Project Manager Scholarships and Programme Support at British Council Nigeria

The British Council is the world's leading cultural relations organization and creates opportunities for people in the UK and worldwide to understand each other, to work together and learn from one another. We see this as crucial to building secure, more prosperous and sustainable futures for us all. We build trust and understanding between different countries and cultures and develop strong international links that are of benefit to people in Britain and the rest of the world.

We are recruiting to fill the below position:

Job Title: Project Manager Scholarships and Programme Support

Location: Port Harcourt
Department: Education & Society
Job Category: Project Management
Pay Band: Pay Band 6
Duration: Fixed Term Contract (2 years)
Reports to: Director, Education and Skills

Purpose of Job

• To work with the Director Education 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 growing scholarships portfolio.
• To provide project management support to the wider Programmes team and implement the delivery of the British Councils portfolio of programmes in Rivers and Cross Rivers states.

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.
• Through our scholarships work we support UK government funded, local government funded and private sector scholarship schemes in various countries across the globe.
• Over the last 50 years, we have built a global reputation for our successful management of scholarship schemes in partnership with various organisations. Our offer to both individuals and partner organisations range from the administrative management of the pre selection and scholars pre departure process, scholar performance monitoring and post award reintegration activity.
• This is a developing area of work for the British Council in Nigeria. In the last three years, we have managed and administered scholarships on behalf of one private sector organisation and will commence management of another private sector funded scheme in September 2015. We aim to grow and expand our present portfolio of work in this area beyond its current focus and geographical reach.
• This new post will manage the delivery of already existing scholarship business and work with the partnership manager and regional pursuit teams to identify any other opportunities that may support our ambition and strategy.  The post holder will be expected to develop, and manage day to day relationships with programme stakeholders, lead on the implementation and delivery of service level agreements with partners, organise visits and meetings for visiting staff from other offices etc.
• 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
• Responsible for organising and managing meetings, teleconferences, advisory and selection boards, pre departure events and other project or contract related events.
• Support internal departments in Nigeria, SSA and UK deliver activity on the project or contract to agreed timelines and standards
• Support external programme partners and consultants deliver activity by providing guidance on appropriate British Council strategy, policies and guidelines including Travel, Sector strategy, Child Protection, EDI, security and data protection.
• Manage reporting from partners, contractors and suppliers on financial, delivery and impact performance.
• 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
• To provide project management support to the wider Programmes team and implement the delivery of the British Councils portfolio of programmes in Rivers and Cross Rivers states.

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.
• Responsible for preparing statements of account for external clients and partners in accordance with the contract/agreement

Internal communications:

• Work with British Council Nigeria Marketing and Communications team and the UK Scholarships team to develop and disseminate impact stories for internal communication channels including intranet, blogs and newsletters

Contract and account management:
Where British Council has been contracted:

• Monitor project delivery against contractual terms of reference/schedules, reporting variances to Programme or Contract manager and following through on action plan
• Manage client invoicing: raising invoices against schedule, monitoring receipt, follow up on overdue payments
• Manage relationship with client's/partner's appointed contact person/s
• Support Director, Education and Skills in drafting agreements for contractors, consultants and suppliers
• 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
• Develop and manage relationship with project delivery partners, contractors and suppliers.

Where British Council is the contractor, in compliance with corporate standards, processes and templates:

• Support Director, Education and Skills in drafting agreements for contractors, consultants and suppliers
• 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
• Develop and manage relationship with project delivery partners, contractors and suppliers.

Line management:

• Line management of Project Officer to corporate standards

Key relationships:

• Internal: Director Education and Skills, Nigeria, Education and Skills team, Nigeria Communications team, UK Scholarships Team, regional and global Education and Society team +wider BC team, including large scale projects.
• External: UK Project Partners (Higher Education Institutions), Nigeria Project Partners (Private Sector Organisations), Scholarship Sponsors

Other important features or requirements of the job:

• Some weekend and evening work will be necessary.
• Travel to other locations in Nigeria, within the region and to the UK may sometimes be required.

Person Specification
Behaviours:

• Connecting with Others
• Working Together
• Being Accountable
• Making it Happen
• Shaping the Future

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.

Experience:

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

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree
• Post-graduate degree in Education, Humanities or Social Sciences (desirable)

Application Closing Date
15th June, 2015.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Click here to download job details MS Word

Click here to download BC Core Skills (pdf)

Click here to download BC Behaviours (pdf)