Academic & Quality Assurance Manager

About the role

MasterStart Institute is looking for an experienced, highly organised and solutions-focused Academic & Quality Assurance Manager to lead and support the academic operations, quality assurance and continuous improvement of the institute and its partners, with a strong focus on distance and online learning programmes. The role ensures consistent programme delivery, appropriate student support, maintained academic standards and alignment with regulatory and quality requirements. It coordinates academic teams, the student academic lifecycle, programme performance, accreditation, academic policies and records, and uses academic data to identify risks and drive improvement.

Key responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day academic operations for distance and online learning, including academic calendars, assessment cycles, resources and delivery milestones, and monitor delivery against curriculum and standards
• Coordinate quality assurance across programme design, delivery, assessment and student support, run internal quality reviews and track corrective actions
• Support compliance with CHE, SAQA and DHET requirements, coordinate accreditation evidence and prepare for audits
• Support academic governance, including reports, agendas, minutes and tracking of board resolutions
• Oversee assessment policies, marking, moderation, results and academic integrity, and recommend improvements to assessment design
• Coordinate academic staff, including recruitment, onboarding, performance monitoring, peer review and professional development
• Monitor student engagement, retention, progression and completion, and work with student support teams on interventions
• Build and maintain academic dashboards and reports, and contribute to academic policies and quality frameworks

Required profile

• Master's qualification
• Minimum of 10+ years' experience in higher education
• Strong experience in academic operations, quality assurance, curriculum delivery and institutional quality management
• Demonstrated experience in distance or online learning delivery
• Experience supporting accreditation, programme approval and regulatory submissions, and exposure to CHE, SAQA and DHET requirements
• Experience coordinating academic teams and using data to monitor programme performance and quality
• Corporate L&D experience is advantageous

Required skills

• Learning Management Systems (LMS)
• Student management systems
• Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace