Jennifer Blair

Professional credentialing leader with direct experience operating high-stakes certification assessments, including global exam delivery, proctored testing, assessment development, exam security and integrity, candidate escalations, quality controls, and certification technology. Managed certification operations across the credential lifecycle, coordinating candidates, proctors, graders, subject-matter experts, vendors, technology teams, and international partners while translating program requirements into repeatable operational processes. Experienced in assessment development and review, tested domain definition, item and rubric development, item performance analysis, exam version management, pass/fail quality controls, irregularity investigations, candidate appeals, and remediation of compromised administrations.

Juris

Doctor with seven years of litigation and regulatory quality-control experience, including oversight of document review teams of up to 80 attorneys across multiple offices.

Exam Manager at Cicerone Certification Program (2022-01 – Present)

• Managed major portions of a global professional certification assessment program, owning Certified and Advanced exam scheduling and operational workflows and coordinating candidates, hosts, proctors, blind control tasters, graders, vendors, subject-matter experts, technology teams, and internal stakeholders across domestic and international administrations.
• Designed and operated repeatable assessment quality and integrity controls, including second-person exam review, pre-exam sample validation, control tasters, complete exam record collection, repeat grading and discrepancy reconciliation, automatic review of near-pass results, and longitudinal item performance tracking.
• Co-developed and administered formal Certified Cicerone exam review and appeals policy, establishing eligibility criteria, filing deadlines, permissible grounds for appeal, documentation requirements, regrade procedures, review and adjudication workflows, decision timelines, and finality standards; participated in candidate appeal adjudication.
• Audited recorded online proctored examinations for prohibited materials and suspected cheating; documented and escalated violations for adjudication, investigated candidate-reported integrity concerns, and evaluated whether examination personnel remained appropriate for future assignments following protocol violations.
• Protected proprietary certification content after discovering exam questions on a third-party website; identified verbatim and lightly altered items, documented compromised content, navigated the provider complaint process, secured removal, and independently verified takedown.
• Investigated exam irregularities using candidate performance, proctor records, date code data, tasting documentation, and administration reports; partnered with leadership to invalidate compromised items and recalculate results when administration conditions could have unfairly affected candidate performance.
• Recruited, vetted, onboarded, trained, assigned, and evaluated a distributed proctor network; updated the Proctor Handbook with leadership, required confirmation of nondisclosure agreement and Code of Conduct completion before onboarding, developed global proctor training agendas, and assessed proctor and control taster performance for continued assignment.
• Developed Certified, Advanced, and Master Cicerone assessments. For the 2025 Master exam, collaborated with senior subject-matter experts to define tested domains and subdomains, determine appropriate assessment formats, draft and peer-review written and oral questions and rubrics, and evaluate accuracy, defensibility, source availability, and time feasibility.
• Administered Brillium and ProctorFree certification workflows, including exam version selection, configuration, candidate-mode testing, response export/import, data integrity verification, troubleshooting, and escalation to IT; partnered with IT to develop a tool quantifying content overlap among exam versions.
• Expanded multilingual and international certification access by operationalizing Spanish availability across Certified exam dates; developed Spanish-language Advanced oral and tasting options and helped build the Spanish written exam; supported Korean exam translation; and coordinated qualified translators, graders, subject-matter experts, and technology workflows.

Quality Control Attorney at Synergy Legal Professionals (2010-01 – 2017-12)

• Supported complex litigation and regulatory matters involving mortgage lending, mortgage-backed securities, foreclosure, antitrust, and foreign exchange; analyzed case background, discovery requirements, and review protocols to anticipate substantive and workflow risks.
• Provided quality-control oversight for document review teams of up to 80 attorneys across multiple offices; developed targeted QC searches to identify errors and inconsistencies, resolved protocol and interpretation questions, and issued individual and teamwide guidance to improve accuracy and consistency.

Executive Director at North American Craft Maltsters Guild (2017-01 – 2019-12)

• Served as the international trade association's first full-time and sole employee, building operating, governance, membership, communications, education, and event infrastructure while coordinating Board members, legal counsel, industry stakeholders, vendors, and partner organizations.
• Co-developed the Craft Malt Certified™ Seal, establishing program requirements, coordinating legal agreements with outside counsel, securing Board approval for a new membership tier, and managing stakeholder review, onboarding, and rollout; also helped establish multi-stage laboratory and sensory standards for the Malt Cup.

Founder | Consultant & Educator at Under the Jenfluence (2016-01 – Present)

• Build and operate an independent education and consulting business; own program design, operational workflows, client scope, platforms, partnerships, pricing, and delivery, translating technical and sensory science into structured training and assessment tools for beverage-industry clients and learners.

Beer Program Manager at New Realm Brewing Company (2019-01 – 2021-12)

• Built and owned scalable multi-location training, certification preparation, onboarding, LMS, and sensory systems, including a three-month Certified Cicerone preparation program and standardized employee education resources; used consumer and distributor research to support product evaluation and improvement.

Beer Quality & Education Manager at Orpheus Brewing (2021-01 – 2021-12)

• Built a structured sensory and quality program covering brand descriptions, true-to-target evaluation, shelf-life testing, and employee training; used structured sensory data to support beer-quality troubleshooting and consistent product evaluation.

Juris Doctor – Charlotte School of Law (2010-01)

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Economics & Management – University of South Alabama (2006-01)

Certificate in Applied Sensory & Consumer Science – University of California–Davis (2021-01)