Head of Professional Development Solutions

Salary: £57,100-£76,450 per annum
Location: The Triangle, Cambridge (minimum of 2 days per week in Cambridge)
Contract: Permanent, full time

Are you ready to transform education systems worldwide?

We're looking for an entrepreneurial and strategic thinker with deep expertise in professional learning and development to join our mission at Cambridge. If you thrive in a fast paced, complex environment, working across cultures and contexts, this is your opportunity to make a lasting difference.

We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.

About the role

As our Head of Professional Development Solutions, you'll play a pivotal role in shaping Cambridge's global education reform strategy. Drawing on your deep expertise in teacher and school leadership development, you'll design innovative, evidence-based professional learning solutions that respond to diverse educational needs around the world. Working directly with government and donor organisations, this role is all about turning insight into impact-and expanding access to high quality education.

Lead with Expertise

• Be our go-to expert on professional learning in education reform-bringing fresh thinking, global insight, and strategic direction.
• Represent Cambridge at senior-level meetings, conferences, and public events, positioning us as a global leader in education reform.

Design with Purpose

• Lead the creation of cutting-edge professional development solutions that are scalable, evidence-based, and tailored to diverse contexts.
• Conduct needs analyses and scoping missions to deeply understand customer challenges and opportunities.
• Collaborate with internal and external experts to design holistic, high-impact learning journeys for educators and leaders.

Deliver with Impact

• Support the delivery of education reform projects by commissioning and guiding external specialists, and ensuring quality and consistency across all outputs.
• Provide hands-on support to delivery teams, from technical input to quality assurance and problem-solving.

About you

You're a strategic and creative education professional with a deep understanding of teacher and school leadership development, especially in the context of global education reform. You thrive on turning complex challenges into innovative, evidence-based solutions and are confident engaging with senior stakeholders, whether in government, donor agencies, or schools.

You're a natural collaborator, skilled at navigating diverse cultural and policy environments, and you bring clarity, insight, and impact to everything you do. You're also an experienced team leader, able to manage people and partnerships with care, ensuring the right expertise is in place and resources are aligned to deliver exceptional results. Above all, you're passionate about empowering educators and driving meaningful change in education systems worldwide.

If you would like to know more about this opportunity and what will make you successful, please see the full job description attached to the bottom of this vacancy on our careers site.

Rewards and benefits

We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package, featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including:

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Group personal pension scheme
• Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary
• Green travel schemes

We are a hybrid working organisation, and we offer a range of flexible working options from day one. To live our core value of collaboration, we expect all colleagues to spend a minimum of 2 days per week in our Cambridge office, where many of the key stakeholders for this role are based. In addition, this role will require regular international travel.

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.

We review applications on an ongoing basis, with a closing date for all applications being 1st September with interviews taking place throughout September.

Interview Process:

1st Round: 30 minute virtual call

2nd Round: 60 minute virtual technical pitch. Including presentation & Q&A

3rd Round: 60 minute face-to-face competency & leadership Q&A

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is an approved UK employer for the sponsorship of eligible roles and applicants under the Skilled Worker visa route. Please refer to the gov.uk website for guidance to understand your own eligibility based on the role you are applying for.

Why Join Us

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You'll belong to a collaborative team that's exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe - for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it's safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background.

We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.