Regional Project Support Officer

About us

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.

Geopolitical/SBU/Function overview:

The post holder will be responsible for supporting the Regional Schools Manager (based in Lebanon) in the management and delivery of the British Council Connecting Classrooms programme. S/he will be the focal contact for internal and external stakeholders regarding logistical support of activities and events.  Therefore, s/he is required to demonstrate excellent customer service, communication, entrepreneurship and team working skills, as well as administrative and organisational competencies in full compliance with British Council corporate standards in finance, IT, customer service and HR policies and standards.

Connecting Classrooms is a global education programme for schools co-funded by the British Council and the Department for International Development (DFID). The programme will run from 2018 to 2021 in over 30 countries globally including eight MENA countries (Lebanon, Jordan, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Yemen, Iraq, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia).

Main opportunities/challenges for this role:

Working closely with colleagues across British Council, the team is responsible for ensuring the quality and consistency of projects and programmes, meeting the expectations of contractors and partners.  This includes:  managing all aspects of delivery, compliance, risk and finances across the portfolio.

Main Accountabilities:

Finance and evaluation

• Provide financial management support including the effective use of SAP, raising PO’s, journals and creating vendors
• Invoicing and maintaining financial files and records
• Supporting the Regional Schools Manager to record yearly budgets for the Connecting Classrooms programme and provide management reporting information as required
• Provide planning and re-forecasting support for the Regional Schools Manager
• Develop and implement plans for collection of monitoring data to meet requirements of the programme monitoring and evaluation plan, financial compliance and project performance metrics.

Events and meetings

• To provide support for the Regional Schools Manager by booking and managing flights and accommodation arrangements as necessary
• To support regional Connecting Classrooms events including the booking of venues, organising hospitality, transport, accommodation, marketing materials and management of external speaker requirements therefore contributing to the successful running of events.

Communication and customer service

• To be responsible for internal and external project communication, including responding to internal and external enquiries
• Provide support to the Connecting Classrooms team to raise the profile of our schools work by supporting the development of case studies and media material as necessary
• To support sharing of schools information regionally by developing and maintaining a regional Sharepoint and calendar of Connecting Classrooms events.

Team-working and knowledge-sharing

• To provide regional support to country Connecting Classrooms teams to deliver an annual programme of activities, products and services; including responding to requests for information
• To provide information to country and UK staff on our MENA Connecting Classrooms work.

Key Relationships:

External stakeholders include:

• Education stakeholders in MENA and UK
• Suppliers (hotels, taxi companies, restaurants, travel agencies, etc.) 

Internal stakeholders include:

• Country Director
• Regional Education Director
• Regional Schools Manager
• British Council MENA and UK Programmes and Projects team

Role Requirements:

Passport requirements/ Right to work in country:  Post holder must be eligible to work in Lebanon. When required, successful candidate needs to secure, at his/her own cost and liability, the appropriate work and residency permits and any other required document, as well as any renewals thereof, from the Lebanese competent authorities.

Direct contact or managing staff working with children? Yes/No. IF YES. Appropriate police check

Notes: Hours are variable according to events and can include evenings and occasional weekends.  The role includes representing the British Council at external events where appropriate.  On certain days it may be necessary to work longer hours to cater for key deadlines.

Person Specification:

Language requirements

Minimum / essential

• Written and spoken English at Proficiency Level (B2)
• Fluent in written and spoken Arabic

Desirable

• Good command of written and spoken French

Assessment Stage

• Shortlisting

Qualifications

Minimum / essential

• University degree or proven relevant experience

Assessment Stage

• Shortlisting

Role Specific Knowledge & Experience

Minimum / essential

• Project Management Skills – Level 1
• Financial planning management – Level 1 
• 2 years’ experience in administrative/project support  role at local and/or international organisation

Assessment Stage

• Shortlisting

British Council Core Skills:

Managing projects (Level 1) - Follows project management disciplines

Works with project management systems and procedures, and has a track record of compliance with them as a project team member.

Planning and organising (Level 1) - Is methodical

Able to plan own work over short timescales for routine or familiar tasks and processes.

Managing finance and resources (Level 1) - Uses resources efficiently

Uses resources efficiently in own role and complies with financial rules and procedures.

Using technology (Level 1) - Operates as a basic user of information systems, digital and office technology

Able, with adjustments if necessary, to use office software and British Council systems to do the job and manage documents or processes.

Communicating and influencing (Level 1) - Communicates clearly & effectively

Listens to others and expresses self clearly, with grammatical accuracy and awareness of a diverse audience in speaking and writing.

Assessment Stage

Shortlisting AND Interview

British Council Behaviours:

Connecting with others - Essential

• Making regular opportunities to understand others better

Assessment Stage

• Interview

Working together - Essential

• Establishing a genuinely common goal with others

Assessment Stage

• Interview

Making it happen - Essential

• Delivering clear results for the British Council

Assessment Stage

• Interview

Shaping the future - Essential

• Looking for ways in which we can do things better

Assessment Stage

• Required for the role but not assessed during the application stage

Being accountable - More Demanding

• Putting the needs of the team or British Council ahead of my own

Assessment Stage

• Interview

Creating shared purpose - Essential

• Communicating an engaging picture of how we can work together

Assessment Stage

• Required for the role but not assessed during the application stage