British Council
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.
Role Purpose
The English and Examinations Strategic Business Unit (E&E) is one of three strategic business units in the British Council (the others being Arts and Education & Society) all of which have the remit to build trust for the people of the UK by building relationships through aspects of our language and culture. E&E achieves this by enabling people across the world to access the life-changing education and work opportunities that are created by learning English or gaining valuable UK qualifications. Promoting the English language also provides a medium for communication, helping break down barriers of misunderstanding or mistrust between cultures.
The Examinations business makes a significant contribution to British Council financial sustainability, and as such, it is essential that the business evolves in order to maintain its position in a fast-changing operating context. There is a need to standardise and automate activities across the globe to deliver efficiencies, and there is also a requirement to develop new digital products and services to meet changing customer demands and competitive pressures. In a cost and resource-constrained environment, balancing the on-going requirements and allocation of funds will be critical, as will the integration and planning of the implementation of the different changes across a global network of 110+ countries charged with the on-going delivery of impact and income whilst changing key elements of the supporting operational platform.
In UK and Ireland over 150K exams are delivered annually in Business-As-Usual times. Exam delivery is one of the core activities of the British Council in the UK and Ireland. Exams delivery promotes the UK as a high-quality assessment provider; helping people gain access to trusted qualifications to support their career and study prospects, as well as the major source of income.
The role will support Exams Management and Operational teams across the UK & Ireland in delivering Operational Strategy, acting as a key driver in implementing changes to operations and delivering project and operational training. In particular this will cover initial implementation and further embedding of new systems, projects and new ways of working – directly and through partners – as well as continued control over the operational performance and compliance.
The role will ensure increasing effectiveness and efficiency of operational delivery of all exam products in the UK and Ireland through identification, implementation, training and maintenance using a variety of business improvement approaches as part of the Global Business Improvement strategy.
Main Accountabilities
Service delivery
▪ Act as a key agent of change for UK and Ireland managing Operational change projects, ensuring embedding in the business and benefits realisation.
▪ Support the ongoing exams programmes by ensuring maximum effectiveness, efficiency and co-ordination of training and delivery of the Exams business to internal and exeternal business partners and stakeholders.
▪ Support the delivery of the strategic transition from a paper-based exams business to the embedding of Computer Based Testing (CBT) processes in all delivery processes
▪ Support the establishment, training and on-going support of new partner centres and locations. Including the setting up of agreements, infrastructure, systems and processes
▪ Support the delivery, training and on-going operational support for key delivery teams including venue staff training and performance monitoring.
▪ Ensure achievement of Customer Experience standards and performance by regularly gathering feedback to drive improvement of the end-to-end customer experience, working closely with customer services, commercial, business developement and other supporting business functions
▪ Handle L&D planning for Operational teams in line with the UK and Ireland Strategy and liaise with global L&D teams
Continuous Improvement and Training
▪ Analyse, identify and make recommendations on improvements to ways of working that enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Exams delivery, as well as the operational effectiveness of their internal customers.
▪ Identify key training requirements across the internal exams and ITC network, set-up and facilitate training programes and cycles to support all areas of the operational business
▪ Use Lean Six Sigma methodology and DMAIC cycle to define, deliver and control business improvement initiatives in the region
▪ Drive standardisation and best practices within clusters /country operations to ensure global Exams Operating Model is embedded and followed all the time
Customers & stakeholders
▪ Identify key stakeholders for UK and Ireland Exams Operations to develop and deliver stakeholder engagement and implementation plans
▪ Set up and facilitate support for the projects, including workshops, working groups, regular team meetings and face to face training events
▪ Ensure advice on all aspects of operational processing connected to current initiatives is provided to stakeholders
▪ Liaise with Regional and Global teams to stay informed, provide feedback on actions, requirements and testing.
▪ Cascade training and updates to local teams as required to support effective communication and continuous improvement.
Risk & compliance
▪ Control projects progress using existing frameworks or creating their own tools
▪ Monitor and report compliance against global processes and policies
▪ Proactively identify business or training risks ensuring they are mitigated and/or escalated according to British Council risk management process. For non-IELTS products, that includes monitoring and resolution of test day incidents reported in the corporate risk management system
▪ Take action to ensure smooth business continuity and compliance throughout the change.
Resource management
▪ Use and champion good practice project management and change management tools.
▪ Work with country, regional and global stakeholders to agree implementation plans and dates for UK and Ireland exams business based both project plans and country context
▪ Liaise with commercial, marketing and business development functions to make the delivery commercially viable.
Leadership & management
▪ Set and oversee delivery of a UK and Ireland training workplan
▪ Accountable and responsible for achieving agreed performance targets that are aligned to UK and Ireland exams strategy, priorities and goals.
▪ Time bound planning based on monthly – quarterly priorities and targets
▪ Prioritise own work activities, from long terms plans into day-to-day activities
▪ Build relationships and use influence to work with others internally to successfully grow and support the exams business.
Role Specific Knowledge And Experience
▪ Experience of managing operations in a significant business setting
▪ Experience of delivering training to internal and external customers and stakeholders both remotely and in-person.
▪ Strong communication, presentation and planning/time management skills
▪ Experience in managing change, particularly process and technology change across a business function
▪ Experience of leading projects in response to customer expectations and changing/emerging products & services
▪ Experience of successfully building and maintaining stakeholder relationships
What you will receive in return
- 32 days annual leave plus statutory public holidays and half day privilege Christmas leave
- Non-contractual discretionary annual performance bonus
- Extensive and generous family friendly benefits
- Extensive range of voluntary benefit options
- Outstanding defined benefit career average Civil Service Pension Scheme which includes life cover and pensions for eligible dependants, e.g., Spouse, civil partner, partner, dependent children
Further Information
Pay Band – 7
Contract Type – 2 year Fixed Term Contract
Location – UK Flexible London Manchester Belfast Cardiff Edinburgh
Requirements –Candidates must have the pre-existing (permanent) right to work in location. Mobility / relocation / visa sponsoring support will not be provided. If you are currently sponsored by the British Council, in a country or regional role, please check with your local/regional HR colleagues if you are able to remain in your current location for this global role.
Closing Date – 31st January 2024 23.59 UK 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.
To apply for this job please visit careers.britishcouncil.org.