Description

If interested, please email Steve Nunberg at snunberg@danb.org with a copy of your current resume.

Job Summary:

The Director of Exam Development and Assessment Operations provides strategic and operational leadership
for DANB’s exam development infrastructure across national and state-specific certification programs. This
role ensures exam development activities are executed consistently, documented thoroughly, and supported
by scalable systems and staffing models. This role supports DANB’s professional model by ensuring
certification and assessment programs are structured, current, and scalable in ways that align with workforce
pathways and state regulatory needs.

The Director partners closely with DANB’s psychometric experts, internal operational teams, and cross-functional stakeholders to operationalize psychometric requirements while maintaining appropriate role
separation. This role focuses on exam development operations, workflow design, quality assurance, and
governance alignment.

This role follows a hybrid work arrangement, with the majority of time worked remotely, with some in-office
requirements in our downtown Chicago office. Occasional travel to events and organizational meetings is
expected. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

A. Exam Development Operations

• Lead and continuously improve end-to-end exam development workflows, including item
  development coordination, form assembly logistics, publishing readiness, and quality control.
• Maintain exam development calendars and dependencies to support predictable, defensible delivery
  cycles.
• Ensure consistent execution across multiple programs and jurisdictions.
• Operationalize psychometric requirements by coordinating inputs, timelines, documentation, and
  readiness activities in partnership with psychometric experts.
  
  

B. Quality Assurance & Risk Management

• Partner with internal teams and vendors to support exam and item integrity and security, including
  controls for item exposure, release readiness, and incident response.
• Implement operational QA frameworks, including dual-verification controls, documentation
  standards, and release readiness processes.
• Identify operational risks and capacity gaps; recommend mitigation strategies to leadership.
• Ensure exam development operations support validity, reliability, and defensibility.
  
  

C. Governance & Committee Support

• Support the Exam Programs Committee with governance-appropriate materials and reporting.
• Translate committee guidance into executable operational plans.
• Prepare high-level reporting focused on trends, risks, and oversight needs.
• Conduct periodic portfolio-level reviews of all DANB exams to assess utilization, relevance, overlap,
  and alignment with workforce and certification pathways, and present findings and recommendations to leadership and appropriate governance committees.

D. Workforce & Capacity Design

• Design and support a distributed exam development operating model
• Lead staffing recommendations, cross-training strategies, and succession planning.
• Support onboarding and integration of exam development staff and contractors.
  
  

E. Vendor & Technology Coordination

• Coordinate with assessment delivery vendors and internal teams to align workflows with platform
  capabilities and security expectations.
• Support system transitions with a focus on continuity, documentation, and operational excellence.
  
  

F. Documentation & Accreditation Readiness

• Ensure exam development and scoring workflows are fully documented and maintained.
• Lead documentation sprints and periodic reviews.
• Support accreditation and reaccreditation readiness activities.
  
  

G. Continuous Improvement

• Monitor industry best practices in credentialing and assessment operations.
• Recommend process improvements that strengthen operational resilience and scalability.

Requirements

Skills and Attributes:

Required 

• Significant experience in certification, credentialing, or exam development operations.
• Demonstrated leadership in managing complex, multi-exam workflows.
• Experience partnering with psychometricians and translating requirements into operations.
• Strong governance awareness and ability to support volunteer committees.
• Proven process improvement and documentation leadership.
  
  

Preferred

• Experience supporting nationally accredited certification programs (e.g., NCCA, ANSI/ISO 17024).
• Familiarity with computer adaptive testing (CAT) or other modern assessment delivery models.
• Experience supporting assessment system transitions.
• Experience leading or scaling exam development teams.
  
  

Education & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in education, measurement, or related field preferred.
• Minimum of seven (7) years of experience in exam development, credentialing, or related testing
  operations.
• Strong understanding of psychometric and content development principles.
• Proven ability to lead projects, establish systems, and improve processes.
• Experience collaborating with psychometricians and managing vendor relationships.
• Exceptional organizational, analytical, and communication skills.
  
  

Physical Demands:

Required to sit for extended periods of time; may need to walk or stand in the course of work as well as light
(20-30 lbs.) to medium (30-40 lbs.) levels of lifting of supplies and/or equipment.

Work Environment:

Work performed in an office environment, either onsite or offsite; occasional travel to be expected.