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[Hiring] Independent End Point Assessor @University of Northumbria
Today - University of Northumbria is hiring a remote Independent End Point Assessor. 💸 Salary: unspecified 📍Location: UK
Northumbria University is seeking applications for independent assessors to assess the End Point Assessment of the (i) digital and Technology Solutions Professional (Level 6, L6) and (ii) Digital and Technology Solutions Specialist (Level 7, L7). It is envisaged that assessors will be and may be offered work related to the assessment of multiple cohorts over a period.
Northumbria is a research-intensive, modern university with a global reputation for academic excellence. It is based in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne, which is regularly voted the best place in the UK for students and has campuses in London and Amsterdam. Northumbria works with major employers, including Nike, IBM, Nissan, Proctor & Gamble, the BBC, and the NHS, while more than 560 employers and 60 professional bodies sponsor or accredit the University’s programmes. Innovative and entrepreneurial, we are also ranked top 5 in the UK, and first in the region, for graduate business start-ups.
The Department of Computer and Information Sciences (CIS) at Northumbria University is dedicated to preparing our students for success, combining high-quality teaching with world-leading research. The CIS degree programmes benefit from strong relationships with partners in business and industry, and our graduates are well-prepared for work or further study.
The externally appointed Assessors will support our quality assurance processes with integrated apprenticeship standards. By the nature of the apprenticeship structure, assessors must be independent of the teaching, learning and management of the on-programme apprentice experience. Rigorous, robust and independent end-point assessment is essential to give employers confidence that apprentices completing an apprenticeship standard can actually perform in the occupation they have been trained in and can demonstrate the duties, and knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) set out in the occupational for L7 standard and L6 standard.
Assessment activity will run over a three-year period, assessors will operate under an annual agreement. This annual renewal process is essential to ensure ongoing alignment of professional skills and competency to the apprenticeship standard and ability to appropriately assess the activity outlined in the Apprenticeship Standard Assessment Plan. We have multiple intakes each year and need to ensure flexibility of the assessment activity across the academic year to ensure that the apprentice end point assessment occurs within the standard duration. Individual assessment experience with detailed industry knowledge is essential to allow robust judgements against the relevant apprentice standards to be made, competency-based assessment experience is desirable.
Example activities of an EPA will be to:
- Review and confirm evidence relating to the specific EPA criteria and involvement in the EPA process as defined in the relevant Apprenticeship Standard Assessment Plan.
- Provide detailed, appropriate feedback to support EPA processes and attend professional discussions/ panel meetings and other EPA as appropriate to the standard.
- Confirm independence and impartiality of the process.
- Confirm maintenance of nationally comparable standards across HE institutions
- Attend Award Boards associated with the listed program(s) and confirm successful apprentices with award classifications in accordance with Northumbria University Assessment Regulations.
- Contribute to external quality assurance where appropriate
- Maintain registration with professional bodies as appropriate to the apprenticeship standard
- Undertake relevant training and CPD activity as appropriate to the apprenticeship standard and to support University Quality assurance processes.
- Work with academic and central University teams, demonstrating a high level of integrity, confidentiality and professionalism.
Essential criteria of the individual undertaking the activity is:
- Knowledge and understanding of the standard and assessment plan
- Knowledge and understanding of UK sector agreed reference points to maintain academic standards and assurance of quality
- Be independent of the apprentice, EPAO or employing organisation who are involved in delivering the apprenticeship
- Relevant academic/professional qualifications to the level of qualification being externally examined, and/or extensive practitioner experience where appropriate
- Sufficient standing, credibility and breadth of experience within the discipline to be able to command the respect of academic/professional peers.
To support individuals in their effectiveness in delivering the required activity, attendance of appointed EPA’s at a briefing session will be required. Further briefing sessions may also be required periodically following any changes to apprenticeship standards or national guidance from OFSTED, ESFA and Professional Body.
There is a requirement that all apprenticeships to contain an end-point assessment (EPA) which is a holistic assessment of the Knowledge, Skills and Behaviour (KSBs) that have been learnt throughout the apprenticeship. This is to ensure that apprentices meet the rigorous standard set by employers and Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE / Skills England) and are fully competent in the relevant occupation.
An independent EPA means that those deciding on the competency of the apprentice have nothing to gain from the outcome of the assessment. To maintain independence within the scope of this EPA, an independent end-point assessor (IEA) can only undertake end-point assessments of apprentices, they have neither taught, managed, or assessed previously.
The end-point assessments will be conducted remotely (grading of reports and technical discussion), on dates agreed with employers and/or providers if appropriate. Independent end-point assessors will record and submit the EPA outcomes, with clear justifications for the grading decisions. EPA activities will be quality assured by Northumbria University quality assurance representatives.
IEAs for these EPAs will be qualified assessors that meet the occupational profile (examples, Appendix 1) of the apprentices they are assessing and will be trained, standardised and approved to operate as IEAs. The IEAs will undertake EPAs in line with the associated apprenticeship assessment plan, and the materials provided by Northumbria University. Please see the below Key Accountabilities and Northumbria University Specification sections for further details.
The independent end-point assessor will:
- Take part in regular training and standardisation activities, associated with the role of independent end-point assessor for this EPA,
- Maintain and provide evidence of ongoing, relevant Continuous Professional Development (CPD),
- Assess the performance of candidates in accordance with published assessment and grading criteria and procedures, ensuring overall standards are maintained,
- Follow the protocols set out in Northumbria University’s CIS department specifications, assessment materials and quality assurance protocols, relating to the EPAs,
- Maintain service-level agreements with regards to responding to EPA planning, operational activities, reports, and submissions of assessment outcomes,
- Report all risks and issues encountered during the end-point assessment to Northumbria University CIS department, including any suspected malpractice/mal-administration,
- Ensure all EPA reports and assessment evidence are high quality and recorded accurately,
- Support Northumbria University’s CIS department, if necessary, with any appeals from apprentices, regarding assessment decisions,
- If necessary, allow additional time for travel when making EPA arrangements,
- If necessary, be available for resits,
- Raise any conflicts of interest, including in relation to the independence of assessment,
- Ensure that any personal actions are completed, as required by Northumbria University’s CIS department,
- Contribute to the continuous improvement of Northumbria University’s CIS department end-point assessment activities,
- Contribute to the external quality assurance activities undertaken by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE, now Skills England).
Independent assessors will be appointed if they show appropriate evidence, which is likely to be by providing an outline career summary of satisfying the following criteria:
- competence and experience in the fields covered by the relevant specialism (examples: Software Engineer, IT Consultant, Business Analyst, Cyber Security Specialist, Data Analyst, Network Engineer – see example descriptors Appendix 1) in the Standard academic qualifications to at least MSc level in the field of the specialism (e.g., software engineering etc.) together with a minimum of 3 years’ experience in that field obtained no later than two years ago.
- competence and experience (minimum three years, obtained no later than two years ago) relating to operating a variety of assessment tasks appropriate to the subject and operating assessment procedures.
- familiarity with the apprenticeship standard and specialism defined in that standard related to the apprenticeship being undertaken.
- Have the competence to assess the apprentice at this level and hold any required qualifications and experience in line with the requirements of the independent assessor as detailed in the assessor section of this EPA plan,
- Understand the occupational standard and the requirements of this EPA,
- Have, maintain and be able to evidence up-to-date knowledge and expertise of the subject matter,
- Deliver the end-point assessment in-line with the EPA plan,
- Comply with the assessor requirements of the EPAO,
- Have no direct connection or conflict of interest with the apprentice, their employer or training provider; in all instances, including when the EPAO is the training provider (i.e., HEI).
As a minimum Independent Assessors should:
- Independent assessors who: hold a relevant Level 7 qualification, hold a qualification that meets the criteria as set by Department for Education and have 3 years postgraduate relevant experience within the domains (as examples) in Appendix 1. Their knowledge and skills must be maintained through ongoing CPD through their employment as an independent assessor.
- DBS Certificate.
Background and Experience (desirable):
- Experience of marking or grading Judgements,
- An understanding of apprenticeship standards, with specific knowledge about the relevant industry area for the role,
- Experience of producing clear, accurate and concise written reports, including remarks/enquiries about results.
Skills & Knowledge (essential):
- Excellent written, verbal and interpersonal skills, including the ability to effectively respond to conflicts,
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with substantive experience of providing supportive, concise feedback to both learners, Assessors, and delivery staff,
- Knowledge of relevant legislation, codes of practice,
- Sufficient and relevant technical knowledge of the cyber security industry,
- In-depth knowledge of the associated apprenticeship standard, assessment plan, specification, assessment instruments and recording tools,
- Ability to assess, free from bias,
- Ability to assess and report risks,
- Ability to meet deadlines,
- Proficient IT skills.
- Analytical, critical thinking skills
Any applicant undertaking this role will be expected to:
- Have personal IT equipment capable of running ad-hoc software,
- Have a suitable broadband connection, Microphone, Headphones, and a webcam,
- Have a personal and secure email account,
- Have a postal address in the United Kingdom, UK
- Have the right to work in the UK,
- Flexibility to travel across UK,
- Driving License,
- Allow additional time for travel, when making EPA arrangements,
- Ability to work independently,
- Organisational skills and the ability to prioritise effectively,
- Excellent interpersonal skills.
The primary role of a software engineer is to be able to design, build and test high-quality software solutions. The software engineer role is broader and with higher levels of responsibility than a software developer as they need to apply engineering principles to all stages of the software development process, from requirements, analysis and design, development and data requirements whilst ensuring security robustness is built in. They will typically be working as part of a larger collaborative team and will have responsibility for significant elements of software projects.
- Create effective and secure software solutions using contemporary software development languages to deliver the full range of functional and non-functional requirements using relevant development methodologies.
- Undertake analysis and design to create artefacts, such as use cases to produce robust software designs.
- Produce high quality code with sound syntax in at least one language following best practices and standards.
- Perform code reviews, debugging and refactoring to improve code quality and efficiency.
- Test code to ensure that the functional and non-functional requirements have been met.
- Deliver software solutions using industry standard build processes, and tools for configuration management, version control and software build, release and deployment into enterprise environments.
Knows and understands:
- How to operate at all stages of the software development lifecycle.
- How teams work effectively to develop software solutions embracing agile and other development approaches.
- How to apply software analysis and design approaches.
- How to interpret and implement a design, compliant with functional, non-functional and security requirements.
- How to perform functional and unit testing.
- How to use and apply the range of software tools used in Software engineering.
An IT consultant requires a broad set of skills in business analysis, solutions development, network infrastructure, data, cyber security etc. They use their consulting skills in order to advise clients on how to best utilise technology to meet their business objectives, overcome problems and increase productivity. They provide strategic guidance to clients with regard to technology and facilitate changing business processes through enhancements to technology solutions. They provide technical assistance and are often responsible for providing training.
Be able to:
- Perform technical process improvement tasks in a range of environments to solve business problems.
- Present optimised solutions to improve business process and workflows through improved technology.
- Recommend options based upon risks, costs vs benefits, and impact on other business processes.
- Participate in walk-throughs for IT, to identify and document key risks within a client’s organisation.
- Support training of end-users in preparation for system activation.
- Evaluate the success of a new system, process, initiative, etc.
Knows and understands:
- How consulting ties into project management, business analysis and business management.
- The barriers to solving problems or maximizing opportunities.
- How to present recommendations and influence action.
- The different structured process approaches for digital technology consulting.
- How to frame/define business problems objectively before solving them.
- How to discover hidden requirements using probing techniques to establish trust, using open and closed questions effectively, and avoiding leading questions.
A business analyst is responsible for assessing the business impact of change, capturing, analysing, and documenting requirements and supporting the communication and delivery of requirements with relevant stakeholders. They create detailed analysis of systems and make recommendations for improvement. They produce specifications of user requirements that enable software engineers to develop the right software solutions. They require a broad foundation of skills and knowledge to be able to be effective as their work incorporates all aspects of digital technology systems.
Be able to:
- Develop and apply modelling and analysis techniques to describe business problem scenarios and to help select solutions using a range of industry standard analysis techniques.
- Elicit and prioritise business requirements for a digital technology system using ‘industry best practice’ methods.
- Develop a clear, complete, unambiguous, and testable requirements specification, including functional, non- functional, data, user interface and security requirements.
- Model the ‘as is’ and future state for a business process using industry standard approaches and notation.
- Evaluate selected models against business objectives and system requirements.
- Use ‘industry’ standard tools to facilitate the analysis, documentation, and traceability of requirements.
Knows and understands:
- The use of requirements elicitation techniques and their relevance to given situations.
- The principles of requirements engineering and the importance of managing requirements.
- How to conduct a range of business/organisational analyses.
- The use of tools to support modelling and requirements engineering.
- How the selected models inter-relate with each other.
- How the products of analysis feed into the design and development of a system.
A cyber security analyst is responsible for the implementation, maintenance and support of the security controls that protect an organisation’s systems and data assets from threats and hazards. They ensure that security technologies and practices are operating in accordance with the organisation’s policies and standards to provide continued protection. They require a broad understanding of network infrastructure, software, and data to identify where threat and hazard can occur. They are responsible for performing periodic vulnerability assessments to evaluate the organisation’s ongoing security posture and will provide visibility to management of the main risks and control status on an ongoing basis. They respond to security incidents and implement resolution activities across the organisation.
Be able to:
- Analyse and evaluate security threats and vulnerabilities to planned and installed information systems or services and identify how these can be mitigated against.
- Perform security risk assessments for a range of information systems and propose solutions.
- Develop a security case against recognised security threats, and recommend mitigation, security controls and appropriate processes.
- Define and justify a user access policy for an information system given knowledge of the system architecture, security requirements and threat/risk environment. This should be in terms of what they can do, resources they can access, and operations they are allowed to perform.
- Perform a business impact analysis in response to a security incident and follow a disaster recovery plan to meet elements of a given business continuity policy.
- Conduct a range of cyber security audit activities to demonstrate security control effectiveness.
Knows and understands:
- The types of security (confidentiality, authentication; non-repudiation; service integrity) and security big picture (network security; host OS security; physical security).
- The main types of common attack techniques, including phishing, social engineering, malware, network interception, blended techniques, denial of service and theft.
- How to recognise and assess risk including performing a risk assessment.
- How to apply penetration testing effectively and how it contributes to assurance.
- The different approaches to risk treatment and management in practice.
- What the ‘cyber security culture’ in an organisation is, and how it may contribute to security risk.
The primary role of a data analyst is to collect, organise and study data to provide new business insight. They are responsible for providing up-to-date, accurate and relevant data analysis for the organisation. They are typically involved with managing, cleansing, abstracting and aggregating data across the network infrastructure. They have a good understanding of data structures, software development procedures and the range of analytical tools used to undertake a wide range of standard and custom analytical studies, providing data solutions to a range of business issues. They document and report the results of data analysis activities making recommendations to improve business performance. They need a broad grounding in technology solutions to be effective in their role.
Be able to:
- Import, cleanse, transform, and validate data with the purpose of understanding or making conclusions from the data for business decision making purposes.
- Present data visualisation using charts, graphs, tables, and more sophisticated visualisation tools.
- Perform routine statistical analyses and ad-hoc queries.
- Use a range of analytical techniques such as data mining, time series forecasting and modelling techniques to identify and predict trends and patterns in data.
- Report on conclusions gained from analysing data using a range of statistical software tools.
- Summarise and present results to a range of stakeholders making recommendations.
Knows and understands:
- The quality issues that can arise with data and how to avoid and/or resolve these.
- The processes involved in carrying out data analysis projects.
- How to use and apply industry standard tools and methods for data analysis.
- The range of data protection and legal issues.
- The fundamentals of data structures, database system design, implementation and maintenance.
- The organisation's data architecture.
The primary role of a network engineer is to design, install, maintain, and support communication networks within an organisation or between organisations. They need to maintain high levels of network performance and availability for their users, such as staff, clients, customers, and suppliers. They will understand network configuration, cloud, network administration and monitoring tools, and be able to give technical advice and guidance. As part of their role, they need to be proficient in technology solutions as they will analyse system requirements to ensure the network and its services operate to desired levels. They will need to understand the data traffic and transmission across the network, and they have a major role to play in ensuring network security.
Be able to:
- Plan, design, build and test a simple network to a requirement specification that includes hubs, switches, routers, and wireless user devices, applying appropriate security products and processes.
- Identify the key characteristics of a new network service and develop estimates of the expected traffic intensity and traffic load that the network must support.
- Determine the minimum network capacity of planned networks to meet network requirements.
- Design, build, test, configure and optimise a distributed network (more than 1 sub- net), including switches, routers, and firewalls to meet given requirements.
- Analyse network performance and troubleshoot typical problems in networks.
- Identify and evaluate network security risks and incorporate appropriate security products and processes into network designs to increase security, resilience, and dependability.
Knows and understands:
- The fundamental building blocks (e.g., routers, switches, hubs, storage, transmission) and typical architectures (e.g., server/client, hub/spoke) of computers, networks and the Internet.
- The main features of routing and Internet network protocols in use, their purpose and relationship to each other, including the physical and data link layer (e.g., https, HTTP, SMTP, SNMP, TCP, IP, etc.).
- The main factors that affect network performance (e.g., the relationship between bandwidth, number of users, nature of traffic, contention).
- Failure modes in protocols (e.g., why a protocol may ‘hang’ and the effect of data communication errors).
- The ways to improve performance (e.g., application of traffic shaping, changes to architecture to avoid bottlenecks, network policy that prohibit streaming protocols).
- The issues that may arise in the day-to-day operation of networks and how to resolve them.
The primary role of an enterprise architect is to define, maintain, and govern the overall structure of an organisation’s business processes, information systems, and technology landscape. The enterprise architect role operates at a strategic level, with responsibility for ensuring that IT systems align with business objectives and enable long-term organisational goals. They apply architectural principles across business, data, application, and technology domains, balancing current operational needs with future transformation. Enterprise architects typically work closely with senior stakeholders, business leaders, and delivery teams, and are accountable for guiding complex change initiatives across the enterprise.
Be able to:
- Develop and maintain enterprise architecture frameworks, roadmaps, and standards that align technology solutions with business strategy.
- Analyse business capabilities, processes, and requirements to identify opportunities for optimisation and digital transformation.
- Create and maintain architectural artefacts such as capability models, reference architectures, and solution blueprints.
- Provide architectural governance and assurance to ensure solutions comply with enterprise standards, policies, and regulatory requirements.
- Collaborate with stakeholders across business and technology teams to translate strategic objectives into actionable architecture decisions.
- Guide the selection and integration of platforms, applications, and technologies within complex enterprise environments.
Knows and understands:
- How to operate across business, data, application, and technology architecture domains.
- How enterprise architecture frameworks (such as TOGAF) are applied in practice.
- How organisations plan and manage large-scale change and digital transformation initiatives.
- How to align IT strategy and investment with business goals and capabilities.
- How to assess risks, dependencies, and impacts across interconnected systems.
- How to use and apply enterprise architecture tools, modelling techniques, and governance processes.
The primary role of IT Operations Manager (Cloud) is to ensure the reliable, secure, and efficient operation of cloud-based platforms and services that support business and digital services. This role is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operational performance while enabling scalability, resilience, and continuous improvement within cloud environments. IT Ops Management (Cloud) applies operational best practices across incident, problem, change, and service management, while working closely with engineering, security, and architecture teams to support modern, cloud-native systems. The role typically carries responsibility for service availability, operational risk, and cost efficiency in enterprise cloud environments.
Be able to:
- Manage and operate cloud infrastructure and services to meet agreed service levels, availability, and performance targets.
- Implement and oversee monitoring, alerting, and incident management processes to ensure rapid detection and resolution of operational issues.
- Apply operational controls, automation, and infrastructure-as-code practices to improve reliability and efficiency.
- Manage change, release, and deployment activities to minimise risk and service disruption in cloud environments.
- Ensure operational security, compliance, backup, and disaster recovery processes are embedded into cloud operations.
- Collaborate with development, platform, and architecture teams to support DevOps and SRE-aligned ways of working.
Knows and understands:
- How to operate and support cloud platforms and services across IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS models.
- How IT service management practices (such as ITIL) are applied within cloud and DevOps environments.
- How to monitor, troubleshoot, and optimise cloud-based systems for performance, availability, and cost.
- How to manage operational risk, resilience, and business continuity in cloud infrastructures.
- How security, identity, and access controls are implemented and maintained in cloud environments.
- How to use and apply cloud management, monitoring, automation, and configuration tools.
The primary role of someone in IT / Digital Futures (DevOps) is to enable the rapid, reliable, and sustainable delivery of digital services through the integration of development and operations practices. This role focuses on improving flow, quality, and resilience across the software delivery lifecycle by promoting automation, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Working at the intersection of engineering, operations, and digital transformation, DevOps practitioners support modern, cloud-native and platform-based environments while helping organisations adopt future-ready ways of working. They typically work across multiple teams, influencing culture, tooling, and delivery practices to accelerate innovation.
Be able to:
- Design and implement CI/CD pipelines to automate build, test, and deployment processes for digital services.
- Apply infrastructure-as-code and configuration management practices to enable repeatable and scalable environments.
- Embed monitoring, logging, and feedback mechanisms to improve system reliability and delivery performance.
- Promote DevOps principles, collaboration, and continuous improvement across development and operations teams.
- Support cloud-native, containerised, and microservices-based architectures.
- Enable secure and resilient delivery by integrating security and quality controls into delivery pipelines.
Knows and understands:
- How DevOps practices support modern digital and cloud-based service delivery.
- How continuous integration, continuous delivery, and automation are applied across the software lifecycle.
- How infrastructure-as-code, containerisation, and platform services are used in enterprise environments.
- How monitoring, observability, and feedback loops drive operational and delivery improvements.
- How to manage risk, reliability, and security within fast-paced delivery environments.
- How to use and apply DevOps toolchains, cloud platforms, and automation technologies.
Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education. Digital and Technology Solutions Professional (Integrated Degree). Reference: ST0119. Version: 1.1. Date updated: 13/05/2019. Approved for delivery: 26 March 2015. Route: Digital. Accessed 26-01-2023. URL: www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/digital-and-technology-solutions-professional-integrated-degree-v1-1
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Be aware of the location restriction for this remote position: UK |
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Salary
unspecified
|
Remote
Location
|
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Job Type
contract
|
Posted
Today
|
|
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Be aware of the location restriction for this remote position: UK |
| ‼ | Beware of scams! When applying for jobs, you should NEVER have to pay anything. Learn more. | ️
