Position: Head of English Programmes, Ethiopia

Salary: ETB 135,068 per month 

Deadline: December, 31/2023

Company: 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 recognized 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.

Head of English Programmes

Role Purpose

To lead the English Programmes (EP) portfolio of contracts and programs in-country, providing technical sector expertise. To oversee business development, quality, and compliant delivery of programs and contracts to improve standards of the teaching, learning and assessment of English. To share knowledge, expertise and best practices from the country with the regional and global English Programme teams and externally.

Main accountabilities but not limited to the following:

Leadership & management

• Lead, mentor and manage the EP team, familiarising them with EP strategy, policy and practice.

• Directly line manage specific posts as appropriate.

• Ensure British Council performance management, mandatory training, HR, and equality, diversity and inclusion standards and procedures are adhered to and applied consistently.

• Develop and implement strategic staffing plans to meet current and future business needs.

• Advise and support project teams on funder guidelines, policies, procedures and contractual obligations, particularly on reporting, procurement, matching funds, spending rate and visibility requirements to ensure compliance.

Relationship and Stakeholder management

• Proactively build and maintain relationships with specific stakeholders in the UK and local ELT and education sectors and develop professional networks.

Sector/subject expertise

• Ensure evidence-based principles are embedded into project design and development of project-related content and resources.

• Contribute to English program priorities (including English language teacher education, Language for Resilience, and English for Empowerment) through involvement in relevant research projects, conference presentations and publications.

• Contribute to the academic visibility of the British Council through research and the publication of papers and articles.

• Contribute to the development of a bank of English program data for the region, including trends in the field of English in education systems and data on competitor and partner landscapes. Participate in the insight analysis process associated with this and make recommendations from this which informs and supports discussion on country strategy.

• Use sector expertise to represent the British Council’s perspective and demonstrate the UK’s thought leadership in relevant external forums.

Commercial and/or financial management

• Produce business performance reports, including income, cost management, results and impact of portfolio.

• Manage the income and expenditure accounts for programs/individual projects and contribute to business planning exercises.

• Support contract audits by gathering data and checking compliance and document security.

Programme management

• Design and support robust monitoring and evaluation plans for EP projects, working in collaboration with the regional evaluation advisor and drawing upon their expertise.

• Undertake monitoring reviews of contracts and programs in the portfolio to check for delivery against targets. Escalate to senior management where delivery issues are arising. In partnership with delivery teams, develop strategic responses to any perceived or actual failings identified.

• Identify and contribute to the development of reusable intellectual assets and sector-specific ‘products’ arising from delivery.

• Ensure that lesson learning is captured and used to inform future programming.

• Oversee procurement in line with British Council procurement requirements.

• Assume the role of Project Director/Manager as required for specific EP projects. This may include planning and managing:

• teacher education projects for English language teachers at primary, secondary or tertiary levels, including online teacher education content development projects.

Product Development

• Develop and implement strategy for teacher education content.

• Design teacher development programs using our organizational Teaching for Success approach and standards.

• Apply an evidence-based approach to the design and implementation of EP activity, appropriate to the local context.

• Ensure the mainstreaming of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and the use of relevant EDI planning tools.

Business development

• Identify potential new clients/partners and manage initial scoping and research. Use networking opportunities to develop contacts with business potential in the country/regional context.

• Communicate with clients about bids/proposals and manage responses to client clarifications.

• Support the development of commercial proposals through the technical writing for evidence-based bids/proposals that are appropriate to the context, ensuring mainstreaming of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and a minimum of gender-sensitive programming.

• Work with relevant business support teams to ensure proposals are costed and priced appropriately.

• Deliver presentations at the end of a bidding/proposal process with established clients/partners.

• Manage a network of associate advisors, consultants and partners.

• Participate in contract negotiations with partners and clients (in conjunction with the UK Contract Management team) and ensure the mitigation of risks.

• Ensure timely reporting and communication on externally funded contracts/grant-funded initiatives and internal monthly reporting.

Person specification

Minimum requirements:

• Qualified to postgraduate degree level in Education, ELT, or other relevant qualification

• Experience in managing education projects

• Experience in delivering externally funded projects or programs

• Experience in overseeing monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) within projects and incorporating lessons learned from MEL into programs and strategy

• Experience in engaging with diverse stakeholders including multilateral agencies, donors, government officials, academics

Desirable:

• TEFL-Q: a diploma level qualification in teaching English as a foreign/second language that meets accreditation UK requirements

• A project management qualification

• Experience in managing teacher education projects for English language teachers

• Experience in managing online teacher education projects

• Experience in writing for academic journals and presenting at international conferences

• Experience in delivering client-funded projects or programs

Further Information

• Contract Type – 24 months renewable fixed term contract

• Pay Band - 8

• Department: English and Teaching

• Remuneration - ETB 135,068 gross salary per month

• Location – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

• Language requirements: Strong written and oral English communication skills.

• Locally engaged: Applicants are required to have the legal rights to live and work in the location of this role

• Closing Date – [31 December 2023] Applications will close at 23:59 West 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 behavior 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.

How to apply:

• Register using the following link CLICK HERE

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, and 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 askhr@britishcouncil.org

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.