The British Council Recruitment 2026: Head of Non-formal Education, HE Programme Manager, Etc. Jobs

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.

We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Head of Non-formal Education (NFE)

Job ID: 49727
Location: Lagos

Role Context

• Lead the design, delivery and evaluation of the British Council’s Non-formal Education (NFE) portfolio in Nigeria by providing technical expertise and managing a portfolio of internally and externally funded programmes.
• The role ensures strategic alignment, high-quality delivery, and achievement of financial and non-financial targets while supporting the growth of the NFE portfolio.
• The role sits within Cultural Engagement (CE), which delivers programmes across Arts, Education, English and research globally. Education focuses on student mobility and internationalisation, tertiary education partnerships, and Non-formal Education (NFE).
• This role leads the NFE strategy in Nigeria, overseeing a mixed portfolio of Grant and Partnership Fund (GPF) and British Council-funded programmes that contribute to Education priorities while embedding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all aspects of programme delivery.

Main Accountabilities
Strategy & Planning:

• Lead the design and implementation of the NFE strategy for Nigeria, ensuring alignment with global NFE, CE, and British Council strategies. Support delivery of the global NFE portfolio and identify opportunities aligned with partner and funder priorities.

Leadership & Programme Management:

• Provide leadership and operational management of the Nigeria NFE team and portfolio. Ensure high-quality programme delivery, MEL (Monitoring, Evaluating and Learning), financial sustainability, and effective resource planning. Build internal capability through knowledge sharing and L&D (Learning & Development) opportunities.

Business Development & Partnerships:

• Lead business development and manage a sustainable pipeline of grant-funded and commercial opportunities.
• Build and manage strategic partnerships, develop high-quality proposals, and deliver agreed financial and impact KPIs. Negotiate and manage strategic partnerships to support programme growth and sustainability.

Commercial & Financial Management:

• Oversee budgets, profitability, compliance, and financial performance across the NFE portfolio. Ensure programmes are delivered on time, within budget, and in line with corporate quality standards.

Sector Leadership & External Engagement:

• Provide technical leadership and represent the British Council in the NFE sector. Strengthen the organisation’s reputation through thought leadership, stakeholder engagement, and strategic partnerships.

EDI & Governance:

• Embed EDI, anti-racism, safeguarding, data privacy, and corporate compliance across all NFE activities. Foster an inclusive, accountable culture that supports wellbeing, continuous learning, and effective risk management.

Qualifications and Work Experience
Qualifications & Education:

• Essential: Degree or equivalent experience; Project Management qualification
• Desirable: Recognised PPM qualification

Role Specific Skills:

• Deep technical knowledge of non-formal education and ability to develop proposals in response to client/partner need
• Strong programme and project management including compliance.

Application Closing Date
11th August, 2026 (23.59 IST).

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Job Title: HE Programme Manager

Location: Lagos

Role Purpose

• Lead on strategy, planning and delivery of the country Tertiary Education portfolio including delivery of British Council global programmes – student mobility and internationalisation, tertiary education and science partnerships, and non-formal education – and client-funded programmes, ensuring they achieve impact targets.
• Support business development and income generation, contributing to successful delivery of country and global income targets, with support from Country Director and the global team.
• Manage stakeholder relationships and demonstrate expertise on behalf of the British Council and the UK in the sector, positioning the organisation favourably with government representatives, clients, partners, researchers and technical experts.
• Build market knowledge and insight about the local education context and share this internally and externally.
• 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.

Role Accountabilities

• This role is responsible for leading the country’s Education/Tertiary Education strategy and annual planning, ensuring alignment with global British Council priorities, local stakeholder needs, and broader cultural engagement objectives. Working closely with the Country Director, government partners, and British Embassy or High Commission colleagues, the role develops strategic partnerships, strengthens internal collaboration, and leverages digital tools and channels to maximize programme impact, reach, and sustainability. It also builds sector knowledge and research insights to support the UK education sector’s engagement with the country and region.
• A key part of the position is providing leadership and oversight for the Education/Tertiary Education portfolio, including programme design, implementation, quality assurance, monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and risk management. The role ensures compliance with British Council standards, manages budgets and resources effectively, incorporates Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) principles into all activities, and uses technology to improve programme delivery. It may also involve direct line management, acting as the Senior Responsible Officer for designated projects, and ensuring projects achieve agreed outcomes and impact measures.
• The role has a strong business development and stakeholder engagement focus. It identifies funding and partnership opportunities, develops relationships with donors, clients, consultants, universities, government bodies, and other sector stakeholders, and contributes to the preparation of competitive, evidence-based proposals and contracts. It also supports negotiations, due diligence processes, financial reporting, and the management of externally funded programmes, while maintaining the British Council’s reputation as a trusted and high-quality partner.
• Additionally, the role serves as a sector expert and ambassador, representing the British Council through networking, research, thought leadership, events, publications, and policy engagement. It promotes an inclusive, anti-racist organisational culture, embeds gender equality, disability inclusion, and social inclusion across programmes, and ensures staff, partners, and beneficiaries are treated equitably and supported effectively.

Role Specific Knowledge and Experience
Essentials:

• Bachelor’s Degree is required
• In-depth understanding of Education sectors of Nigeria and of the UK, and of bilateral priorities.
• Experience of delivering externally funded projects or programmes.
• Direct experience of client-funded contract pursuit.
• Experience of 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

Desirables:

• Ability to analyse relevant equality issues and identify opportunities to address these in the portfolio.
• Knowledge of international mobility trends of Nigerian students seeking tertiary educational opportunities.
• Knowledge of transnational educational trends in Nigeria, including academic and research partnerships of local public and private educational institutions.

Application Closing Date
11th August, 2026 (23.59 IST).

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Job Title: Research and Insight Manager (SSA / Americas)

Job ID: 49727
Location: Abuja / Lagos
Business unit: Cultural Engagement
Pay Band: 8-E
Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract (2 years)
Work arrangement: Onsite

The Role

• With a focus on working with our teams in the Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa, this role helps to ensure the British Council benefits from its portfolio of research and evaluation, and that the insight from this portfolio is available and useable to key internal and external stakeholders.
• The postholder collaborates across teams to drive insight generation and curation, transforming research and evaluation findings into accessible, impactful outputs that support strategic decision-making, stakeholder engagement, organisational learning, and business development.

Accountabilities

• Prioritise and manage a diverse portfolio of work, ensuring insight from research and evaluation outputs is curated, shared, and delivered effectively to internal stakeholders, with a focus on colleagues in the Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Work closely with Research & Insight (R&I) and Evidence, Evaluation & Learning (EEL) colleagues to coordinate work plans for the provision of insight to British Council colleagues, identifying and anticipating major strategic demands and opportunities and supporting a regular ‘flow’ of useful insight for broader internal audiences whilst accommodating the need for bespoke or tailored ‘on demand’ insight.
• Partner with sector and country teams to understand stakeholder needs around insight and advise on research and insight initiatives that strengthen knowledge exchange, business development, partnerships, and policy engagement opportunities across the two geographies.
• Act as a key point of contact to bridge ‘global’ insight and country-focused knowledge and expertise in the two geographies, building relationships with the country teams to support good research practice and ensure insight products are proactively developed through research and evaluation commissioning.
• Create high-quality reports, policy briefs, knowledge summaries, infographics, newsletters, case studies, and other content that translate evidence into actionable insights for both internal and external audiences.
• Build the British Council’s reputation by contributing to external publications and events, managing stakeholder engagement channels, monitoring research pipelines, commissioning specialist content, and briefing senior stakeholders to maximise the impact of organisational insight.

Requirements
Education:

• Qualified to Degree level or equivalent by relevant experience (Essential)
• Qualified to postgraduate degree level or equivalent by relevant research experience (Desirable).

Role Specific Knowledge and Experience
Essential:

• Experience of writing about, and generating insight from, research and evaluation
• Experience of working with senior managers and high-level stakeholders including academic and research partners
• Experience of managing or undertaking projects or initiatives to engage non-expert audiences or stakeholders with research and evaluation
• Experience of managing and curating or organising knowledge from a range of sources and channels
• Experience of working in a matrix environment delivering to multiple central, regional and sectoral stakeholder needs
• Experience in external representation of organisation at professional conferences or seminars as participant, presenter or organiser.

Desirable:

• Experience of working with international and diverse teams
• Experience of using a range of tools, including software, to disseminate research, evaluation and insight to a variety of audiences
• Familiarity with the core institutions and sectors in the UK that commission, undertake, support or enable research including universities, IROs, charities, consultancies, think tanks and government bodies
• Knowledge of the discourse and analysis around soft power, cultural relations, international development and foreign policy
• Experience of budget management, including planning, forecasting and reporting.

Role specific skills:

• Ability to write for a variety of audiences, translating research and evaluation content and tailoring as required
• Ability to manage the flow of research and evaluation outputs through a variety of channels, ensuring a pipeline of content tied to strategic objectives
• Ability to manage face to face, virtual or hybrid events to ensure smooth delivery, appropriate audience engagement and messaging
• Ability to draft user-friendly insight products from research and evaluation content, such as reports, briefings, policy papers, knowledge summaries, infographics, factsheets, impact case studies, newsletters and bulletins
• Ability to collect, collate and organise diverse forms of data and information, across a range of formats and from a range of sources, and to enable this knowledge to be shared, used and added to effectively on an organisational-wide level.
• Ability to manage web and social media content at a basic level
• Ability to copy edit and quality review research and evaluation reports.

Language requirements:

• The British Council systems and global processes operate in English. Written and verbal proficiency in English is required.

Application Closing Date
11th August, 2026 (23.59 IST).

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online