Programme Manager Education at British Council

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.

We work directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world in partnership with the UK. We support them to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications.

Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2021–22 we reached 650 million people.

 

Senior Project Manager

Role Purpose

To enable the success of the EU-Funded Zantchito- Skills for Jobs project Technical Assistance (TA) component through robust project management and day-to-day implementation that progresses project targets and maximises outcomes. The purpose requires a dynamic, effective individual with experience of successfully managing, co-ordinating and implementing a multimillion, multi-year £ project, demonstrating strategic delivery acumen and significant budget management capability, especially with donor funding.

 

Main accountabilities but not limited to the following:

• Project leadership: Provide management, co-ordination and implementation of project activities throughout project life cycle, set up all systems, procedures, templates and processes to allow smooth project implementation and reporting right at the outset of the project, lead work planning, tracking deliverables, pre-empting, solving delivery challenges, demonstrate accountability for high quality outputs, deploy good practice, be an effective point of contact on project management issues.
• Budget management. Oversee and ensure financial planning, accurate forecasting, management, monitoring and reporting in line with guidelines and standards, provide financial reports; safeguard financial controls, ensure procurement plans in place in line with project plans and promote value for money.
• Stakeholder management. Develop stakeholder plan, establish, nurture and sustain productive, trusting relationships with key internal and external stakeholders that facilitate quality and timely delivery; build support for the project and enhance confidence in the project, the team as British Council as a whole.
• Risk and issues management. Lead on project delivery risks and contribute to development of strategic risk strategies, fraud and other risks, proactively identifying challenges and issues, recommending remedial action as appropriate, and ensuring delivery operates within projects’ risk appetite.
• Communications, M&E, and reporting. Leading on project management reporting, corporate reporting , and contributing as relevant to technical progress reports to be submitted to internal and external stakeholders,, co-ordinate reporting processes, manage information flows with SRO, oversee and ensure communications, M&E planning and implementation; lesson learning
• Operational excellence. Ensure appropriate, well-functioning governance processes in place for management and oversight optimises project execution and performance; full compliance and efficiency in all areas of work including in business support functions such as assets and incident management.
• Staff Management: Line-manage three staff, build a sense of direction, trust. Inclusion and accountability within the team for individual and collective performance.

All duties and responsibilities will be in line with our Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policy, corporate policies.

This Senior Project Manager role reports to the Project Director.

 

Role specific knowledge and experience:

Essential requirements:

• University degree
• At least 7 years of project manager experience, including at least 3 years on a complex medium-sized (<£2m) donor-funded project through project life cycle
• Experience of budget management and financial management oversight of multi-million project (< £2m)
• Leadership and line management experience
• Practical experience of managing operations.
• Experience of managing a donor client
• Experience of using technology in project delivery.

Desirable:

• Project Management qualification
• Strong experience of (i) education/skills international development sector
• Leadership of a 3–4 person team

Further Information

• Pay Band: 7
• Remuneration: MWK 2,857,321.00 Gross Per Month
• Contract Type: Two (2) Year Fixed Term Contract
• Location: Lilongwe, Malawi
• Department/Function: Education
• Additional information
• Language requirements: Strong written and oral English communication skills.
• The Role holder must have existing rights to live and work in the country where the role is based.
• Closing Date: July 22, 2024. Applications will close at 23:59 East African Time

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality , Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Statement

The British Council is committed to policies and practices of equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. We support all staff to make sure their behaviour is consistent with this commitment.  We want to address under representation and encourage applicants from under-represented groups, in particular, but not exclusively, on grounds of ethnicity and disability.  All disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria are guaranteed an interview and we have Disability Confident Employer Status. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with.

We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989.

Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

If you have any problems with your application please email [email protected]

Please note: Applications to this role can only be considered when made through the Apply section of our careers website. Our ‘ASK HR’ email is only to be used in case of a technical issue encountered when applying through the careers website. Emails with supporting statements and CV/Resumes sent to this email address will not be reviewed and will be deleted.