Head of Candidate Engagement

Full time, 35 hours per week

Permanent contract

Grade BL, Salary £70,820.95 per annum

Location: London, RCGP Head Office (Hybrid working – minimum 2 days per week in the office)

Closing date: 5.00pm, Friday 26 September 2025

Interview date: Friday 03 October 2025 via Teams

Role to commence: as soon as possible

About the Role

We are seeking an outstanding leader to join our Examinations team as Head of Candidate Engagement. We want this really important role in place to drive the best possible candidate experience for every GP Registrar sitting the MRCGP examination. Candidates are also members of the College, and this is one of the most important transitions in their professional journey.

Reporting to the Assistant Director of Examinations, you will oversee a team responsible for candidate-facing processes including appeals, mitigating circumstances, complaints, and reasonable adjustments. You will ensure these processes are fair, transparent, and equitably applied, supporting candidates with professionalism and empathy, while safeguarding the integrity of a high-stakes licensing examination.

Importantly you will lead on the communications strategy for the Examinations team, working very closely with colleagues across PR, Policy, Corporate Communications, Membership, Marketing, and Faculties to strengthen a cohesive, College-wide approach.

Key Responsibilities

You can read about this in more detail in the job description, but here is a quick summary of the key responsibilities.

• Lead and manage the Candidate Engagement and Reasonable Adjustments teams, ensuring high standards of service and delivery.
• Develop and deliver a comprehensive communications strategy for examinations, ensuring clear, empathetic, and professional engagement with candidates and wider stakeholders.
• Work in close partnership with the Head of Examinations and other senior colleagues to deliver an excellent service to candidates and uphold examination integrity.
• Oversee candidate-facing processes including appeals, mitigating circumstances, and complaints, maintaining fairness, transparency, and rigour.
• Ensure all reasonable adjustment requests are considered and implemented in line with policy and regulatory standards.
• Provide leadership, training, and supervision for team members, building a culture of professionalism and continuous improvement.

About You

You will bring a wealth of experience in communications, stakeholder engagement, or candidate services, and even better if you have a strong background in education, assessment or professional standards. You’ll be equally comfortable leading a team in high-pressure environments as you are working strategically across a complex organisation.

We think essential qualities for this role are:

• proven leadership and people management skills.
• strong communications skills and expertise
• the ability to develop clear strategies and engage diverse audiences.
• the ability to work collaboratively with senior stakeholders, balancing candidate support with examination integrity.
• writing with impact
• managing risk
• working as part of a team

About us

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is the professional membership body for GPs in the UK, with over 55,000 members. We set and uphold the standards of general practice to ensure high-quality care for patients.

The MRCGP examination is the endpoint assessment that doctors must pass to join the GP Register. Each year, around 6,500 candidates sit the assessment. This role ensures candidates are supported with the highest quality of service and communication, while safeguarding the integrity of the examination process — a balance that ultimately serves both candidates and patient safety.

We have a brilliant team of circa 27 colleagues who always go the extra mile for our candidates every day. We were recently awarded the Team of Culture within the College, and we really enjoy coming to work. What we do makes a real difference to candidates and patients.

Please download the Candidate Pack with the Job Description for the full list of responsibilities, as well as the knowledge, skills and experience required for the role.

Application process

If you are interested in joining our team, please click 'Quick Apply' and complete the application form.

The Royal College of General Practitioners is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

                                   ~ Building a sustainable future for general practice ~