Network Delivery Manager at British Council

Role purpose

• The purpose of this role is to execute and assure end‑to‑end Exams operational delivery at a country/location level from candidate handover through test‑day to post‑test services.
• The role owns country or location venue strategy and sourcing/contracting, and manages the onboarding, support and performance monitoring of delivery partners (venues, partner testing points, sub‑centres and similar suppliers).
• Ensures delivery readiness, test-day compliance and acts as the focal point for delivery escalations. Working closely with Planning & Registration and Workforce Resourcing teams, it aligns plans, capacity and readiness to protect customer commitments, optimise cost‑to‑serve and deliver a consistent, high‑quality candidate experience and manages local third-party delivery from local identification to performance and compliance monitoring.

Main Accountabilities

• The role is responsible for ensuring the end-to-end delivery of Exams operations, covering pre-test readiness, test-day execution, and post-test activities in line with global procedures and awarding-body requirements.
• This includes overseeing venue sourcing, contracting, compliance, utilisation, and quality standards, as well as managing the full lifecycle of third-party delivery partners through onboarding, performance management, SLAs, and regular reviews. The role also ensures secure handling of exam materials through compliant CMR processes, manages test-day operations and post-test workflows, coordinates closely with Planning & Registration and Workforce Resourcing teams, and leads recovery plans for operational disruptions.
• A key focus is delivering a high-quality customer experience by acting as the escalation point for complex delivery issues, ensuring timely resolution, and driving continuous improvement in candidate and client satisfaction.
• The role builds strong relationships with delivery partners and internal stakeholders, contributes operational insight to planning and readiness forums, and aligns delivery capacity, costs, and priorities across Operations, Network, and Customer Management teams.
• The position is accountable for maintaining compliance with safeguarding, exam security, health and safety, and data privacy requirements while ensuring audit readiness, risk management, and business continuity planning. It also oversees delivery budgets, contracts, supplier performance, and operational performance reporting to support informed decision-making.
• In addition, the role provides leadership and people management for delivery teams, driving performance, capability development, succession planning, continuous improvement, and a culture of safety, security, and customer focus.

Qualifications & Skills
Essential:

• Experience working in managing Exams, Teaching or other regulated service environments
• Proven track record of leading teams
• Knowledge of safeguarding, HR compliance and customer-facing delivery frameworks
• Experience driving performance improvement and embedding continuous improvement culture.
• Financial accountability and cost optimization
• Good understanding of regulatory and compliance requirements in education and assessment services.
• Degree or equivalent experience.

Desirable:

• Implementing and assuring safeguarding policies and processes in educational settings for children.
• Developing and managing partnerships with educational institutions to assure compliance and performance.
• Experience with Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes.
• Lean Six Sigma qualification.