2016 Job Opportunities at The British Council

Purpose of job

• To manage all day-to-day programme financial and accounting processes for the Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme to client and corporate standards.

Context and environment

• Nigeria is the British Council's largest operation in SSA with offices in four cities: Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Kano. NSRP is a DFID-funded programme managed by the British Council that aims to enhance collective efforts to identify and respond effectively to potential sources of violent conflict in Nigeria and reduce the negative impacts of conflict on the most vulnerable among the Nigerian population.
• The NSP programme will operate from five regional offices (Kano, Port Harcourt, Jos, Maiduguri and Kaduna) in Nigeria with a programme management unit situated in Abuja.
• The post holder must have the ability to work in a multi-cultural and dynamic environment. The programme will link closely with other BC-managed work in Nigeria, notably the Justice For All (J4A) programme. The post holder will work closely with the programme team in Nigeria and report to the Finance Manager.

Accountabilities, Responsibilities and Main Duties

Accountabilities:

• Accountable for the efficient day-to-day running of the programme's financial systems and processes
• Accountable for efficient and effective management of programme's account payables
• Accountable for effective and efficient management of programme's vendors and customers set up

Responsibilities and Main Duties

Financial management and control - 35%:

• Responsible for the day-to-day management of all financial, banking and tax operations, including:
• Support Finance Manager in completing monthly cash-flow forecast and request
• Manage and process fund remittances to Abuja and State offices monthly
• Manage NSRP Cash journals on SAP
• Payment Processing: monitor payment process on a day-to-day basis to ensure that performance is in line with British Council standards and in line with NSRP systems, processes and policies
• Lead on processing payment for invoices submitted; manage down-payment, offline payments, Operational Advances and other disbursement
• Upload payment data on straight to bank for offline payments processing
• Carry out monthly bank reconciliations, petty cash reconciliations, offline payment reconciliations and other financial reconciliations that may be required from time to time
• Prepare correction journals as necessary for wrong postings and ensure that they are posted before month-end
• Payroll: Production of monthly payroll for temporary staff, support British Council Finance team in processing fixed-term staff salaries and overtime payments
• Provide support to staff on invoice queries
• Ensuring accurate management of programme store and inventory, including applying appropriate segregation of duties in receipt and audit of goods.
• Carrying out a quarterly audit of the store.
• Invoicing: Create Sales Orders as might be required
• Tax: Monthly remittance of tax returns to Nigerian tax authority; resolve issues on tax; work with remitting bank to process tax credit notes for vendors; support Finance Manager to file for annual PAYE tax certificate; maintain tax monitoring spreadsheet
• Banking: Support Finance Manager in managing relationship with Bankers and resolve issues on NSRP banking processes.
• Assist in preparation for external and internal audit of NSRP

Vendor Creation and Update Maintenance - 20%:

• Review Vendor and Customer creation forms before SAP set-up
• Provide guidelines and support to Staff on vendor and customer creation
• Support Facilities & Procurement Manager when reviewing Vendor Master List (VML) review
• Resolve issues on Vendor and Customers accounts in SAP
• Update vendor and customer creation checklist as required
• In coordination with Facilities & Procurement Manager, provide information to and liaise with British
• Council's Audit & Compliance Manager regarding Approved Suppliers List (ASL) and Vendor Master List (VML)
• Work with Finance Manager and Facilities & Procurement Manager to collect quarterly statement request from NSRP top Vendors

Purchase Order management - 20%:
Ensure the accurate and timely management of purchase orders, including:

• Timely review of programme purchase orders
• Manage open POs to highlight purchase orders that are no longer needed
• Liaise with PO creators to clear and resolve issues of open POs
• Manage late PO issues - Support PO creators to ensure POs for activities are created following the procurement policy and process
• Resolve blocked invoices and payments to vendors
• Manage the Purchase Order Monitoring Sheet
• In coordination with Facilities & Procurement Manager, prepare strategic procurement Report quarterly
• Monitor Goods Receipt/Invoice Receipt on SAP
• Support Staff in managing PO issues

Travel, expenses and advances - 15%:

• Prepare regular reports on open travel requests
• Carry out monthly and quarterly trip audits
• Review retirement documents where necessary
• Liaise and communicate with British Council Finance Hub on Trip Envelope Audits

Training - 10%:

• Support Finance Manager to deliver trainings for staff, consultants and other stakeholders.

Key Relationships

• Internal: Programme Manager; Finance Manager; Programme Team (management and technical).
• External: External relationship management where appropriate (i.e. linked to function of role), to include:external partner organisations; state institutions, academic institutions, etc.

Person Specification

Behaviours
Creating Shared Purpose:

• Communicating an engaging picture of how we can work together (Essential).

Connecting with others:

• Actively appreciating the needs and concerns of myself and others. (More demanding).

Working Together:

• Creating the environment in which others who have different aims can work together. (More demanding).

Being Accountable:

• Putting the needs of the team or British Council ahead of my own (Essential)

Making it Happen:

• Delivering clear results for the British Council (Essential).

Shaping the Future:

• Exploring ways in which we can add more value.(Essential)

Skills and Knowledge

• Financial planning and management - level 2 (Essential)

Experience
Financial Management:

• Experience of designing, implementing and managing financial management systems and controls (Essential)
• 2-4 years working experience in similar sector (Essential)
• Working experience in similar sector (Desirable)

Qualifications

• First Degree or Equivalent in Accountancy/Business Administration/Economics/Banking & Finance (Essential)
• Part Professional accountancy qualification (Desirable)

Click here to apply online

Click here to download job details pdf

Click here to download BC Behaviour (pdf)

go to method of application »

Purpose Of The Job

To directly contribute to growing British Council Nigeria’s operation, building positive perceptions of the British Council and the UK, with the British Council as a leading global Cultural Relations organisation. To lead on the strategic delivery of (marketing and) communications in Nigeria, including raising the profile of programmes, activities and impact with key stakeholder groups. To  provide leadership for the marketing / communications staff in country, to build communications capacity in the Strategic Business Unit (SBU) project staff, and embed communications at the heart of our projects and programme portfolio, ensuring important media presence, and by contributing to building long-term relationships with all major stakeholders and target groups.
 
The post holder will be a key member of the Nigeria Senior Leadership Team, working collaboratively with the UK and regional SSA MarComms Teams and will be accountable for the MarComms function and line management of the: Marketing Manager; Digital and Social Media Manager; Marketing Insight Manager.

He /she will be comfortable with a highly visible role, during a period of significant growth. He/she will have a broad base of corporate communications experience and have previously led high performing teams.  The post holder must also display a deep understanding of the organisation’s aims, stakeholders and target audiences, the Nigeria operating context and the ability to connect with operational colleagues.

British Council Operating Context
Current: 
Nigeria is now officially the largest economy in Africa. It is also the most populous country with over 180 million citizens. The UK is its largest trading partner. Nigeria holds significant political power in the region and internationally and its society retains a positive attitude to the UK. Therefore, there continue to be major opportunities for the UK and British Council to build on our strong existing relationships with the Nigerian government, institutions and customers/audiences. However, there are complex and substantial risks to this work i.e. security and compliance. 

Nigeria is the British Council’s largest operation in sub-Saharan Africa with offices in 4 cities - Port Harcourt in the south, Kano in the north, Abuja the Federal capital and Lagos the commercial centre. We also have a number of project offices across the country.

Our 200 staff work across a range of states delivering large scale contracts, partnership programmes, examinations, projects as well as services in Arts, Education & Society and English & Exams. We are already achieving substantial impact and income (current annual income is £27.2 million) and have plans to grow and develop our impact further. Partners and clients include government, public and private institutions, foundations, private sector organisations and civil society. We work closely with the wider UK mission including DFID and UKTI. 

Future:  
42% of Nigeria’s population is under 14. The government has recognised that its Vision 2020 must address the aspirations of this young population as part of its drive to achieve peace and prosperity. This has led to unprecedented interest and investment in Education, the Arts and good governance.

This alignment with the UK’s priorities creates a growth environment for the British Council. To be successful in this, we need to build understanding with our UK stakeholders of Nigeria as an emerging economy with substantial commercial and development opportunities as well as the challenges they may be more familiar with. In this we will seek to integrate our approach with that of the wider UK mission.

We intend to expand and scale up our existing programmes, contracts and services in the Arts, Education & Society, English & Examinations and develop offers to fill important gaps such as in Skills. We also intend to ensure that we have a good balance of partnership, customer services and client funded work across all these sectors.

To do all this we need to create the right enabling environment. In addition to developing the professional and technical expertise of our staff, we need to support them to build their relationships within Nigeria, the region and the wider global network. This will ensure we develop as well as adopt and use best practice.

We also need rigorous and compliant frameworks to support our work in areas such as finance, tax & status, security, procurement, compliance and quality management. We have new premises in Kano and have a major premises project under development in Abuja. However, there is still more work to be done, especially in Lagos and Port Harcourt to ensure our premises and technology support our brand reputation for integrity, innovation and professionalism.

Accountabilities, Responsibilities and Main duties

Strategy Development and Implementation:

• Lead the development and delivery of the Nigeria MarComms strategy working with the Nigeria Executive and Senior Leadership Teams, the regional Comms and Digital team and relevant corporate teams.
• Ensure that a robust MarComms plan with agreed targets is developed that reflects the strategic focus for the Nigeria operation.
• Work collaboratively ensuring stakeholder mapping and analysis is up to date and appropriate, enabling deliver of strategy and plans.

Leadership of the Marketing Communications Function:

• Build and lead an engaged and effective MarComms function that operates professionally, flexibly and creatively meeting the needs of the Nigeria operation and regional stakeholders
• Deliver external communications for the Nigeria country operation ensuring consistency of message across all media including print and digital communication materials. Write, proof and edit content.
• Develop and manage relationships with key locally based national and international journalists and media institutions.
• Lead Internal communications to ensure that colleagues in the region, the UK and more widely are fully informed and engaged with the aims and impact of British Council Nigeria’s activities. Write, proof and edit content.
• Work collaboratively with a diverse teams incorporating, SBU heads, project managers, regional and country communication communities, embedding MarComms in all that we do
• Together with the regional / UK digital teams, ensure digital content, for websites, social media sites, e-mail marketing, and online campaigns is created.
• Build capacity in brand management: focusing on consistency, style and tone a of communication, quality in events management and ensure British Council brand compliance of all communication and marketing materials
• Build and lead a team of communication managers across the Nigeria operation to effectively manage the flow of information and planning.
• Create and maintain an up-to-date calendar of events and work proactively with key staff regionally to ensure activities are promoted in an effective and timely way. Develop impact stories and case studies presenting evidence-based impact at country/regional/UK levels
• Maintain and provide reference information as needed to support regional and country based communication and marketing activities
• Work with the regional and country marketing and communication managers to ensure that communications and marketing outcome targets are met
• Provide analyses of communication and marketing activities and brand penetration. Contribute to monitoring and evaluation in respect of communication and marketing for the region and Nigeria
• Manage procurement of MarComms related goods and services ensuring value for money, quality and delivery - in line with corporate standards and policies
• Oversee the commissioning of quality photography & videography which creatively captures our work and impact
• Develop and maintain MarComms ‘collateral’ including images, videography, reach and impact data / stories
• Budget management for the MarComms budget in line with corporate standards.
• Develop and leverage potential for business growth through: research; stakeholder / audience analysis; impact stories; high quality Marketing and Communications campaigns.

Team Leadership and Management:

• Demonstrate effective leadership of Nigeria MarComms staff and ensure that line management of staff is to British Council standards.
• Coach and support individuals and teams.
• Model appropriate leadership styles and British Council behaviours and ensure that staff work in alignment with British Council Values at all times
• Actively support equality and diversity and work to the British Council’s EDI policy at all times
• Ensure that capability and capacity in the MarComms team is fit-for-purpose and able to respond flexibly to changes in the portfolio and operating context.
• Ensure MarComms training for members of the immediate team, operational staff and Senior Leadership Team (where appropriate).
• Actively contribute to the Business Services Leadership team.

Country Team Working and Management:

• As a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), contribute actively on country level strategy, leadership, planning and delivery. 
• Maintain close working relationships with all senior colleagues, seeking out and maximising collaborative working opportunities e.g. with Education and Exams to support achievement of impact in Nigeria.
• Provide MarComms support as required to the West Africa country cluster.

Continuous Professional Development:

• Manage talent and succession planning effectively within the Nigeria MarComms team and SBU teams.
• Ensure career planning, development planning and continuous professional development are embedded in the MarComms and SBU teams.
• Engage in professional networks and continuous professional development to ensure that knowledge and expertise are kept updated.

Key Relationships:

• Country Director, the Nigeria Executive Team and Senior Leadership Team
• Regional Communications & Digital teams
• UK based Marketing, Brand and Communications teams (including Press Office)
• Key colleagues in Strategic Business Units (SBUs)
• National and International media
• Suppliers including marketing, communications, PR and events management
• Key partners and customer groups
• Relevant colleagues in British High Commission

Qualifications and Experience

• Established experience in multi-channel marketing and communications including on-line, offline, internal and external communications, branding and media relations, events management.
• Experience of managing marketing campaigns effectively with successful outcomes
• Experience of building and managing effective relationships with media and suppliers
• Experience managing a team
• University degree
• Professional qualification in communications, marketing, PR or journalism

Click here to apply online

Click here to download job details pdf

Click here to download BC Behaviour (pdf)

go to method of application »

Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP) Pay band: 4 Location: Abuja Duration: 1 year and renewable Closing date: 28th January 2016

Nigeria is the British Council’s largest operation in SSA with offices in four cities: Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Kano. NSRP is a DFID-funded programme managed by the British Council (who lead a consortium including International Alert and Social Development Direct) that aims to enhance collective efforts to identify and respond effectively to potential sources of violent conflict in Nigeria and reduce the negative impacts of conflict on the most vulnerable among the Nigerian population.

The NSRP programme  operates from five regional offices (Kano, Port Harcourt, Jos, Maiduguri and Kaduna) in Nigeria with a programme management unit situated in Abuja. The post holder will be required to travel to the other regional offices periodically.  The programme will link closely with other DFID funded programmes.

The post holder will work closely with the Finance Manager, Deputy Finance Manager, Operations Manager and with the national and international technical team  and will report to the Finance Manager. The post holder will also  be required to have significant dealings with the programme resources team, with the technical team and the overall Programme Manager.

Please read the role profile attached.

You may find it useful to look at the attached guidance notes on the behaviours and the generic skills dictionary.

The British Council is an equal opportunity employer, women are encouraged to apply

Role Profile.pdf
BC Behaviours.pdf
BC Generic.pdf

Click here to apply online.