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.
The British Council is recruiting to fill the below position below:
Job Title: Marketing Manager, Exams
Location: Lagos
Directorate or Region: SSA
Reports to: Head of Operations, Exams /Director of Communications
Pay Band: Country Appointed PB6
Duration of job: Indefinite
Contact: Country Exams Manager
Purpose of Job
Nigeria is one of the largest economies in Africa. It is also the
most populous country with over 180 million citizens. The UK is its
largest trading partner. Nigeria holds significant political power in
the region and internationally and its society retains a positive
attitude to the UK. Therefore, there continue to be major opportunities
for the UK and BC to build on our strong existing relationships with the
Nigerian government, institutions and customers/audiences. However,
there are complex and substantial risks to this work i.e. security and
compliance.
Nigeria is the British Council’s largest operation in sub-Saharan Africa
with offices in 4 cities - Port Harcourt in the south, Kano in the
north, Abuja the Federal capital and Lagos the commercial centre. We
also have a number of project offices across the country. Our 200 staff
work across a range of states delivering large scale contracts,
partnership programmes, examinations, projects as well as services in
Arts, Education & Society and English & Exams. We are already
achieving substantial impact and income (current annual income is £27.2
million) and have plans to grow and develop our impact further. Partners
and clients include government, public and private institutions,
foundations, private sector organisations and civil society. We work
closely with the wider UK mission including DFID and UKTI.
Future
42% of Nigeria’s population is under 14. The government has recognised
that its Vision 2020 must address the aspirations of this young
population as part of its drive to achieve peace and prosperity. This
has led to unprecedented interest and investment in Education, the Arts
and good governance. This alignment with the UK’s priorities creates a
growth environment for the British Council. To be successful in this, we
are building understanding with our UK stakeholders of Nigeria as an
emerging economy with substantial commercial and development
opportunities as well as the challenges they may be more familiar with.
In this we seek to integrate our approach with that of the wider UK
mission.
We are expanding and scaling up our existing programmes, contracts and
services in the Arts, Education & Society, English &
Examinations and developing offers to fill important gaps such as in
Skills. We are also working to ensure that we have a good balance of
partnership, customer services and client funded work across all these
sectors. To do all this we need to create the right enabling
environment. In addition to developing the professional and technical
expertise of our staff, we need to support them to build their
relationships within Nigeria, the region and the wider global network.
This will ensure we develop as well as adopt and use best practice. We
also need rigorous and compliant frameworks to support our work in areas
such as finance, tax & status, security, procurement, compliance
and quality management. We have new premises in Kano and have a major
premises project under development in Abuja. However, there is still
more work to be done, especially in Lagos and Port Harcourt to ensure
our premises and technology support our brand reputation for integrity,
innovation and professionalism.
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.
The Marketing Manager role is a new role and the post holder will have
the opportunity to help shape the role and business development team.
The post holder will also have a working relationship with the new Head
of Business Development and Digital Manager roles based in the Exams
team.
Accountabilities, Responsibilities and Main Duties
Strategy Development and Implementation:
- Develop, plan, deliver and evaluate the Exams Marketing strategy
and plan, working with the Exams Management Team, the regional Comms
and Digital team and relevant corporate teams. The Marketing strategy
and plan will include agreed targets and reflect the strategic focus of
the Nigeria exams operation.
- As an ‘internal consultant’ to the business area, provide
support and direction on the creation, planning, delivery and evaluation
of business specific marketing strategies and campaigns, which include
market sizing, financial data, targets, customer segmentation,
competitor analysis and market data
Management and Delivery of the Marketing Function:
- Manage the day-to-day activities associated with all marketing
efforts, including: project management; commissioning content; content
creation; creative development; campaign tracking and reporting as
necessary.
- Conduct quarterly reviews of market-specific strategies and
action plans and develop initiatives that support country-specific
marketing activities.
- Working with the Digital and Social Media Manager (Exams), drive
the content and creative strategy for business areas on all digital
platforms, including but not limited to websites and social media,
e-mail marketing and digital campaigns.
- Across all activities, manage brand guidelines to ensure all vendors and internal customers follow corporate standards.
- Closely collaborate with business and project leads to develop
an integrated and sustainable marketing approach, capitalising on common
customer base, promoting synergies and economies of scale, and
delivering maximum impact and business returns.
- Track performance of marketing campaigns through measurement and analysis to understand effectiveness and ROI
Sourcing of Goods and Services, Supplier Management:
- Working with product managers and Head of Operations, lead on
the commissioning (procurement) of MarComms services from external
suppliers supporting projects, programmes and events, defining Terms of
Reference to provide a clear brief to suppliers. Services include: PR;
Events Management; Marketing; Communications; Media coverage. Ensure all
campaigns are based on sound briefs that support business and brand
objectives, are customer-focused, closely adhere to brand guidelines and
are produced to British Council standards
- Proactively manage the relationship with key suppliers and
specifically the quality of service / value for money from suppliers
engaged on specific activities
- Lead on and manage the procurement of exams team ‘collateral’ including but not limited to brochures; banners etc
- Commission high quality and creative photography and videography which captures the essence and impact of our work.
Brand Champion:
- To support the MarComms team to promote brand standards across all channels of engagement, including digital and print.
Collaborative Working:
- Proactively engage with product and customer service leads and
their teams to understand in depth the nature of the British Council’s
operation and ambition, supporting effective marketing activities and
credibility in the role
- Coach and support individuals and teams - the internal customer.
- Actively support equality and diversity and work to the British Council’s EDI policy at all times
Continuous Professional Development:
- Engage in professional networks and continuous professional
development to ensure that knowledge, networks and expertise are kept
updated
Key Relationships
- Head of Operations, Exams
- Nigeria Exams Team
- UK based Marketing, Brand and Communications teams
- Key colleagues in Strategic Business Units (SBUs)
- Suppliers including marketing, communications, PR and events management
- Key partners and customer groups
- Director Communications and Digital and Social Media Manager
- Exams Management Team
- Regional Communications & Digital teams
Other important features or requirements of the Job
The post holder will be expected to travel within Nigeria. As with any
business that experiences peaks and troughs of activity, there is likely
to be a need to work outside office hours from time to time. Occasional
attendance at events at weekends and evenings.
Person Specification
Essential: