Lead Specialist - Education Specialist

Job Title: Lead Specialist, Education Specialist

Role Type: 10-month FTC

Division: Assessment
Reports to: Head of Operations

This role aligns with positions commonly known in the external market as Closure Delivery Lead, Assessment Delivery & Assurance Lead, Assessment Operations Lead or Service Delivery Assurance Manager.

About Pearson

At Pearson, our purpose is to help people realise the life they imagine through learning. We create digital learning experiences, assessments and qualifications that help people build skills and unlock opportunities throughout their lives.

About the role

Help ensure every mark is accounted for and every assessment result is supported by accurate, reliable evidence.

We’re looking for a Closure Delivery Lead to oversee the successful completion of online and exception marking for a high-impact government assessment contract. You’ll ensure marks, scripts, outstanding issues and approvals are reconciled, quality assured and ready for sign-off against fixed contractual deadlines.

As the senior subject-matter expert, you’ll bring together colleagues across Assessment, Operations, Technology, Customer Services and external suppliers to resolve complex issues and provide a clear, trusted view of readiness. Your decisions and recommendations will help protect candidate outcomes and maintain confidence in the assessment service.

This is a senior individual contributor role with no direct reports. You’ll lead through expertise and influence, combining operational understanding with strong analytical judgement, stakeholder management and delivery assurance.

What you’ll do

• Lead end-to-end marking closure. Define and deliver the closure strategy and plan, establishing milestones, dependencies, quality checks, evidence requirements and escalation routes.
• Establish one reliable view of progress. Bring together data on marks, scripts, materials, exceptions and approvals to provide an accurate, reconciled position for decision-makers.
• Resolve complex exceptions. Coordinate the investigation and resolution of missing marks, missing or duplicate scripts, allocation issues and reconciliation discrepancies, ensuring actions are validated and documented.
• Own governance and assurance. Set clear responsibilities, decision thresholds and controls, ensuring closure activities meet contractual, regulatory, quality and information-governance requirements.
• Identify and manage delivery risks. Anticipate issues, initiate recovery plans and escalate material concerns with clear options, recommendations and an assessment of remaining risk.
• Turn data into decisions. Analyse complex operational information, challenge assumptions and produce concise reporting that explains progress, implications and actions required.
• Influence across teams and organisations. Lead readiness and review meetings, align competing priorities and represent closure delivery in service, incident, change and contractual forums.
• Build lasting improvements. Lead lessons-learned reviews and root-cause analysis, strengthening controls, playbooks and processes to reduce repeat issues and manual intervention.
• Develop capability. Coach colleagues in evidence-based decision-making, data interpretation and exception handling, and identify opportunities for responsible automation and process simplification.

What you’ll bring

• Substantial experience in assessment operations, service delivery, results resolution, operational assurance or the delivery of complex regulated services.
• A track record of leading high-stakes delivery or closure activity across multiple functions, influencing others without formal management authority.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret and reconcile complex operational data and translate findings into practical decisions.
• Experience resolving ambiguous operational issues through structured problem-solving and sound professional judgement.
• Experience designing or improving governance, controls, measures, playbooks or operating models used across multiple teams.
• A strong understanding of risk management, assurance, audit evidence, decision records and corrective-action processes.
• Confidence advising and constructively challenging senior colleagues, suppliers and clients, including under significant time pressure.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including executive reporting and leading decision-making meetings.
• Strong prioritisation skills and the ability to maintain accuracy and control against fixed deadlines.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft 365, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, Word and collaboration tools, or equivalent platforms.

It would also be helpful to have

• Knowledge of online or traditional marking, exception handling, post-results services or comparable assessment processes.
• Experience working on government contracts or within an Ofqual-regulated or similarly controlled environment.
• Experience leading incident resolution, audit remediation or service improvement across organisational boundaries.
• Familiarity with quality-management systems, data visualisation, workflow automation or continuous-improvement methods.
• A relevant qualification in service delivery, operations, project or programme management, risk, quality or professional management.

What success looks like

You’ll deliver closure to agreed deadlines, with complete reconciliations, approvals and audit evidence. Senior stakeholders will have a clear understanding of readiness and any remaining risks, while complex exceptions will be resolved or escalated promptly.

Over time, your work will strengthen the service: reducing recurring incidents, improving consistency and helping teams manage closure activity with greater confidence and less reliance on individual intervention.

Why join Pearson?

Your expertise will make a direct contribution to the accuracy and integrity of assessment results. You’ll work across a complex, high-impact service, influence senior decisions and shape improvements that benefit learners, colleagues and future assessment cycles.