Certification Program Manager presso Casualty Actuarial Society

Title: Certification Program Manager         

Reports to: Director of Certification Development

Scope of Responsibilities

The Certification Program Manager is responsible for managing the CAS examination item development process to ensure that it is reliable, fair, and valid and meets testing industry standards. The position will work closely with the CAS Certification team, the Exam Working Groups, and task forces and 3^rd party testing vendors. The Certification Program Manager conducts activities across the CAS certification development lifecycle, including but not limited to test design, practice analysis and blueprint creation, and assessment development. The Certification Program Manager is responsible for ideation on new ways of working that align with best practices and quality assurance and coming up with solutions to problems and challenges throughout the certification lifecycle. 

Duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

Assessment Development 

• Participate and plan for practice analyses projects. 
• Facilitate and support blueprint creation.
• Create and revise the CAS content outlines and candidate handbook and provide support to the Program Coordinator. Ensure the availability of all study materials. 

• Manage item writing volunteer teams and provide guidance on item writing best practices within the item banking software.
• Edit test items to ensure psychometric standards, organization standards, and grammar/spelling standards are met.

• Manage the item development process and workflow. Work closely with the Exam Developer on maintaining the item banking software.

• Manage and facilitate the item/content writing training, writing summits/meetings, and any additional exam development workshops. 
• Support Exam Developer with form builds and the publishing process.

• Assure quality control, maintain accountability, and protect examination system integrity throughout the examination process. 
• Interpret basic item statistics, and work with Certification Analyst to analyze the performance of items to inform item development workflow.

Exam Administration

• Evaluate testing center/delivery options periodically to ensure appropriate coverage for CAS candidates, including any growth strategies.

Operational Support

• With support from the Director of Certification Development, serve as a staff liaison to Examination and Content Outline Working Groups and provide support by assisting with scheduling meetings and teleconferences, preparing agenda materials and minutes, and drafting related Actions Papers for the staff and volunteer leaders including the General Officers working group.

• Maintain all sections related to item writing and item development in the Exam Development Processes and Policies document.

• Maintain written instructions and standard operating procedures for accomplishing key certification functions.
• Monitor and analyze program specific performance metrics.

• Handle other projects and assist other operating areas of the CAS Office as assigned.

Required Experience and Qualifications

• Four year fully accredited bachelor’s degree in Education, Measurement & Statistics, I/O psychology or related field preferred.
• Three years’ experience managing programs or comparable position in an association/member-service oriented environment. 
• At minimum three years’ knowledge of testing and certification assessment practices to accepted industry standards. 
• Experience with ISO 17024 standards for certification programs preferred.
• Ability to manage a high volume of tasks with excellent attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to coordinate and prioritize production-oriented tasks.
• Excellent communication skills to respond to and interact with the certification team, volunteer working groups, task forces, and candidates. 
• Excellent time management skills required.
• Experience in project, vendor, and volunteer management.
• Advanced proficiency using Microsoft Office applications.
• Knowledge of item banking software. Proficiency in PearsonVUE’s ExamDeveloper software is not required, but a plus.
• Knowledge of computer applications for database management and data analyses. Proficiency in Cobalt is not required, but a plus. 
• Ability to travel – up to 10%.

Measure of Accountability

Delivers in accordance with CAS project timelines and annual performance goals.