Most L&D leadership roles trap you in endless meetings and spreadsheets, cut off from the real work that matters. This role is different: you'll lead a dispersed team of vocational assessors while staying hands-on with quality assurance, shaping how thousands of learners across the UK achieve recognised qualifications and transform their lives
You'll be the person who sets the standard for excellence across multiple qualification pathways. Every day, you're coaching assessors to be better, spotting where learners are struggling and stepping in to help, reviewing assessments to catch gaps before they become failures. This isn't desk-bound leadership; it's active, visible and directly tied to real outcomes
The team you're leading is spread across the country, which means you'll get genuine flexibility: work your full-time hours over 4 days if you want a long weekend, or spread across 5 days to suit your life. Travel is part of the role, but you're not commuting daily. You'll visit the Widnes or Aberdeen office at least once a week to stay connected, then work from anywhere that suits you the rest of the time
You'll be joining a values-driven social care charity with a genuine track record of investing in people. They've built an online training platform where you can upskill and learn new things, they offer 24/7 employee assistance and a wellbeing fund, and they actually mean it when they say they develop their people. This is the kind of place where your expertise doesn't just sit in reports; it actively influences the future capability of the entire workforce
With your IQA qualification and assessor background, you'll see exactly where your leadership makes a difference. You're not managing people to hit targets; you're enabling assessors to deliver better learning experiences, which means more learners succeed and more lives genuinely change
What you will be doing
- Lead and develop a geographically dispersed team of vocational assessors, coaching them through observations, feedback and standardisation to drive consistency in assessment practice
- Act as the organisation's Lead Internal Quality Assurer, managing robust IQA and Internal Verification processes across multiple qualification pathways and ensuring compliance with awarding body and regulatory requirements
- Monitor learner progression from enrolment through to completion, managing qualification pipelines, tracking achievement targets and KPIs, and using data to identify trends, risks and improvement opportunities
- Manage assessor capacity, capability and utilisation to ensure sustainable and efficient delivery, whilst also supporting the development of future qualification pathways and assessor specialisms
- Build and maintain positive relationships with operational leaders, stakeholders and awarding bodies, ensuring the service meets its obligations and stays ahead of regulatory changes
Why you will love working here
- Genuine flexibility: work your full-time hours over 4 days for a long weekend, or spread across 5 days - the choice is yours, and you're not commuting daily
- Career development you can actually feel: access to an online training platform, support to upskill and take new qualifications, and a culture that genuinely invests in your progression
- Real support for your life: 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, financial support options, a wellbeing fund, retail and holiday discounts, and travel discounts through the benefits app
- Leadership that matters: you're not managing numbers, you're enabling assessors to deliver better learning and helping thousands of learners achieve recognised qualifications
- A permanent role with an award-winning charity where your expertise directly influences the future capability of the entire workforce
Is this you?
- Are you a qualified Internal Quality Assurer (V1, IQA or equivalent) with substantial experience in regulated vocational qualification environments?
- Do you have either a formal Assessor qualification or equivalent vocational assessment experience, and have you led, coached or managed vocational assessors or learning professionals before?
- Can you analyse learner and performance data to spot patterns and drive improvement, and are you comfortable working with learning management systems and reporting tools?
- Do you have strong knowledge of quality assurance, verification and compliance requirements, and experience managing qualification programmes and completion targets?
- Are you willing to travel nationally, and do you have excellent stakeholder management and communication skills to work across a dispersed team and multiple awarding bodies?
- Bonus: Do you have knowledge of English and Scottish qualification frameworks, or experience with Health & Social Care qualifications including NVQs and SVQs?
Applications close on 12 October 2026. Great roles like this are filled quickly, so the sooner you apply the better.
Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All roles are subject to an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references.