Vacancy -- Member - Qualifications Wales (Welsh Essential)

Vacancy details

Qualifications Wales
Qualifications Wales, Q2 Building, Pencarn Lane, Imperial Park, Coedkernew, Newport, NP10 8AR
£282 per day based on a maximum time commitment of 36 days per year plus travel and other reasonable expenses within reasonable limits.
1
month

Function of body

Overview

Under the Qualifications Wales Act 2015, Qualifications Wales became responsible for the regulation of awarding bodies and the quality assurance of non-degree qualifications delivered in Wales. Qualifications Wales, as an independent statutory body, is well placed to ensure that qualifications offered in Wales meet the needs of learners, employers and the economy.

Qualifications Wales is the principal authority on qualifications in Wales and provides professional advice to the Welsh Ministers on relevant matters as well as information, advice and support to a wide range of stakeholders. It communicates the value of qualifications offered in Wales to stakeholders inside and outside of Wales.

Qualifications Wales is independent from the Welsh Government. It takes professional and autonomous decisions on qualifications. It leads on aspects of qualifications policy development. It reports to the National Assembly for Wales on how it has fulfilled and how it plans to fulfil its functions.   

         

Governance

The body is a Welsh Government Sponsored Body and as such is accountable for the governance of public funds. However, Qualifications Wales is the independent regulator accountable for delivery of its functions to the National Assembly for Wales. The Board of Qualifications Wales has an independent Chair and between 8 and 10 non-executive members.

The appointment process for the non-executive members is made in accordance with the Commissioner’s Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies.

 

The Board’s Role 

The role of the Board is to provide strong governance and effective leadership, to develop the strategic plan for Qualifications Wales and set challenging objectives. The Board promotes high standards of public accountability and upholds the principles of regularity, propriety and value for money. It ensures that Qualifications Wales’ activities are conducted efficiently and effectively and it monitors performance to ensure that the body fully meets its aims, objectives and performance targets. 

The Board has overarching governance arrangements and delegates its functions to officers through a scheme of delegation covering both financial and non-financial matters.

Role description

Roles & responsibilities of the board

  • Provide strategic direction and leadership, driving performance and hold the Body to account against its strategic and corporate plans.

  • Ensure propriety, regularity, economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the operation of the body. 

  • Adhere to the seven principles of public life (the Nolan principles).

  • Together with other Board members, ensure that the Body fulfils its statutory aims and objectives.

  • Be a champion for the organisation and its aims and objectives. Be a role model for both staff and stakeholders.

  • Work co-operatively to build relationships with all stakeholders including key Welsh Government Departments, particularly the Department for Education and Public Services. 

  • Have an understanding of, and commitment to, the principles of public life 

  • A clear understanding and commitment to equality and diversity and a willingness to challenge discriminatory practices

Welsh language skills

The Welsh Government acknowledges the importance of developing and growing bilingual capabilities in public appointments in Wales, and welcomes applications from candidates who demonstrate their capability to work in both English and Welsh.  The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the recruiting body of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.
Essential
Full understanding of all work related material
Can prepare written material for all work-related matters
Can understand all work-related conversations
Fluent

Person specification

To be considered, you must be able to demonstrate that you have the qualities, skills and experience to meet all the essential criteria for appointment.

  • the ability to bring fresh ideas to discussions on both strategic and practical issues outside of your areas of expertise;
  • the ability to oversee, direct and/or make decisions in the face of political or financial uncertainty; 
  • the ability and experience to scrutinise our work to ensure that any reforms to qualifications are manageable, engaging and designed to meet the intended vision;
  • a wide understanding of education issues in Wales. This knowledge may have been gained in any walk of life, including community involvement, voluntary work or professional background;
  • An appreciation of the work of Qualifications Wales and its work with stakeholders.;
  • An understanding of, and commitment to, the principles of public life (Nolan Principles);
  • A clear understanding and commitment to equality and diversity and a willingness to challenge discriminatory practices.

 

Expertise in the following areas is required – drawn from any industry sector:
 

  • Regulation - expertise in regulating rather than being regulated (at least one post)
  • Assessment – expertise in the theory and application of assessment and quality assurance (at least two posts)
  • Business management – private sector expertise (at least one post)

Interview dates

23 November 2020
27 November 2020

Closing date

16/10/2020, 16:00

Additional information

How to apply

To apply for this role, click on the ‘Apply’ button below. The first time you apply for a post, you will need to complete a registration form for the Welsh Government’s online application system.  You will only need to register once, and you will be able to keep yourself updated on the progress of your application, and any other applications you make, via your registered account.

Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to access the application form.  To apply you will need to submit two supporting documents. The first, a document outlining how your knowledge, skills and experiences meet the criteria for the role as outlined in the information for candidates.  This document should be no more than 2 sides of A4.  Your application may be rejected if you exceed this limit.  The second document is a full, up to date CV.  The two documents should be uploaded to the ‘Reasons for applying’ section of the online application form.

In your application, you will also be asked to provide details of any activities which have helped you to develop skills that would be useful in a public appointment role, and list the organisations for which you undertook these activities.  We also need to know about any political activity that you’ve undertaken over the last 5 years. 

It is recommended that you register for an account and access the application form as soon as possible so that you see how the application form is structured, before starting to prepare your evidence.  You don’t have to complete the application form all in one go.  You can save your responses, and log in and out as required, until you’re ready to submit – just follow the guidance in the application form.

If you’d like to apply for this opportunity in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.

If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Public Appointments Team on  PublicAppointments@gov.wales.

For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments

Commissioner for Public Appointments logo

This vacancy is closed to applications.