ability to create an ambitious vision, make progress through uncertainty and bring people with you through change.
• Credibility with senior stakeholders and the potential to represent a major education organisation externally.
• Direct assessment experience and digital assessment experience would be advantageous rather than the only route into the role.

What's in it for you? This is a career-defining opportunity to combine strategic and commercial thinking, bold ideas and inclusive leadership with national educational influence. The opportunity to shape GCSE and A-level Science and Maths at a pivotal point of reform, influencing qualifications that will be taken by millions of young people over the coming years. Real strategic ownership, spanning product direction, commercial performance, innovation, digital development and the future teacher support offer. High-profile influence with senior leaders and external stakeholders including the Department for Education, Ofqual and the wider STEM education community. The chance to build something new: this is a newly created senior role bringing Science and Maths leadership together and adding a broader innovation remit.

A 35-hour working week with flexible, hybrid working, 25 days' annual leave rising to 30 with service, plus additional Christmas closure days. A generous pension with combined contributions of up to 18.5% from your first day, alongside BUPA private medical insurance and a healthcare cash plan. Wellbeing support, up to five paid volunteering days each year and access to employee networks supporting LGBTQ+, neurodiversity, empowering women, wellbeing, ethnic diversity and interfaith communities.

Diversity and Inclusion Statement At AQA, we're committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels they belong and can do their best work. We value the different perspectives, experiences and backgrounds our people bring, knowing they strengthen our culture, decision-making and impact. We foster an inclusive environment where everyone is treated with respect, has access to opportunities to grow and contribute, and feels able to be themselves. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and lived experiences.

Full Job Description Summary Purpose The Head of STEM and Innovation provides senior strategic leadership for AQA's Science and Maths portfolio at a critical time of reform. They are fully accountable for the success and long-term sustainability of the Science and Maths product offer, setting its strategic direction and translating organisational and reform strategy into coherent product strategies and portfolio plans. They will bring strategic oversight and coherence to the wider STEM portfolio, working with colleagues across Product. The role also provides senior strategic leadership of innovation in AQA's GQ Product portfolio, helping to lead cross-business work in areas such as digital, non-exam assessment (NEA) and practical skills.

Landscape Science and Maths are among AQA's most strategically important subjects, and this role brings them together with innovation under a single senior lead. The postholder will lead the Science and Maths Product teams. Direct reports will be Sector Leads for Science and Maths, who in turn manage Product Managers and Resource Managers, making a total team of around eight. The role will work closely with senior leaders across the business, in particular the Head of Reform Strategy; Heads of Product; the Head of Assessment Research, Technology and Implementation; the Head of Assessment Design & Principles; and colleagues across Commercial, Assessment Design & Principles and Assessment Technology. The postholder will chair the Science and Maths reform working groups and sit on relevant boards or cross-business groups relating to innovation. The role will be a visible, credible and experienced senior leader in Science and Maths, both internally and externally. They will represent AQA with external stakeholders including DfE, Ofqual, subject associations and the wider STEM education community.

Activities

• Set and own the strategic direction for AQA's Science and Maths portfolio through reform, translating organisational and GQ reform strategy into clear, evidence-based subject strategies and plans that defend and grow market share.
• Take full accountability for the success of the Science and Maths portfolios, including market performance, customer satisfaction, and revenue and profitability targets.
• Provide strategic oversight of the wider STEM portfolio, working with other Product colleagues to ensure coherence, share approaches and maximise opportunities across STEM subjects.
• Lead the strategic design of reformed Science and Maths qualifications and support, working with Assessment and other colleagues to ensure reformed qualifications are valid, innovative, inclusive and responsive to evolving educational needs.
• Shape a comprehensive and innovative Science and Maths support offer, working with colleagues across the business and using technology where it adds value.
• Chair the cross-functional Science and Maths reform working groups, bringing together key colleagues from across the business to develop and oversee AQA's reform strategies in these subjects to achieve organisational objectives.
• Act as the Product strategic lead for innovation across GQ, helping to shape and lead the development of cross-business approaches in areas such as digital, NEA and practical skills.
• Ensure STEM subjects lead the way on innovation, identifying where these subjects can develop and prove new approaches, and building the evidence and business case for wider adoption.
• Draw on market and customer insight, research and policy developments to anticipate change and competitor activity, and ensure strategic decisions are well evidenced.
• Inform and influence strategic decision-making at the most senior levels of the organisation on Science, Maths and innovation, and contribute to cross-cutting reform decisions such as product prioritisation, pricing and target setting.
• Represent AQA as a credible authority on Science, Maths and innovation, building strong relationships with DfE, Ofqual, subject associations and other stakeholders, and influencing policy where appropriate.
• Oversee annual and medium-term product roadmaps across the portfolio, balancing quality, customer needs, commercial viability and stakeholder interests, and manage the portfolio across its full lifecycle.
• Lead Product Management requirements for the portfolio, including pricing, the Product Performance Review cycle, profitability, business cases and budgets, working with Finance on financial targets and pricing policy.
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