Exam Operations Manager

Company: New Litho Group

Reports to: CEO

Partners with: Security & Mailing Division Manager (Customer-Facing)

Role Overview

We are looking for an Exam Operations Manager who acts as the “Conductor” of our secure exam projects. This is not a passive administrative role; it is an active, leadership-driven position.

You will be the brains and heartbeat of our exam production process, facilitating the work of Eastern Press, Valiant Doculink, and the Group’s secure exam work. While our front-facing division manages client relationships, you own the engine room. You will be responsible for orchestrating complex workflows, maintaining absolute production integrity, and fostering a culture of excellence that rejects anything less than perfection.

The Two Cornerstones

Every decision you make must be weighed against these two non-negotiable priorities:

1. Client Perfection: Achieving the best possible result for our clients, every single time
2. Commercial Success: Ensuring NewLitho Group’s financial and operational success

Key Responsibilities

• Operational Conduction: Direct the flow of exam production, ensuring that resources, timelines, and security protocols are synchronised across the Group to support Eastern Press and Valiant Doculink.
• Cultural Leadership: Act as a catalyst for cultural change. You will lead by example, upholding high standards even when faced with internal resistance. You are tasked with establishing a new benchmark where the entire team strives for the same level of integrity and precision.
• “Zero-Error” Workflow Architecture: Design and maintain structured processes that eliminate the possibility of error. You are the final checkpoint for quality and security.
• Risk-Aware Decision Making: Proactively identify bottlenecks, security risks, or logistical failures before they occur. You must balance the need for speed with a methodical, risk-aware approach, ensuring you identify hazards without falling into analysis paralysis.
• Strategic Problem Solving: Apply a lateral, innovative mindset to complex issues. When problems arise, you are the calm, composed problem-solver who does not succumb to judgmental bias or emotional reactions.
• Stakeholder Communication: Provide clear, structured, and consistent reporting to Management and the Board. You will serve as the reliable, accountable link between the internal engine room and the external client-facing team.

The Candidate Profile (Our “Engine Room” DNA)

We are looking for someone who thrives in high-stakes environments and operates with an ownership mindset.

• The “No-Gambler” Mindset: You are analytically methodical. You make decisions based on data, structure, and precedent, never on a “hunch” or a gamble.
• Resilience & Composure: You remain calm and decisive under extreme pressure. You do not get rattled by tight deadlines; you focus and deliver.
• High Care & Loyalty: You understand that trust is built through autonomy, competence, and reliability. You are deeply invested in the business’s success and take personal responsibility for the output of your team.
• Accountability: You do not require prompting. You commit to a standard, and you deliver on it consistently.
• Integrity: You handle highly confidential material with absolute discretion. Your ethical mindset is a core part of your professional identity.

Experience & Technical Skills

Professional Experience

• Minimum 5+ Years: Demonstrated experience in an operations, audit, or logistics-heavy role within a high-stakes, error-sensitive environment.
• Sector Background: Direct experience in Security Printing is highly regarded and preferred. However, we are open to candidates from sectors like manufacturing, logistics, or compliance/audit, provided you can demonstrate a career defined by:
• Meticulous attention to detail.
• A track record of building, maintaining, and improving complex operational processes.
• Experience managing “zero-error” output requirements where the cost of failure is high.

Technical Competencies

• Advanced Data Proficiency: Expert-level user of Excel (Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP, complex modelling). You don’t just record data; you analyse it.
• Dashboard Reporting: Proven experience creating visual dashboards that provide “at-a-glance” visibility of project status, capacity, and bottlenecks.
• Workflow Management Systems: You understand how production data flows through a business.
• Process & Quality Control: Understanding of QMS (Quality Management Systems) or similar structured frameworks—you know how to audit a process to find the “weak link.”