Senior Consultant

Job content

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. We work in two ways – directly with individuals to transform their lives, and with governments and partners to make a bigger difference for the longer term, creating benefit for millions of people all over the world. We help young people to gain the skills, confidence and connections they are looking for to realise their potential and to participate in strong and inclusive communities. We support them to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications. Our work in arts and culture stimulates creative expression and exchange and nurtures creative enterprise. We connect the best of the UK with the world and the best of the world with the UK. These connections lead to an understanding of each other’s strengths and of the challenges and values that we share. This builds trust between people in the UK and other nations which endures even when official relations may be strained. We work on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2019-20 we connected with 80 million people directly and with 791 million overall, including online and through our broadcasts and publications.

Senior Consultant – (Reporting and Assurance Consultant).

Pay band: 8

Salary: £33,904 - £41,309

Location: Cardiff, London, Manchester, Edinburgh or Belfast. (The UK Only).

Department:Erasmus+

Contract type: Fixed Term Contract until 31st March 2025. Please note that this is a part-time role.

Closing Date:29th June 23:59 UK Time.

This role is based in the UK. You must have the legal right to work in the UK at the time of application.

The Context

Erasmus + is a large E.U. education programme providing funding opportunities for international exchange and linking for all sectors of education, training and youth across Europe and beyond. The programme is worth €940m to the UK over 7 years (2014-2020). The British Council is the UK National Agency for Erasmus +, working in partnership with Ecorys UK. The National Agency and programme activities sit with the Education and Society Strategic Business Unit (SBU), and directly support both our cultural relations objectives and our financial targets.

The National Agency delivers the programme according to an annual Work Programme ageed with the E.C., to strict contractual and compliance frameworks, and in the context of annual Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) ageed with BIS. The Erasmus + National Agency team delivers grants to beneficiaries in all education and training sectors in the UK, across 3 Key Actions or types of activity, plus the e-Twinning online platform for schools and a number of smaller E.C. contracts. The British Council Erasmus+ team has its delivery hub in Cardiff, with smaller number of posts located in all other UK offices.

This is the largest contract the B.C. has ever managed and is critical in terms of the impact it can deliver and the stakeholder relationships it supports. The programme also haschallenge delivery targets including delivery of substantial savings through the use of technology and process standardisation.

The Opportunity.

Role Purpose

This role is part-time, working 3 days per week.

Reporting to the Principal Consultant, the Contract Management Consultant will lead delivery of Erasmus+ exit planning arrangements whilst supportinginternal and external planning and reporting activity for Erasmus+ in order to meet client and corporate requirements.

The Contract Management Consultant should demonstrate excellence in programme management, supporting collaboration partnership working with Ecorys UK and maximising grant commitments across the National Agency/Delivery Partner.

Responsibilities

• Reporting to the Principal Consultant, the Contract Management Consultant will lead on Erasmus+ exit planning arrangements which will include the updating of the exit plan every 6 months.
• Support client planning and reporting activity on behalf of the UK National Agency, working closely with the Reporting and Assurance Principal Consultant, senior leaders within the British Council and Ecorys UK National Agency (NA) and Delivery Partner teams. This includes the annual Work Programme, Yearly Report and Management Declaration of Assurance, and National Authority reports and all programme reporting requirements.
• As a member of the UK NA Joint Management Team (JMT), monitoring grant commitments and payments, financial and business management, risks and issues on an ongoing basis, and preparing and presenting reports monthly
• Support corporate planning and reporting activity including resource management, risk and issue management, monitoring and evaluation and contribution to ISO quality management activities for the Erasmus+ programme
• Oversight of stakeholder requests for management information, including Freedom of Information requests, Parliamentary Questions and client data and statistical requests.
  

Main Accountabilities

Business Management and Delivery

• Manages a large strategically important programme/ programme strand or a number of smaller projects
  

Business Development

• Works as a core member of a proposal team and develops and sometimes leads bid/ business cases e.g. designing technical & commercial responses/delivery model, demonstrating the BC’s credentials, supports business development through identification and management potential partners and positioning activities with client and beneficiaries
  

People Management

• Supports the professional development of team members and guides them on business management and delivery, project management, business development and specific area of expertise
  

Commercial Business Management

• Produces business performance reports such as income, cost management, results and impact of their project/programme
  

Key Stakeholder & account management

• Actively networks and builds trusted relationships with internal and/or external clients and partners to promote the organisations impacts and interests
  

Content/thought leadership

• Using sector expertise to contribute insight and content for corporate responses to public consultations, representing British Council’s perspective in relevant external fora
  

Requirements Of The Role

• Strong client reporting and production of Management Information experience
• Track record of working with partners for successful delivery of projects.
• Managing Risk (Level 3) - Has track record of analysing potential risks, promoting risk awareness, and holding others to account for their practices.
• Planning and Organising (Level 3) Develops and reviews the implementation of annual plans for a work group or function, taking account of business and customer requirements and reconciling competing demands.
  

Closing Date: Applications will close at 23:59 on 29th June 2022 UK Time.

Additional Information

Interviews will be held around the middle of July 2022.

You must have the legal right to work in the UK at the time of application

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.