British Council Vacancy in Abuja for a Programme Manager, Enterprise

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.

We are recruiting to fill the below position of:

Job Title: Programme Manager, Enterprise

Region: SSA
Location: Abuja
Department: Programes, Nigeria
Pay Band: 7
Reports to: Director of Programmes

Purpose of Job

• To work with Director Programmes and other members of the Programme Management Group (Directors Arts, Education and Skills, Research and Society and Partnerships Manager) to lead on the development and implementation of the Enterprise and Innovation projects portfolio in Nigeria.
• The British Council in Nigeria works in three strategic business areas (SBUs); Arts, English, Education and Society.

• Position for and develop opportunities for the UK to assist the growth of the entrepreneurial sector in Nigeria, including the development of enterprise skills, working closely with other members of the PMG and developing a Nigeria Enterprise and Innovation Strategy
• Lead implementation of the regional Entrepreneurial Africa programme as it is applied in Nigeria, and lead implementation of Nigeria’s Enterprise Challenge, #Innovation and other enterprise and innovation projects as they are developed.
• Lead the Enterprise project management team.
• Implement campaigns and projects in partnership with the Prosperity Board (of UKTI, DFID, the British High Commission) and other partners focused on the promotion of UK innovation, enterprise and creativity across all three SBUs
• Pursue private sector, foundations and donors for fully funded and co-funding contracts that enable us to implement our Enterprise and Innovation Strategy

• In Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), half of the population is under 25 years of age. The youth demographic dividend provides enormous opportunities for growth of SSA economy. However majority of this population is either unemployed or underemployed.
• To pursue sustainable livelihoods and development, it is imperative to create jobs as well as purse self-employment strategies for young people.
• 59 % of young people in SSA identified skills and access to funding as main barriers to creating their own business.
• The British council in SSA has engaged governments, private sector and other stakeholders in various strategic interventions to provide sustainable livelihoods for young people. We have been running a pilot phase in Ghana (The Challenge), Senegal (Great Entrepreneur), Nigeria (The Enterprise challenge), South Africa (Digify and skills for employability), Malawi (Zitheka) and Sudan (Mashrouy) and have identified private sector partners who are currently supporting various components of it.
• These projects have engaged millions of young people in SSA providing employability skills, entrepreneurship and enterprise skills, exposure to UK expertise in business development and growth as well as exposing their businesses through active media promotion.
• We are seeking to expand these country initiatives into a regional programme called Entrepreneurial Africa to which Nigeria will be part.
• The UK prides itself on being the global center of excellence for the development of research, science and innovation. 
• Our Equal Opportunity Policy commits us to ensuring that there is no unjustified discrimination in the recruitment, retention, training and development of staff on the basis of age, disability, gender including transgender, HIV/AIDS status, marital status including civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity, political opinion, race/ethnicity, religion and belief, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, spent convictions, trade union activity or membership, work pattern and on the basis of having or not having dependants or any other irrelevant grounds.
• We guarantee an interview to candidates living with disability who meet the essential criteria.
• Candidates with special needs should please ask us for this information in alternative formats.
• All employees of the British Council must adhere to the Corporate Health & Safety, Equal Opportunity & Diversity and Child Protection policies and the Code of Conduct.
• Collaborations between the UK and Nigeria in these areas will support the implementation of the new government plans for economic diversification and development. The UK, because of its reputation, is uniquely positioned to support the new Nigerian government with its diversification agenda and plans to build capacity.
• Partnering with Nigeria will open opportunities for trade and development for UK and help restore the reputation and global standing as a leader in the fields of research science and innovation which has waned in recent years due to increased global competition.
• Collaborations between UK and Nigerian education and skills institutions will promote enterprise skills development and knowledge sharing which will aid the transformation and reform of the Nigerian entrepreneurship sector. This could also lead to long-term mutually beneficial business partnerships which will generate a high return of investment over an extended period.
• The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide. In all that we do the British Council acknowledges our duty of care to ensure a healthy and safe place to work for our staff, customers and visitors. We aim to achieve this through compliance with the safety laws in each of the countries in which we operate. We aim, where practicable, to follow UK standards, guidance and codes of good practice where these offer enhanced standards of health and safety.
• The British Council recognises that we have a fundamental duty of care towards all children we engage with including a duty to protect them from abuse. We achieve this through compliance with UK child protection laws and relevant laws in each of the countries we operate as well as by adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989.

• Work with the Country Director, D/Programmes and other PMG team members, and Country Examinations Manager to develop and implement an effective Enterprise programme management plan that will achieve project targets within the time frame agreed.
• Work with PMG and Evaluation Manager to ensure monitoring and reporting against agreed indicators and measures for the Enterprise programme including all services, projects, contracts, campaigns and events
• Lead responsibility for ensuring agreed project reports are complete and delivered on time to internal managers or client/partner to the standards required.
• Lead responsibility for ensuring project management information is up to date at all times
• Lead responsibility for implementing effective project dissemination of results and learning to wider stakeholder audiences
• Lead project teams on delivery of plan
• Lead on strategic management of relationships with stakeholders and partners
• Lead on the development and delivery of a new catalogue of enterprise services and products to be marketed to relevant stakeholder groups.
• Work with the PMG to identify income generating opportunities in Enterprise.

• Responsible for developing annual work plans and budgets within the Enterprise programme
• Responsible for ensuring effective management of programme budgets including internal monthly reporting on budget performance and external reporting on budget performance to the requirements set by funders, partners and clients.
• Responsible for overseeing procurement in accordance with established corporate policies and processes

• Responsible for maintaining and updating project risk registers within the Enterprise programme.
• Responsible for managing relevant country risks and ensuring the country risk register is updated quarterly in accordance with the corporate cycle
• Participate in regular project risk review meetings with the programme management team
• Ensure dissemination of risk management standards to programme partners

• Manage all Enterprise contracts to client or partners satisfaction using corporate standards, ensuring all contractual obligations are met by project delivery team
• Ensure collection of income through supervising an effective invoicing and payment schedule.
• As part of the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) framework, ensure the maintenance of the CRM database with Enterprise contacts - recording contacts/ leads and outcomes of meetings , ensuring follow up action is carried out in a timely and efficient manner
• Prepare agreements for all sub-contractors, consultants and suppliers ensuring they clearly capture all roles and responsibilities following established corporate templates
• Maintain contract records to ensure up to date at all times

• Ensure that programme delivery, training events and activity are appropriately screened, including conflict sensitivity screening,  and reflect British Council EDI policy
• Lead on programme reporting in Enterprise for British Council Diversity Assessment Framework
• Ensure that child protection policy and standards are followed and maintained for all relevant projects, including the training of partners in CP standards

• Work with British Council Nigeria Marketing and Communications team to develop and disseminate case studies, reports and impact stories for external and internal communication channels including digital and print media.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across the whole British Council Nigeria and the SSA Region to share intelligence and opportunity that creates added benefit to project partners and contacts

• Manage Enterprise project manager to established corporate performance management standards

• Country Director Nigeria, Director Programmes, Director Education and Skills (creator of the Enterprise Challenge Competition), Partnerships Manager, the Nigeria PMG, Regional Manager SSA for Skills and Entrepreneurship, Nigeria Marketing and Communications team

• Support Country Director, Director Programmes and the PMG to develop and manage relationships with key entrepreneurs, foundations, government and private sector stakeholders, development organisations, funders, donors and partners in the enterprise, creativity and innovations sector
• Maintain relationships with clients, project partners and stakeholders

• Operational project work requires occasional work outside conditioned hours, for example in the evenings or at weekends. TOIL should be agreed with the line manager in advance to maintain an adequate work-life balance.
• The post-holder may also be required to travel to various project activity locations and internationally on BC business and should therefore hold valid travel documents.
• Training may be required for certain aspects of the job such as using SAP.

• Connecting with others (more demanding)
• Working together (essential)
• Shaping the future essential
• Creating a shared purpose.
• Being accountable (essential)
• Making it happen (more demanding)
• Other behaviours needed for the job but not evaluated at interview

• Able to plan and deliver business development activities for a major and/or new market category which is significant for the Council.

• Displays good listening, writing and speaking skills, setting out logical arguments clearly and adapting language and form of communication to meet the needs of different people/audiences.

• Organises own work over weeks and months, or plans ahead for others, taking account of priorities and the impact on other people.
• 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
• Working knowledge of the entrepreneurial and employability and skills discourse in Nigeria
• Network of contacts in any part of the entrepreneurial, SME and industry growth sectors including private and non-private sector

• Knowledge of emerging themes in global entrepreneurship

• Analyses requirements with the sponsor/stakeholders, defining the specification, planning, revising, implementing and evaluating on medium-to-large scale and/or high risk projects.
• Coordinates a diverse team with awareness of equality and diversity impact as part of the project specifications and handles changes in specification or plan to meet unexpected circumstances

• Monitors and controls an agreed budget within a defined area, producing reports and analyses and contributing to planning.

• Working knowledge of Nigerian Education and Skills systems.
• Working knowledge of enterprise development and skills development interventions
• Experience of working with partner or client funds

• Bachelor’s Degree
• Post-graduate Degree in Education, Humanities or Social Sciences (Desirable)

• Applications received after the stated deadline will not be considered. Please apply using the materials on the website.
• We are unable to process applications that do not conform to the required format, and we will not accept Cvs.
• Candidates with special needs should please ask us for this information in alternative formats.