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 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.
Project Delivery Lead, British Council
Pay band: 9 SMPS £50,635 - £62,000 gross salary – plus £3,300 yearly gross London allowance (if applicable)
Location: Cardiff, London, Manchester, Edinburgh, or Belfast. (The UK Only).
Contract type: Fixed Term Contract 1 year
Closing Date: 30th April 2023 at 23:59 UK Time.
Requirements - Candidates must have the pre-existing (permanent) right to work in location. Mobility / relocation / visa sponsoring support will not be provided
Role Purpose
The British Council builds connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language. A key part of the organisation delivering that mission is the English and Exams Strategic Business Unit.
A wide range of projects are needed to deliver English and Exams transformation programmes on a global basis. Each will require multi-year programmes of change. The investment portfolio comprises about £25-35m annual investment spend, with additional spending for systems maintenance and minor enhancements, within a global organisation with £500m+ turnover.
The Opportunity
We are looking for project professionals from different industries with a commitment to driving change which delivers value to our customers. Within English and Exams the project portfolio is diverse from operating models to customer services to developing new digital products.
This is an exciting opportunity to be part of the English and Exams Transformation Team as we expand to meet the demands from our business and customers. We are keen to hear from but not limited to people with project experience in HR, Customer Services and Agile ways of working.
Main accountabilities but not limited to the following
- Ensuring that a high stakes project is designed, developed and delivered to take equal consideration of both the ‘hard scope’ that delivers tangible outputs (e.g. documents, systems, assets) and the ‘soft scope’ of engaging people and managing effective change (e.g. communications skills, resource change, benefits realisation, etc.). Specifically, this means overseeing activities for all projects they have been assigned to and delivering within agreed tolerances.
- Understanding the complex stakeholder and internal political landscape within the British Council, build relationships across British Council globally and raise the professional credibility of the English & Exams Transformation team.
- Supporting senior team members from across the English and Exams business and Transformation Team to coach, mentor and train team staff and wider stakeholders to develop core capabilities in business change and best practice in project design, development, and implementation.
- Fostering strong and action-oriented relationships with subject matter expert teams, for example technology, digital and HR and ensuring that activities are aligned, expertise is sought and used, and duplication of effort is avoided.
- Working with key stakeholders to ensure that benefits are clearly articulated, critical success factors necessary to achieve them are understood and there is clear benefit realisation in place.
- Deputise for the Head of Programme Delivery, Head of Portfolio, or Head of Strategy as required in senior leadership forums within English & Exams and across British Council.
Role specific knowledge and experience
- Experience working on large, complex and/or high financial value projects.
- Track record of project delivery to time, quality and budget in complex stakeholder settings.
- Demonstrable knowledge and experience of Agile ways of working.
- Experience of working with and realising change within charities, HM Government and private sector (corporate) are all desirable
- .Some travel out of hours may be required.
Further information
In addition to a competitive salary and excellent pension contributions, the British Council offers:
- 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
Interviews will be held online via Microsoft Teams.
If you wish to learn more about the role or have any questions, please contact Bhavana Chauhan bhavana.chauhan@britishcouncil.org
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 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.