Education Portfolio Lead - Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) at British Council

The Location:

This role has a flexible location. 

The locations are:   UK/ Nairobi/ Addis Ababa/ South Africa or Nigeria 

The Opportunity:

We are seeking an exceptional individual with deep knowledge of - and interest in - international education and policy. Strong candidates will have led major contracts and/or programmes, and will bring experience in external representation and the ability to provide thought leadership. They will ideally bring familiarity with government as well as some overseas experience. The role requires a strategic thinker and sector expert with excellent skills in relationship-building, influencing and strong commercial acumen.

The Portfolio Lead will be responsible for the management of the full portfolio within the Education sector across the various funding streams, namely overseas development assistance (ODA) grant, partnership and client funded. A primary focus of this role is to provide leadership to the existing schools portfolio (which is currently centred around Connecting Classrooms) and to generate new business and partnerships in the sector, in alignment with regional and global Education strategies. The Portfolio Lead will also oversee the new regional Higher Education programme in SSA and all other HE related work.

The postholder will be the point of information on our range of Education related activities and be the main interlocutor with external stakeholders on Education policy, partnerships, programmes and funding. 

This role will work closely with the Education & Society Business unit which has currently been working through a change programme to move towards a globally managed business where UK and overseas regions are working together in a complementary manner to achieve high levels of impact while remaining sustainable as a business unit.  

What we require of the successful candidate: 

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in senior management / sector / team leadership roles
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience of delivering client funded projects or programmes
• Familiarity with client policies and procedures
• Experience of working in Sub Saharan Africa is highly desirable
• Relationship building and management
• Influencing skills
• Commercial acumen
• Senior Leadership experience in the Education sector
• Relationship management (clients & partners)

Please refer to the role profile for a full list of the role responsibilities/accountabilities and person specification which can be found by following the link below.

If you feel that you are suitable and would like to be considered for this role, please apply by 23:59 UK time on the 11 March 2020 using the details provided within the advert on the British Council Jobs portal.