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About the Role

The British Council seeks an exceptional Director Education to lead its global education portfolio, maximizing its impact, influence, and income. This role provides strategic leadership for global education work, setting direction and ensuring programs, partnerships, contracts, and services deliver strong impact, relevance, and results internationally and in the UK. The Director will foster collaboration across education expertise, act as a senior external ambassador, and identify opportunities to strengthen the organization's influence and impact.

Responsibilities

Lead the global strategy, performance, and overall direction of education, ensuring strong contribution to British Council's strategic priorities and maintaining relevance, distinctiveness, and financial sustainability.
Provide strategic leadership as a member of the Cultural Engagement Executive Team, contributing to wider organizational strategy, decision-making, and performance.
Set clear priorities, choices, and trade-offs across the education portfolio, informed by evidence, external developments, and organizational priorities.
Lead global planning, target-setting, and performance management, ensuring effective delivery through the matrix.
Ensure education programmes, partnerships, contracts, and services are delivered with high impact, quality, coherence, and operational effectiveness.
Provide authoritative advice and insight to senior leaders, trustees, and the wider organisation on education strategy, performance, opportunities, and risks.
Strengthen the use of research, evaluation, and insight to inform strategic decisions, demonstrate impact, and continuously improve work.
Build and maintain strong relationships with UK government, education stakeholders, partners, funders, clients, and sector bodies in the UK and internationally.
Drive income generation and financial sustainability across education, including through partnerships, contracts, funded programmes, and other revenue streams.
Ensure education activity is positioned and delivered in ways that strengthen impact, reputation, and position as a trusted international partner.
Lead and inspire a diverse global organisation, bringing together specialist teams around a shared purpose while embedding strong governance, accountability, risk management, and compliance.
Drive continuous improvement in ways of working and organisational effectiveness, ensuring education remains agile, integrated, and fit for the future.

Requirements

Significant senior leadership experience within the education sector, with a strong understanding of the international education landscape.
Proven ability to develop and deliver global or international strategies across complex, geographically dispersed organisations.
Strong commercial and financial understanding, with experience of developing partnerships, contracts, funded programmes and income-generating activity.
Experience of working effectively through a matrix structure, influencing across organisational and geographic boundaries without relying solely on direct authority.
Strong stakeholder management skills, with the credibility to engage senior government, education, business and sector stakeholders.
Experience of representing an organisation externally and acting as a credible ambassador with senior audiences, partners and the media.
A strong understanding of evidence, research, evaluation and impact measurement and how these can inform strategic decision-making.
A track record of leading diverse, specialist teams and creating an inclusive, collaborative and high-performing culture.
Strong governance, risk management and compliance awareness, with the ability to balance ambition with effective organisational stewardship.
Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to articulate a compelling vision and bring others with you through change and complexity.
The ability to make difficult decisions, set priorities and manage competing demands across a complex portfolio.

Skills

Strategic leadership
Sector expertise
Translating strategy into effective delivery
Operating at senior levels
Influencing senior stakeholders
Communication
Influencing
Risk management
Compliance awareness

Location

Belfast
Cardiff
Edinburgh
London

Work Type

Four-year assignment
Possibility of extension

Experience Level

Senior leadership experience

About the Company

The British Council connects people and organizations around the world through arts, culture, education, and the English language.
With a presence in over 100 countries, the Council reaches millions every year, making a positive global impact.
This role sits at the heart of Cultural Engagement, shaping how the organisation grows its income, manages its commercial activity and delivers its global priorities through strong governance and effective operating models.

Equal Opportunity

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from all sections of the community as we believe that a diverse workforce gives added depth to our work.
The British Council is a Disability Confident Employer.
The Disability Confident scheme helps challenge attitudes, increase understanding of disability and ensure staff are drawn from the widest possible pool of talent.
We guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the minimum role requirements.
We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.