Senior Consultant (Programme Development Manager). Global Alumni Programme.

Department: Cultural Engagement
Contract type: Indefinite Contract (36 hours per week).
Pay band: 8
Salary: £38,820 plus £3,300 London Market Allowance for those based in the London area only.
Benefits Include, but are not limited to:
•    32 days annual leave, in addition to public holidays
•    3 days volunteering leave
•    Career average defined benefit pension scheme
•    An unrivalled opportunity for you to get to use all the experience you’ve built up working in and/or leading global organisations to support us in building trust across the world.

Location – UK: London, Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh or Belfast Only.

 Requirements:

• You must have the legal right to work in the UK at the time of application.
• We are unable to support with visa sponsorship and any relocation costs.

Closing Date: Sunday 11th August 2024 at 23:59 UK time.

British Council supports working in new ways such as hybrid working, subject to full approval by line management and conditional upon our ability to provide the appropriate level of service.  This may not be appropriate for all roles but can be explored at interview.

The Team:

The Global Alumni Programme aims to strengthen the global network of UK alumni, providing opportunities for personal and professional development, for networking and for showcasing examples of alumni achievement. By 2025, the programme will have direct contact with at least 150,000 alumni and will continue to grow.

The programme forms a core part of the British Council’s strategy for 2025 and is at the heart of our programme offer in Higher Education and Science. There is significant interest from UK government in the development of the programme and progress will be reported through corporate KPIs. The UK Higher Education sector are also interested in the programme as a vehicle to enhance the individual alumni offers from institutions.

This is an exciting new programme for the British Council whose concept has been developed over the last year, and which is now moving into the implementation phase.

The Role:

As Senior Consultant, you will ensure the successful development and integration of digital services to be provided via the Global Alumni Programme, including the identification and development of services delivered in partnership with third parties.

This role will ensure that products are demand-led and relevant and attractive to members of the alumni programme. Products will include:

•    An attractive programme of online events
•    Online Learning and development opportunities, including career development
•    Opportunities to deepen networking and collaboration with other alumni around specific themes

•    Opportunities to practice English language skills
•    Opportunities to show-case highlights of the UK’s contemporary cultural and educational scenes.

The post will engage with international and alumni offices across the UK’s higher education sector, and with partners such as chambers of commerce, international development agencies and corporate partners to develop products and services in partnership.

You will ensure there is a compelling programme of products and services under development, and will present costed implementation plans to the programme board with recommendations for development.

Accountabilities:

Product Development
•    Undertake or commission the development of new products and services for the alumni platform, ensuring an attractive portfolio for different alumni based on evidence including but not limited to development of digital L&D offer, mentoring schemes and grant calls

•    Monitor the performance of existing products in the portfolio, recommend improvements and lead on the implementation of these.
•    Set out the business case for the development of new products and services with clearly defined performance indicators.
•    Agree marketing strategy with the Marketing team at the initial product development phase. Review and replan marketing activities with the marketing team to meet platform targets.

Relationship and Stakeholder Management

•    Build and sustain relationships with key stakeholders within the HE sector to ensure products and services are complementary and to maximise the opportunities for cross-promotion of activities and involvement of the sector with the programme. Ensure visibility of the alumni programme within the HE Sector.
•    Build and sustain relationships with partners such as chambers of commerce or private corporations and identify opportunities for partnership-funding or joint-delivery of activities.
•    Build relationships with internal stakeholders across cultural engagement and English and Exams to identify relevant products and services that can be adapted for use by the alumni programme.
•    Manage and lead on relationships with key UK Alumni such as Alumni UK Ambassadors, Study UK Alumni Award winners and high profile UK Alumni identified by country teams

Business Development

•    Identify opportunities for commercial partnership with the alumni programme and lead on the development of proposals to win commercial support.
•    Identify opportunities for the involvement of Higher Education institutions and UK cultural stakeholders in the development of products and services.
•    Identify opportunities for more efficient and wider-scale implementation of products and services for greater impact.

Consultancy, Analysis and Problem-solving

•    Monitor the performance of the portfolio of products and services and identify opportunities for improvements in delivery and efficiencies.
•    Review feedback from participants and conduct occasional surveys of passive members and non-participants to understand effectiveness of programme offer and to recommend improvements.

Requirements of the role

•    Knowledge of the UK higher education sector and its international context gained via professional experience
•    Track record of development of programme offers and services to reach large audiences
•    Track record of partnership development with higher education stakeholders  •    Track record of building and maintaining working relationship with and relationships with stakeholders and customers

Closing Date:   Applications will close at 23:59 on Sunday 11th August 2024 UK Time. 
Interviews will be held around the beginning/mid September.