Project Manager, Skills at British Council

Role Type: Business Delivery
Pay Band: 6
Duration: Indefinite
Reports to: Programme Manager, Skills

Role Purpose

• To work with the Director Higher Education, Enterprise and Skills and other members of the Education and Skills team in Nigeria, the SSA Region and HQ to manage project delivery of the British Councils Skills and Enterprise portfolio
• This role will manage the projects under the Enhancing Employability for Urban Youth Programme and the Common Wealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan.

Geopolitical/SBU/Function Overview

• The British Council in Nigeria works in three strategic business areas; Arts, English and Exams, Education and Society. As part of our Skills offer, we work to improve skills, encourage entrepreneurship and promote social enterprise
• From supporting curriculum reform and institutional changes, to sharing international best practice, to equipping young people with the skills to get a job or start a business, we work to improve the employment prospects of young Africans and ensure skills systems meet the needs of employers and industries
• Our skills portfolio therefore creates opportunities to enhance the skills and employability of young people leveraging the UK’s experience, knowledge and expertise thereby promoting the UK as leaders and experts in skills development
• With our work in enterprise, we provide platforms for entrepreneurs to access information, opportunities, knowledge and networks to drive development at the individual, institutional and organisational levels.

Enhancing Employability for Urban Youth - Programme Context
The programme is designed to enable young women and men in urban areas to acquire skills and experiences that are relevant to them having jobs either as seekers or creators of jobs. The programme builds on our current portfolio of work in the SSA region in the areas of skills development, social entrepreneurship, English, Creative Industries and Education. We will use a holistic and multi sectoral approach, that build on our successful work streams working in partnership with both public and private sector players. In line with the UK International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014, the programme will ensure that historical gender inequality is not reinforced and factors affecting the participation of women and men in skills development and work opportunities are addressed

The programme will respond to changes and provide a means by which young women and men can continue to derive social and economic benefits, beyond the period of intervention. Bringing together the different enablers with the element of youth-led, including demand and supply side strengthening, while taking into consideration ecosystem-strengthening approaches Eventually targeting multiple pathways to enhancing employability, while addressing the skills, gender and experience gaps, and promotes and equips young women and men for entrepreneurship.

The approach to this programme is to align and equip young women and men in urban areas with the skills and knowledge to prepare them transition to the world of work and entrepreneurship; supporting the creation of job opportunities for young people in different sector of the economy within their national setting through growth of SME’s. The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide. In all that we do the British Council acknowledges our duty of care to ensure a healthy and safe place to work for our staff, customers and visitors. We aim to achieve this through compliance with the safety laws in each of the countries in which we operate.

We aim, where practicable, to follow UK standards, guidance and codes of good practice where these offer enhanced standards of health and safety. The British Council recognises that we have a fundamental duty of care towards all children we engage with including a duty to protect them from abuse. We achieve this through compliance with UK child protection laws and relevant laws in each of the countries we operate as well as by adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989.

Our Equal Opportunity Policy commits us to ensuring that there is no unjustified discrimination in the recruitment, retention, training and development of staff on the basis of age, disability, gender including transgender, HIV/AIDS status, marital status including civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity, political opinion, race/ethnicity, religion and belief, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, spent convictions, trade union activity or membership, work pattern and on the basis of having or not having dependants or any other irrelevant grounds.

We guarantee an interview to candidates living with disability who meet the essential criteria. Candidates with special needs should please ask us for this information in alternative formats. All employees of the British Council must adhere to the Corporate Health & Safety, Equal Opportunity & Diversity and Child Protection policies and the Code of Conduct.

Main Accountabilities
Managing Projects:

• Manage project activity to agreed contractual terms of reference, timelines, costs, targets and established performance indicators
• To manage project events’ financial elements in accordance with agreed project financial plans and corporate standards
• To manage relationships with both internal and external stakeholders related to projects
• To manage partnerships, contract and procurement procedures in compliance with British Council corporate standards
• To plan and manage event logistics for large and small scale events
• Responsible for reporting project performance using British Council corporate scorecard and contract or project Monitoring & Evaluation systems
• Develop and manage relationship with project delivery partners, contractors and suppliers.

Financial Management:

• Responsible for project procurement in line with established corporate policies and guidelines
• Responsible for developing detailed activity and event budgets for approval by Programme Manager and managing delivery against budgets with an emphasis on value for money
• Responsible for preparing monthly financial performance reports, monthly cash flow, and quarterly project forecasts against the annual budgets to the timelines set for internal use.

Internal Communications:

• Work with British Council Nigeria Marketing and Communications team to manage project communications for internal and external stakeholders.

Marketing and Communications Services:

• To develop, manage and execute the agreed communication strategy for these projects
• To manage the Skills database
• As part of Country Client Relationship Management framework, maintain and update contacts for the CRM, recording contacts/ leads and outcomes of meetings , ensuring follow up action is carried out in a timely and efficient manner.

Line Management:

• To line manage Project Officer in line with agreed corporate standards.

Key Relationships
Internal:

• Director Higher Education Skills and Enterprise, Nigeria, Programme Manager-Skills, Higher Education, Skills and Enterprise team, Programmes team, Nigeria Marketing and Communications team, Global and Regional Skills and Social Enterprise teams, wider British Council team, including large scale projects.

External:

• UK and Nigerian skills institutions, regulatory bodies and government stakeholders.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor's Degree.

Role Specific Knowledge & Experience
Essential:

• At least 2 years programme management and delivery experience
• Experience organising and managing events
• Demonstrated experience managing relationships with external clients, partners and stakeholders.

Desirable:

• A background in project management and an understanding of the landscape of skills management in Nigeria
• 3 years project management experience, with a clear career path in project management Experience liaising with stakeholders Good understanding of stakeholder management.

British Council Core Skills
Managing Projects (2):

• Examines project data and performance, reporting on progress and recommending corrective action as needed

Managing People (2):

• Supervises a small team of people doing similar jobs to deliver short term tasks to agreed quality and time standards.

Communication and influencing (2):

• Displays good listening, writing and speaking skills, setting out logical arguments clearly and adapting language and form of communication to meet the needs of different people/audiences.

Planning and organising (2):

• Organises own work over weeks and months, or plans ahead for others, taking account of priorities and the impact on other people.

Managing finance and resources (2):

• Uses corporate financial systems and processes appropriately as part of the job and on behalf of a team.

British Council Behaviours

• Connecting With Others : (Essential)
• Working Together: (Essential)
• Being Accountable: (Essential)
• Making It Happen: (More Demanding).

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Role Type: Business Delivery
Pay Band: 6
Duration: Indefinite
Reports to: Programme Manager, Skills

Role Purpose

• To work with the Director Higher Education, Enterprise and Skills and other members of the Education and Skills team in Nigeria, the SSA Region and HQ to manage project delivery of the British Councils Skills and Enterprise portfolio
• This role will manage the projects under the Enhancing Employability for Urban Youth Programme and the Common Wealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan.

Geopolitical/SBU/Function Overview

• The British Council in Nigeria works in three strategic business areas; Arts, English and Exams, Education and Society. As part of our Skills offer, we work to improve skills, encourage entrepreneurship and promote social enterprise
• From supporting curriculum reform and institutional changes, to sharing international best practice, to equipping young people with the skills to get a job or start a business, we work to improve the employment prospects of young Africans and ensure skills systems meet the needs of employers and industries
• Our skills portfolio therefore creates opportunities to enhance the skills and employability of young people leveraging the UK’s experience, knowledge and expertise thereby promoting the UK as leaders and experts in skills development
• With our work in enterprise, we provide platforms for entrepreneurs to access information, opportunities, knowledge and networks to drive development at the individual, institutional and organisational levels.

Enhancing Employability for Urban Youth - Programme Context
The programme is designed to enable young women and men in urban areas to acquire skills and experiences that are relevant to them having jobs either as seekers or creators of jobs. The programme builds on our current portfolio of work in the SSA region in the areas of skills development, social entrepreneurship, English, Creative Industries and Education. We will use a holistic and multi sectoral approach, that build on our successful work streams working in partnership with both public and private sector players. In line with the UK International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014, the programme will ensure that historical gender inequality is not reinforced and factors affecting the participation of women and men in skills development and work opportunities are addressed

The programme will respond to changes and provide a means by which young women and men can continue to derive social and economic benefits, beyond the period of intervention. Bringing together the different enablers with the element of youth-led, including demand and supply side strengthening, while taking into consideration ecosystem-strengthening approaches Eventually targeting multiple pathways to enhancing employability, while addressing the skills, gender and experience gaps, and promotes and equips young women and men for entrepreneurship.

The approach to this programme is to align and equip young women and men in urban areas with the skills and knowledge to prepare them transition to the world of work and entrepreneurship; supporting the creation of job opportunities for young people in different sector of the economy within their national setting through growth of SME’s. The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide. In all that we do the British Council acknowledges our duty of care to ensure a healthy and safe place to work for our staff, customers and visitors. We aim to achieve this through compliance with the safety laws in each of the countries in which we operate.

We aim, where practicable, to follow UK standards, guidance and codes of good practice where these offer enhanced standards of health and safety. The British Council recognises that we have a fundamental duty of care towards all children we engage with including a duty to protect them from abuse. We achieve this through compliance with UK child protection laws and relevant laws in each of the countries we operate as well as by adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989.

Our Equal Opportunity Policy commits us to ensuring that there is no unjustified discrimination in the recruitment, retention, training and development of staff on the basis of age, disability, gender including transgender, HIV/AIDS status, marital status including civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity, political opinion, race/ethnicity, religion and belief, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, spent convictions, trade union activity or membership, work pattern and on the basis of having or not having dependants or any other irrelevant grounds.

We guarantee an interview to candidates living with disability who meet the essential criteria. Candidates with special needs should please ask us for this information in alternative formats. All employees of the British Council must adhere to the Corporate Health & Safety, Equal Opportunity & Diversity and Child Protection policies and the Code of Conduct.

Main Accountabilities
Managing Projects:

• Manage project activity to agreed contractual terms of reference, timelines, costs, targets and established performance indicators
• To manage project events’ financial elements in accordance with agreed project financial plans and corporate standards
• To manage relationships with both internal and external stakeholders related to projects
• To manage partnerships, contract and procurement procedures in compliance with British Council corporate standards
• To plan and manage event logistics for large and small scale events
• Responsible for reporting project performance using British Council corporate scorecard and contract or project Monitoring & Evaluation systems
• Develop and manage relationship with project delivery partners, contractors and suppliers.

Financial Management:

• Responsible for project procurement in line with established corporate policies and guidelines
• Responsible for developing detailed activity and event budgets for approval by Programme Manager and managing delivery against budgets with an emphasis on value for money
• Responsible for preparing monthly financial performance reports, monthly cash flow, and quarterly project forecasts against the annual budgets to the timelines set for internal use.

Internal Communications:

• Work with British Council Nigeria Marketing and Communications team to manage project communications for internal and external stakeholders.

Marketing and Communications Services:

• To develop, manage and execute the agreed communication strategy for these projects
• To manage the Skills database
• As part of Country Client Relationship Management framework, maintain and update contacts for the CRM, recording contacts/ leads and outcomes of meetings , ensuring follow up action is carried out in a timely and efficient manner.

Line Management:

• To line manage Project Officer in line with agreed corporate standards.

Key Relationships
Internal:

• Director Higher Education Skills and Enterprise, Nigeria, Programme Manager-Skills, Higher Education, Skills and Enterprise team, Programmes team, Nigeria Marketing and Communications team, Global and Regional Skills and Social Enterprise teams, wider British Council team, including large scale projects.

External:

• UK and Nigerian skills institutions, regulatory bodies and government stakeholders.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor's Degree.

Role Specific Knowledge & Experience
Essential:

• At least 2 years programme management and delivery experience
• Experience organising and managing events
• Demonstrated experience managing relationships with external clients, partners and stakeholders.

Desirable:

• A background in project management and an understanding of the landscape of skills management in Nigeria
• 3 years project management experience, with a clear career path in project management Experience liaising with stakeholders Good understanding of stakeholder management.

British Council Core Skills
Managing Projects (2):

• Examines project data and performance, reporting on progress and recommending corrective action as needed

Managing People (2):

• Supervises a small team of people doing similar jobs to deliver short term tasks to agreed quality and time standards.

Communication and influencing (2):

• Displays good listening, writing and speaking skills, setting out logical arguments clearly and adapting language and form of communication to meet the needs of different people/audiences.

Planning and organising (2):

• Organises own work over weeks and months, or plans ahead for others, taking account of priorities and the impact on other people.

Managing finance and resources (2):

• Uses corporate financial systems and processes appropriately as part of the job and on behalf of a team.

British Council Behaviours

• Connecting With Others : (Essential)
• Working Together: (Essential)
• Being Accountable: (Essential)
• Making It Happen: (More Demanding).