Planning Manager, Sales and Subject Support

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.

Job title: Planning Manager
Contract type: Permanent
Location: Guildford and Manchester
Salary: Guildford - £54,700 to £62,400 and Manchester - £52,500 to £59,900
Working Arrangements: Hybrid working – 2 days a week in office

Are you at your best when bringing clarity to complexity?

As Planning Manager, you'll help bring together Sales and Subject Support activity through clear planning, strong governance and data-led decision making. You'll work with senior leaders to turn priorities into coordinated action that delivers meaningful outcomes for customers and learners.

Purpose of the role

This role sits at the heart of AQA's integrated go-to-market approach. You'll lead planning frameworks, coordinate priorities across our Sales and Subject support teams and provide oversight of delivery, risks and resource requirements.

Your work will help ensure customer engagement activity is aligned, effective and supports AQA's mission of helping learners realise their potential. You'll play a key part in improving visibility, accountability and collaboration across Sales and Subject Support, helping teams focus on the activity that delivers the greatest impact for centres, trusts and subject communities.

In this role, you'll be responsible for:

• Leading planning, governance and delivery oversight across Sales and Subject Support, ensuring activity aligns with strategic priorities and customer needs.
• Working with senior stakeholders to manage priorities, risks, dependencies, capacity and resources across multiple programmes, campaigns and initiatives.
• Leading and developing a team of Coordinators and Analysts, creating a collaborative, high-performing environment and ensuring delivery is supported by robust tracking, analysis and insight.
• Using performance data, reporting and insight to support decision making, drive continuous improvement and ensure effective delivery against agreed objectives.

You'll thrive in this role if you're highly organised, enjoy bringing structure to complexity and can build strong relationships across a wide range of stakeholders. You’ll bring:

• Experience leading planning, operational coordination, project management or programme delivery activities within complex environments.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to influence, challenge constructively and build alignment across senior teams.
• Experience leading, coaching and developing individuals within a collaborative, high-performing team environment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret data and turn insight into practical actions and recommendations.
• Experience working in customer-focused, sales, support, marketing or go-to-market environments would be advantageous.

What's in It for You

This is a great opportunity to influence strategically important activity while developing your leadership and planning expertise within a purpose-driven organisation.

• The opportunity to shape activity that supports schools, teachers and learners across the UK.
• Exposure to senior leadership and cross-functional decision making across multiple business areas.
• Opportunities to develop your leadership, programme management and operational planning skills.
• The chance to work within an organisation that values collaboration, innovation and continuous improvement.

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.

Application process

• To apply, please submit your CV and a cover letter outlining your suitability for the role by 23.59 on Sunday 26 July.
• First stage interviews will take place remotely on Tuesday 04 and Wednesday 05 August, second stage interviews will take place in our Manchester office on Monday 10 August and London office on Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 August.

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Recruitment Agencies

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Full Job Description

Summary

Job Profile Summary
The Planning Manager is responsible for leading the planning framework, governance and delivery oversight for Sales and Subject Support activity within the Commercial Directorate. The role supports AQA’s integrated go-to-market approach by ensuring that activities are prioritised, planned coherently, resourced effectively, governed robustly and delivered with clear visibility and accountability.
Working closely with leaders across the business, the postholder will shape shared priorities, provide constructive challenge, manage interdependencies, oversee resource and capacity planning, and use systems, data and insight to support escalation, prioritisation and senior decision-making.
The role will play a key part in embedding the operating rhythm required to support reform. This includes shared priority planning, Ladder of Adoption (AQA’s opportunity pipeline) progression, centre, trust, segment and subject-specification-level activity planning, pipeline discipline, formal governance, risk and issue management, performance reporting and continuous improvement.
The postholder will provide leadership to a team of Coordinators and Analysts, ensuring the team provides the insight, delivery discipline and operational analysis needed to inform senior choices, keep delivery on track, identify risks and opportunities early, and drive greater efficiency and effectiveness across Sales and Subject Support.Landscape 
The Planning Manager operates within a fast-paced, customer-focused environment, supporting the delivery of AQA’s integrated go-to-market activity across Sales and Subject Support. This includes both AQA’s General Qualifications product portfolio and Unit Award Scheme. 
The role is central to ensuring that activity across Sales and Subject Support is led through a clear planning framework, aligned to shared priorities, customer journeys and measurable progression, and challenged where needed, in partnership with adjacent functions such as Marketing and Product Management. 
A key focus of the role will be supporting the practical implementation of integrated go-to-market ways of working. This includes helping teams plan and manage activity at centre, trust, segment and subject-specification level, using agreed segmentation and customer insight. 
The postholder will drive improvements in operational consistency, visibility, governance, efficiency and effectiveness, ensuring that senior leaders have a clear view of priorities, risks, resource requirements, delivery progress, operational impact and decision-making options. 
Activities 
Leading the planning framework and priority-setting approach across Sales and Subject Support, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives. 
Designing, developing and managing operational plans, frameworks and governance processes that enable effective execution across Sales and Subject Support. 
Owning and managing the operating rhythm for Sales and Subject Support activity, including planning cycles, priority reviews, delivery checkpoints, capacity reviews and performance reporting. 
Working with Regional Sales Managers, Portfolio Leads, Subject Support leaders and senior stakeholders to shape priorities, provide constructive challenge, manage interdependencies, risks and delivery timelines across multiple initiatives. This includes managing the action and risk logs for the area. 
Leading and embedding the use of the Ladder of Adoption as a shared planning and progression framework, helping ensure that activity is linked to customer movement from awareness and interest through to commitment, onboarding and entries. 
Overseeing planning at centre, trust, segment, subject and specification level, ensuring that subject and support requirements are clearly identified and coordinated. 
Leading resource and capacity planning across relevant teams, ensuring that people, budget and external support are aligned to business demand and strategic priorities. 
Lead Coordinators and Analysts to provide robust delivery tracking, performance insight and operational analysis, ensuring risks, issues and improvement opportunities are identified early and translated into clear actions. 
Monitor delivery performance, identify risks and issues, and provide clear insight, challenge and evidence-based recommendations to senior leadership to support informed decision-making. 
Supporting effective use of systems and tools, such as Microsoft Dynamics, LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Power BI, to improve planning visibility, activity tracking and performance oversight. 
Leading continuous improvement activity to enhance operational efficiency, planning effectiveness, governance, reporting and cross-functional ways of working. 
Manage allocated budgets where appropriate. 
Acting as a key liaison between Sales, Subject Support and functions across the organisation, influencing alignment and supporting senior-level trade-off decisions where priorities, capacity or risks need resolution. 
 
Need to Know 
To be successful in this role, the postholder will need: 
Experience of leading planning, scheduling, operational coordination or delivery oversight across complex programmes or business functions. 
Strong leadership and people management capability, with experience of developing, coaching, motivating and supporting high-performing teams. 
Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders, provide constructive challenge, negotiate priorities and build effective relationships at senior levels. 
Strong operational and strategic planning expertise, including experience translating business priorities into clear plans, milestones, governance processes and decision-ready delivery actions. 
Proven project and programme management capability, including experience managing risks, dependencies, resources, timelines and continuous improvement activity. 
Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret data, identify risks, understand operational demand and recommend practical solutions. 
Strong commercial and operational awareness, ideally within customer-focused, sales, education, support or go-to-market environments. 
Experience using data, reporting, CRM and planning systems to support prioritisation, performance management and delivery oversight. 
Ability to support activity across multiple customer journeys, workstreams, campaigns or operational priorities. 
Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across multi-functional teams. 
Responsibilities 
Lead the planning framework, governance and delivery oversight of Sales and Subject Support activity, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities and reform activity within the scope of the integrated go-to-market model. 
Provide effective leadership and line management to Coordinators and Analysts, fostering a high-performing, collaborative and development-focused team culture. 
Support the successful delivery of initiatives that enhance customer engagement, strengthen subject support, improve operational coordination and contribute to commercial and customer outcomes. 
Act as a central point of coordination between Sales, Subject Support, wider directorate planning functions and other directorates to ensure aligned and integrated delivery, while shaping priorities, escalating trade-offs and supporting senior decision-making. This will include coordination with the Further Education Partnerships team within the Vocational Business Unit. 
Partner with Regional Sales Managers, Portfolio Leads and senior stakeholders to influence and shape cross-functional activity, dependencies, risks and priorities across teams and programmes of work. 
Lead shared planning including centre, trust and subject-specification-level prioritisation, resource allocation and capacity-based recommendations. 
Monitor delivery performance, identify and escalate risks or issues, and provide clear, timely reporting, options and evidence-based recommendations to senior leadership. 
Drive continuous improvement across planning, operational processes, reporting, governance and ways of working to increase efficiency, effectiveness and overall business impact. 
 
Qualifications / Education 
N/A 
 
Work Experience 
Significant experience in planning, scheduling, operational coordination or project/programme management. 
Proven experience in people leadership and line management. 
Experience working with senior stakeholders to shape priorities, influence decisions, manage risks, dependencies, resources and delivery. 
Experience using data, reporting and CRM systems to support planning, prioritisation and performance oversight. 
A background in sales planning, customer support, customer-facing operations, marketing operations or go-to-market planning is desirable. 
 
Competencies 
Leadership and people management. 
Strategic planning and operational execution. 
Stakeholder management and influence. 
Planning framework leadership, governance and delivery oversight. 
Analytical thinking and problem-solving. 
Commercial and customer awareness. 
Communication and collaboration. 
Governance, reporting and risk management. 
Continuous improvement mindset. 
Data-led planning and prioritisation.