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 of:
Job Title: Exams Assistant
Location:Lagos
Directorate or Region: SSA
Department/Country: Exams, Nigeria
Pay Band: 2/J
Reports to: IELTS Administrator, Lagos
Duration of job: Indefinite
Purpose of Job
To support the achievement of country plan objectives in Nigeria by delivering examinations administration support and customer services.
To maintain them at the highest professional standards as set out in the British Council's EQS (Examination Quality Standards) and by the Examination Board Partners.
Context and Environment
Nigeria, a tier 1 country, has the largest project, programme and exams operations in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We operate from 4 main office locations. Individually, the Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt Exams offices alone are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd largest exams businesses by income in SSA respectively. There are currently 36 members in the exams team, 3 of whom are in the Port Harcourt office. We operate a hub-and-spoke system in Nigeria with the main support functions (Business Support Services (BSS) and customer services) located in Lagos. Nigeria examinations work encompasses School exams, IELTS, and a wide range of academic and professional qualifications.
The Exams business in Nigeria has grown significantly in recent years. We doubled our income and volumes between 2011 and 2013. In 2014/15 we delivered 90,000 examinations, this financial year the target is 100,000 exams on a turnover of £8.5m. Nigeria examinations work encompasses School exams, IELTS, and a wide range of academic and professional qualifications.
Customer service, operational quality and compliance assurance are critical to the business. Nigeria's operating context means that risk management and contingency planning will be ongoing areas of focus. Developing flexible and appropriate delivery models will be critical in responding to the challenges of working across the country. There are a number of initiatives underway to address these needs. The Global New Operating Model for Exams (GNOME) and Global Financial Change projects are critical to our business plans.
Accountabilities, Responsibilities and Main Duties
(including people management and finance)
As Examinations Assistant post holders will be line managed by the IELTS Administrator (or Assistant Administrator) for Lagos.
Reliability: to ensure examinations are delivered securely according to board requirements
Quality: to deliver a high standard of customer service to our customers, schools and exams candidates. Performance is measured by our own Exams Quality Standards and the inspection visits from Cambridge International Exams and other examination boards.
Finance: all British Council standards for managing finances are met with relation to managing Purchase Orders, reconciling income, managing contracts and procurement.
Main Duties
To provide services that support British Council examination candidates.
Examinations Administration:
Providing administrative support in the delivery of examinations. This involves supporting colleagues in pre and post test/examination administration duties. This includes exams data entry, post despatch, assisting with session planning/implementation and examination invigilation.
Supporting Exams Officers in venue staff monitoring and training.
Conducting venue and school inspections.
Supporting the wider British Council activities such as workshops, seminars and any other project related services in line with Exams Quality Standards (EQS)
Customer Service:
Complaints, comments and feedback are dealt with in accordance with corporate policy and the Exams Quality Standards.
All service registration procedures (e.g. Exams, Certification and other programme registration) are fully understood and implemented to agreed standards.
Information Knowledge Management:
Manage information created and received in compliance with the Council’s information management standards, policies, the UK Data Protection Principles and local legislation.
Other Duties
To assist with market testing of venues and other suppliers.
Assisting with data collection for marketing purposes.
To regularly attend staff meetings to both gain and impart knowledge about our customers, products and services
To assist with any other duty examinations management deem necessary.
To assist with refunds and payments to venue staff and clerical markers.
Key Relationships
Internal: Lagos Exams Team, Country Exams Manager, Deputy Country Exams Manager