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.

Production Planning Administrator

6-Month FTC (with potential to extend)

Location: Guildford
Salary: £25,300 - £27,300
Hybrid: 2 days per week in the office (up to 4 days during peak periods)

In this role, you'll be responsible for:

You'll play a vital role in helping ensure examination materials are produced accurately and delivered on time for learners across the country. Working as part of the Secure Print Operations team, you'll support the final stages of the question paper production process, helping maintain the accuracy, security and quality standards that are essential to every exam series.

You'll:

• Check and approve final versions of question paper files before they are sent for printing.
• Distribute confidential files securely to internal teams and external suppliers.
• Review printed examination materials to ensure accuracy and quality.
• Manage production records, spreadsheets and tracking information.
• Monitor stock and production data from suppliers and take appropriate action where needed.
• Respond to queries from colleagues and external partners in a professional and timely way.
• Support the management and resolution of production issues.
• Archive examination materials and maintain accurate records.
• Help make final examination files available for centres on exam days.
• Support invoicing and other administrative activities within the team.

What's in it for you?

You'll join a team that sits at the heart of delivering examinations to millions of learners every year. Your work will have a direct impact on ensuring exam materials are produced accurately, securely and on time.

You'll benefit from:

• The opportunity to contribute to a process that supports over 10 million exam papers each year.
• A varied role with a mix of administration, data management, problem solving and stakeholder engagement.
• Working alongside experienced colleagues in a supportive team environment.
• Exposure to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Hybrid working that balances collaboration and flexibility.
• The chance to develop valuable skills in operations, planning, coordination and production management.

You'll thrive in this role if you have:

• Strong attention to detail and enjoy checking information for accuracy.
• Experience managing administrative processes and maintaining accurate records.
• Confidence using spreadsheets and working with data.
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to prioritise competing tasks.
• Strong communication skills and enjoy building positive relationships with stakeholders.
• A proactive approach and the confidence to take ownership of tasks.
• Good problem-solving skills and the ability to remain calm under pressure.
• A collaborative mindset and enjoy working closely with others to achieve shared goals.
• Experience in an administrative, operations, coordination or support role would be beneficial.

Diversity and Inclusion Statement

At AQA, we are committed to fostering a workplace that celebrates diversity and promotes equity and inclusion. We believe that a diverse team brings richer perspectives and drives better outcomes. Our ED&I strategy ensures that everyone—regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, age, disability, sexual orientation, or background—is valued, respected, and empowered to thrive. We actively promote inclusive language, avoid stereotypes, and strive for representation across all dimensions of diversity. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and lived experiences.

What's Next?

• To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter by 23.59 27th September
• Interviews will take place in our Guildford office on w/c 5th October

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Recruitment Agencies

We have a preferred supplier list (PSL) in place.

Unsolicited CVs will be treated as a gift. We will not be subject to or liable under your terms and conditions for agency fees.

Full Job Description

Summary

Purpose: As a Production Planning Administrator, you will be focusing primarily on the latter stages of the question paper printing process, ensuring that the correct question paper documents are progressed and printed, ready for dispatch to centres for examinations. This role is key in upholding AQA’s high standards for reliability and fairness and making sure they never let a learner down.

Your main responsibilities will primarily revolve around the administration of the final stages of the production process. This will include approving documents and hard copies of exams, liaising with internal and external stakeholders to deal with queries and handling data regarding stock levels and production progress. You will also be required to support in making the correct versions of each exam paper available for day of download by centres, as well as filing hard copies of question papers into our archive for reference during the exam series.Landscape:  Each year, there are consistently over 10,000,000 question papers printed for over 500 separate components.  These are not only standard question papers, but also modified versions for candidates who require larger font papers as well as braille and tactile versions.  Your role within Secure Print Operations will act as a link between the Assessment Management team who create the question paper files to the external suppliers who produce the hard copy printed versions. Our main job is to ensure the question paper files get to the external printers in time for them to print the papers to get them ready for dispatch to centres.  This role is critical in getting question papers ready in time for centres to be ready for exams.

Secure Print Operations works as a small team.  As an administrator, you will be led by two leads as well as the department manager.  You will need to be able to communicate with internal colleagues within Assessment Delivery, Assessment Design and Outbound Logistics primarily.  Externally, we have printer companies, braille suppliers, CD duplicators and material suppliers that we also communicate with.

Activities:
Checking final ‘passed for press’ versions of question paper files
Sending checked files to the external printers as well as any other internal colleagues who require them in a secure and prompt fashion
Dealing with queries from internal teams regarding question papers
Checking hard copy versions of question papers
Archiving hard copy versions of question papers
Keeping on top of all administrative requirements in relation to question paper production, including updating all data in our spreadsheets, moving files securely between locations, saving backups of files to name a few
Acquiring data from external suppliers to help monitor stock levels of materials and delivery information and act on the insight required
Creating and updating documents required by internal and external parties which stem from the data we receive through our processes
Supporting in the creation of spreadsheets required by the team to aid our processes
Involved in the management of issues regarding question papers and resolving
Supporting with invoicing where appropriate
Making final versions of all question paper and supplementary files available for day of exam download


To be successful in this role, you will need to know:
Attention To Detail – to spot any possible issues with the material you will be checking
Initiative – to be able to take on tasks that emerge and may not have been part of any previous plans
Effective Communication – you will need to be happy talking to stakeholders inside and outside the company in a positive and professional manner to deal with queries
Problem Solving/decision making – queries can arise which may require you to find out who needs to solve them or potentially find ways of solving them yourself with support from others
Team working – Working alongside others in a co-operative and friendly manner with the collective purpose of achieving the team’s goals.  Making plans together with the other administrators to understand who will do what tasks within the team to help fulfil our purpose
Working under pressure – Our team handle a lot of documents and it’s possible there maybe multiple queries occurring at the same time as well as different tasks that need juggling.  You will need to remain calm so as to better fulfil your tasks in a timely, positive and professional manner
Planning and prioritising – There may be multiple tasks that you need to look at.  You will need to be able to understand what tasks require prioritising and plan to carry out those tasks in an order that makes sense