Head of Education

• Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
• Contract Type: Indefinite Contract
• Pay Grade: 8

Closing date23 July at 21:59 UK Time

Requirements: You must have the legal right to work in Ukraine at the time of application. We are unable to support with visa sponsorship and relocation.

About the position:

British Council Impact Categorisation Top 12

Cultural Engagement Income Category Accelerate

In January 2025, the UK and Ukraine signed a 100 Year Partnership that symbolically builds the connections between the two countries in a number of priority areas for the next century, including across education, social and cultural ties. Ensuring that Ukraine survives the ongoing war as a sovereign state - and that it emerges successfully from the recovery and reconstruction phase to follow - is of vital importance to the UK and Europe’s security and prosperity.

Ukraine is an attractive market for our Cultural Engagement programme and the postholder is expected to enhance our grant leverage in country through new partnerships and / or new client funded opportunities. In parallel he / she will support the high-quality implementation of existing contracts and projects in their sector of responsibility. While the context is dynamic, the current needs to which the British Council responds in Arts and Culture, Education and English in Ukraine include:

English We focus on improving the quality of learning, teaching and assessing English language skills, supporting the Ukrainian Government’s ambitious plans for English language reform. We work with British Embassy Kyiv to support for deliver high quality English language training of Ukrainian civil servants. We continue to scale up UK Examination Services and expand face-to-face English teaching where possible.

Education Our work in Higher Education focuses on the development of leadership capabilities across Ukraine’s top universities, supporting the reform agenda of the Ukrainian Government, and with a particular focus on women’s leadership. With support from UK government we connect hundreds of Ukrainian schools with schools in the UK, connecting teachers and pupils (7-14 year olds) to foster cross-cultural understanding and enhance language and communication skills. We work with the Ministry of Youth and Sport and networks of youth centres to upskill young people and empower them to rebuild their communities. Our ambition is to develop new activities in schools and teacher training, significantly boost our portfolio in Non-Formal Education and increase our reach in the Higher Education Sector.

Arts and Culture Building on the foundations laid by the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture we build relationships between individual artists and institutions across art forms and to strengthen cultural relations between the two countries. We support the continued development of Ukraine’s creative economy by sharing expertise and experience from across the UK. 2027 will mark the 35th year of bilateral relations between the UK-Ukraine, and the 35th anniversary since the British Council was established in Ukraine – the postholder will support the team in the planning and the launch of a refreshed Arts strategy in country.

Our Ukraine team operates from a new office in Kyiv, though the number of colleagues able to work there each day is capped for safety reasons. Some colleagues also work remotely from other parts of Ukraine.

Role Context - About The Team:

Cultural Engagement (CE) is one of two global strategic departments within the British Council. It brings together our work in Arts, Education, English & School Education and research. With a workforce of approximately 1000 globally and an income in 2024/25 of £200 million, CE delivers impact through research and insights, sector engagement, policy dialogue and a mixed portfolio of commercial and Grant and Partnership Funded (GPF) work globally. CE delivers much of its work through a suite of global programmes/ programmatic frameworks aligned to the British Council’s strategic outcomes.    

Our work in Education is organised into three strands:

• Student mobility and internationalisation: We support the Higher Education sector to attract international students to the UK and ensure lifelong engagement with UK alumni through development opportunities.  We also enrich the school experience with international perspectives facilitating policy dialogue and partnerships and supporting the teaching and learning of modern foreign language partnerships.

• Tertiary education partnerships: We facilitate Higher Education, Technical and Vocational Education and Training and Science Partnerships between the UK and other countries to develop high-quality, more inclusive and globally connected education systems and contribute the UK’s knowledge to international education.

• Non-formal education (NFE): We empower young leaders and marginalised groups through skills development to contribute to trust building, cohesion and stability in their societies and represent these communities on a local and international stage.

We embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) into all aspects of this work so that our people and partners experience a culture that promotes respect, inclusion and diversity in support of mutual benefit.

This role contributes to the successful delivery of the global Education/Higher Education portfolio and strategy by ensuring strategic alignment and high-quality delivery of projects and programmes, and by contributing to the success of the global Education income generation plan.

Role Purpose - The Job:

Lead on strategy, planning and delivery of the country Education/Tertiary Education portfolio including delivery of British Council global programmes - student mobility and internationalisation, tertiary education and sciencepartnerships, and non-formal education - and client-funded programmes, ensuring they achieve impact targets.

Lead business development andincome generation in Education/Tertiary Education, contributing to successful delivery of country and global income targets, with support from the Country Director and the global team.

Manage seniorstakeholder relationships and demonstrate expertise on behalf of the British Council and the UK in the sector, positioning theorganisation favourablywith government representatives, clients,partners, researchers and technical experts.

Build market knowledge and insight about the local education context and share this internally and externally with partners and stakeholders.

Embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) into all aspects of this work so that our people and partners experience a culture that promotes respect, inclusion and diversity, and benefits everyone.

Main Accountabilities:

Strategy and planning 

• Lead on development of the country Education/Tertiary Education strategy and annual plan, aligned with the global Education/Tertiary Education strategy and with the Cultural Engagement plan for the country.

• Ensure that country Education/Higher Education strategy meets the needs of local stakeholders and partners and aligns with the HMG country plan working with the Country Director and the local British Embassy/High Commission.

• Develop and nurture internal relationships across Cultural Engagement in-country and across the wider organisation to ensure that the Education/Tertiary Education strategy is aligned, understood and achieved.

• Consider the role of digital products, services and channels in optimising the impact and sustainability of the portfolio, working with country marketing and digital colleagues, and the global team.

Leadership and management

• Develop and own the country project/programme management plan for Education/Tertiary Education.

• Deliver the Education/Tertiary Education programme, ensuring compliance with British Council programme standards across delivery, planning, reporting, evaluation and EDI.

• Contribute technical expertise to the design of Education/Tertiary Education programmes and contracts, assuring quality and impact and managing issues and risks. 

• Use digital platforms and technological advancements to improve the efficiency, impact and quality of project and/or programme design and delivery. 

• Incorporate specific actions to address EDI priorities in programme delivery, based on analysis of local EDI context.  

• Manage day-to-day aspects of the portfolio ensuring global standards of programme and contract management are achieved. 

• Provide direct line management where applicable, with matrix management support provided to sector programme teams in country as required. 

• Ensure effective financial management and compliance - manage and deliver to target, budgets, profitability, timelines, and to corporate quality standards in all areas. 

• Act as the Senior Responsible Officer for smaller projects/programmes, relating to the sector specialism, as required. 

• Monitor, review and ensure that the portfolio is achieving agreed impact measures, and that monitoring, evaluation and learning plans (MEL) and reporting is in place.

• Lead by example and model compliance with British Council policies and processes, Code of Conduct, values and behaviours in all day-to-day activities, line management, and liaison with colleagues and external stakeholders.

Business development

• Lead on business development and income generation, with support from Country Director and the global business development team.

• Use networking opportunities to develop contacts with potential funders, clients and partners in the country/multi-country/regional context.

• Identify specific business development opportunities aligned with the country and global business development plan.

• Apply due diligence requirements to potential partners.

• Lead the development of commercial proposals and support the technical writing for evidence-based bids/proposals which are appropriate to the context, ensuring mainstreaming of EDI and alignment with the Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion framework.

• Work with global business support teams to ensure proposals are costed and priced appropriately.

• Manage a network of associate advisors, consultants and partners to support business development and delivery of contracts.

• Participate in contract negotiations with partners and clients (in conjunction with the UK Contract Management team) and ensure the mitigation of risks.

• Ensure timely reporting and communication on externally funded contracts/grant funded initiatives, and internal monthly reporting.

Stakeholder management and market positioning

• Manage and build mutually beneficial relationships with a set of key stakeholders agreed with the Country Director, to understand the context better and explore partnerships.

• Demonstrate expertise on behalf of the British Council and the UK in the sector by networking effectively, speaking at events and publishing articles, positioning the organisation favourably with government representatives, clients, partners, researchers and technical experts.

• Ensure that the British Council’s reputation for quality and as a valued partner remains high and contributes to our organisational mission of building trust between people in the UK and other countries. 

 Market knowledge, research and Insight

• Build market knowledge and insight about the local education context and share this internally and externally, to support the UK sector’s engagement with the country and with the region, where relevant.

• Commission relevant new research to contribute to the British Council’s Tertiary Education research strategy.

• Use sector expertise to provide insight and content for corporate responses to public consultations, representing the British Council’s perspective and demonstrating our thought leadership in relevant external fora.

Commercial and/or financial management

• Produce business performance reports, including income, cost management, results and impact of portfolio.

• Manage the Income and Expenditure accounts for programmes/individual projects and contribute to business planning exercises.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

• Actively contribute to an inclusive and anti-racist organisational culture, being aware of their own biases, and taking action to mitigate against these. Ensure that people feel valued and are treated equitably, with support for people’s well-being and mental health.

• Understand the British Council’s approach to EDI and how it applies to their role, making time for learning and development relating to EDI and anti-racism.

• Embed good practice in EDI across all projects and programmes, ensuring design and delivery contribute positively to improved gender equality, disability and social inclusion.

Requirements Of The Role:

Minimum/essential

• In-depth understanding of Education sectors of xxxxxxx and of the UK, and of bilateral priorities.

• Experience of delivering sizeable externally funded projects or programmes.

• Direct experience of client-funded contract pursuit and delivery.

• Experience of developing and overseeing monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) within projects and incorporating lessons learned from MEL into programmes and strategy.

• Experience of building mutually beneficial relationships with diverse stakeholders including multilateral agencies, donors, government officials, Education/Higher Education leaders, academics, researchers, alumni and students.

• Knowledge and experience of embedding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in programmes

Desirable:

• Knowledge of international mobility trends of students seeking tertiary educational opportunities.

• Knowledge of transnational educational trends including academic and research partnerships with local public and private educational institutions.

• Ability to analyse relevant equality issues and identify opportunities to address these in the portfolio.