Senior Programme Manager - 6756

Cambridge University Press Ltd.; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 81,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading academic publisher is seeking a Senior Programme Manager to lead large-scale projects within the IELTS portfolio. You will manage programme delivery, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and high-quality execution. The role requires significant expertise in programme management and change initiatives, excellent leadership skills, and experience working with diverse stakeholders. This position offers a hybrid work model and a comprehensive benefits package, including a competitive salary and generous leave.

Benefits

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

Qualifications

• Significant experience in managing large-scale projects and programmes.
• Expertise in leading change initiatives on an international scale.
• Strong leadership capabilities for managing teams and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead and implement programs to deliver strategy within the IELTS portfolio.
• Ensure best practice principles are applied in project management.
• Build relationships across all business levels to enhance stakeholder engagement.

Skills

Programme management

Change delivery

Agile methodologies

Leadership

Job description

Job Title: Senior Programme Manager (Assessment)

Salary: £60,400 - £80,800

Location: Cambridge/Hybrid (minimum of 2 days per week in the office)

Contract: Fixed Term (18 months) - 35 hours per week

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

Our mission is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence, which is why every year, we give vital support to millions of people in more than 170 countries around the world. From teachers and learners to researchers and academics, we help to build confidence, unlock potential, and enable success. We give people the opportunity to show what they've learnt, we spread knowledge, spark enquiry, and aid understanding.

We achieve this by embracing change, and continuously focusing on our customers' needs. By collaborating, and carefully listening to our customers and to each other, we keep moving forward, keep innovating, and keep finding newer and better ways of doing things.

About the role

These are exciting times for English as we look to implement a number of significant business transformation programmes within our IELTS portfolio that will assist our organisation in meeting its strategic initiatives. We are seeking to appoint an experienced Senior Programme Manager, who will thrive in delivering in this changing environment and is motivated by providing excellence for our customers.

The Senior Programme Manager will lead the design, planning, and delivery of large-scale projects and programmes in collaboration with senior leaders, from initiation through to implementation. They will oversee Project Managers and ensure high-quality execution across the portfolio. This role requires deep expertise in programme management and change delivery—ideally on an international scale—as well as proven experience managing complex projects and strong leadership capabilities.

What you'll be doing:

• Lead and implement the programmes and projects to deliver English's Strategy within the IELTS portfolio and lead corresponding business transformation in a way which builds customer loyalty, market growth, and a continued desire to do business with English.
• Ensure programmes and projects are managed according to best practice principles – e.g. appropriate governance is in place, required documentation is produced, the business case supports the Business Plan, and budgets are effectively developed and monitored etc.
• Build relationships across all levels throughout the business to support stakeholder engagement and management, ensuring effective collaboration with internal and external providers.
• Contribute to the development of a wide Programme and Project Management community within English in order to align working practices, realise synergies and identify new development opportunities.
• Be a source of expertise and have significant practical experience of analysis, process design, management consultancy and IT-enabled change. Provide support, guidance and mentoring to other team members.

About you

• Lead the delivery of large-scale English assessment, business change, and digital programmes using Agile, Waterfall, and hybrid methodologies.
• Ensure programmes are delivered on time, within budget and scope, and aligned with strategic business objectives.
• Collaborate with senior stakeholders including Programme Executives, Sponsors, IELTS Partners, and Project Leads to manage complex, high-impact initiatives.
• Oversee programme-level planning, benefits tracking, dependency mapping, and risk management across multiple workstreams.
• Support the Project Delivery team through mentoring, training, recruitment input, and development of Project Managers.

If you would like to know more about this opportunity and what will make you successful, including the desired qualifications and experience, 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. We expect most hybrid-working colleagues to spend 40‑60% of their time at their dedicated office or location. We will also consider other work arrangements if you wish to work more flexibly or require adjustments due to a disability.

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.

We review applications on an ongoing basis, with a closing date for all applications being Monday, January 5, 2026. Interviews are scheduled to take place on w/c Monday, January 12, 2026.

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

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.