Project Manager, Higher Education at British Council

Purpose of Job

• 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 international education portfolio.
• This role will manage the British Council’s Services for International Education Marketing (SIEM) programme to effectively position the UK as a study destination of choice for Nigerian students interested in studying internationally. 

Context and Environment

• The British Council in Nigeria works in three strategic business areas; Arts, English and Exams, Education and Society.
• As part of our Higher Education strategy, we promote platforms and opportunities for knowledge sharing and individual development. We do this through various programmes which are designed to connect students, scholars and academics to information and study opportunities with the UK.
• The UK remains a top study destination for international students and this post holder will work internally with the Higher Education programme manager as well as the regional manager for the middle east and Africa to ensure the promotion of the UK and support UK institutions looking to attract students on their programmes.
• This role involves marketing and promotion as well as project management skills, the post holder will therefore work with other members of the education team as well as the communications manager to deliver promotional campaigns for education fairs and targeted direct marketing services on behalf on the UK education sector.
• This role will also support partnership links between UK and Nigerian Higher Education Institutions (HEI) the post holder will therefore require knowledge of Nigerian Higher Education and some understanding of the UK higher education landscape is also desired.
• 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.

Accountabilities, Responsibilities and Main Duties
Project Management and Coordination:

• Manage project activity to agreed contractual terms of reference, timelines, costs, targets and established performance indicators
• To manage education events’  financial elements in accordance with agreed project financial plans
• To manage relationships with both internal and external stakeholders related to this project
• To manage exhibitions contract and procurement procedures in compliance BC corporate standards
• To plan and manage event logistics for large and small scale events
• To manage the recruitment, training and performance of temporary staff working on SIEM projects.
• Responsible for reporting project performance using British Council corporate scorecard and contract or project M&E systems and raising variances with Programme/Contract Managers for action to be taken
• 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 or Contract 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 communications around the project for internal stakeholders.

Marketing and Communications Services:

• To develop, manage and execute the agreed marketing and communication strategy for this project
• To ensure British Council standards are followed in the tender for Marketing and communication services.
• To be innovative in the use of new media and responsive to real time feedback of our target audience on all media platforms.
• To Manage the Visitors Registration System. (VRS) and provide high quality direct marketing services for our clients.
• 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:

• Line management of Project Officer to corporate standards

Key Relationships
Internal:

• Director Higher Education Skills and Enterprise, Nigeria, Education and Skills team, Nigeria Communications team, UK SIEM Team, regional and global Education and Society team +wider BC team, including large scale projects.

External:

• UK Higher Education Institutions, Nigeria Higher Education Institutions and Regulatory bodies.

Other important features or requirements of the job

• Some travel and evening working within Nigeria and internationally.
• Some unsocial working hours.

Person Specification
Behaviours
Essential:

• Connecting With Others (more demanding)
• Working Together (essential)     
• Being Accountable (essential)
• Making It Happen (more demanding)

Other behaviours needed for the job but not evaluated at interview

• Shaping the future essential

Skills and Knowledge
Managing Projects:

• Works with project management systems and procedures, and has a track record of compliance with them as a project team member.
• Examines project data and performance, reporting on progress and recommending corrective action as needed.
• Analyses requirements with the sponsor/stakeholders, defining the specification with awareness of equality and diversity impact, planning, revising, implementing and evaluating on small-to-medium scale and/or low risk projects.

Communication skills:

• 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:

• 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:

• Monitors and controls an agreed budget within a defined area, producing reports and analyses and contributing to planning.

Marketing and Communications:

• Delivers strategic marketing and communications campaigns that meet the needs of our clients and are responsive to the requirements of our customers.

Experience    

• Experience working in allocation/sector area (as per role profile)

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree

Desirable

• Post-graduate degree in Education, Marketing or Business