English & School Education Project Manager

Job description

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. For 90 years we have shaped brighter futures through education, arts, culture, language, and creativity.

Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries.

We connect. We inspire.

Role Purpose

The role is involved in the implementation of projects with a low level of complexity funded by British Council or by another client or funding mechanism. The role holder leads the successful delivery of a range of projects from start to finish including managing the contract or project plan, managing client or internal stakeholders, successfully achieving reporting and meeting compliance standards. Alternatively, this role works within a larger programme or multi country programme on a particular component.

The role is based in Zambia Office

The Zambia office brings together teams from across many British Council businesses. All staff are expected to engage with the office beyond their immediate team, including attendance at regular all-staff meetings and openness to contributing to office-wide initiatives that build a great place to work and support learning, wellbeing and professional development. This is additional to the role-specific duties set out in this role profile.

Attendance and working arrangements are subject to prevailing in Lusaka, Zambia office guidance on hybrid and in-office working.

Main Accountabilities

Relationship and stakeholder management

• Manage stakeholder communications to ensure engagement in a range of projects
• Strengthen external and internal relationships critical to the project or programme
• Lead on procuring services and managing contract delivery partners and contractors
• Hold suppliers to account for delivering against contract
• Build strong internal relationships and networks
• Lead small teams to deliver project outputs

Commercial and financial management

• Ensure compliance with British Council financial policies and procedures
• Support with financial planning, audience targets and reporting
• Monitor monthly finances, including correct expenditure, ensuring relevant processes are being followed and correcting any mis-postings or journals needed.

Project management

• Contribute to development of, owns and delivers on the Project Management Plan
• Identify risks in a project or programme and puts together mitigation strategies with Senior Responsible Officer (SRO)
• Responsible for internal and client, procurement, contracting, compliance and reporting
• Check on and reports on compliance
• Manage procurement on a project/programme
• Responsible for data management including timely data entry, quality assurance of data, undertaking basic analysis of monitoring data, and developing progress reports to meet funding needs
• Undertake programme-specific data collection as needed. This includes working with colleagues to identify indicators and tools for data collection, quality assuring all data, and undertaking basic analysis
• Contribute to establishing Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning process
• Collect, collate and coordinate project information as required.

Sector/subject expertise

• Contribute to quality of design and delivery through knowledge of local context and state system
• Support dissemination of research and best practice from the project / programme through engagement with internal and external audiences
• Maintain up to date data on partner landscape in order to inform and support local strategy development.

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)

• Consistently create an inclusive and anti-racist organisational culture, being aware of your own biases and taking action to mitigate against these. Ensuring people feel valued and are treated equitably, with support for people’s well-being and mental health particularly through periods of significant change.
• Have a deep understanding of and take accountability for putting the British Council’s approach to equality, diversity and inclusion and anti-racism into practice. To make time for and visibly engage with learning and development related to EDI and anti-racism.

Knowledge & Experience

Education

Essential:

• First degree in a relevant field
• Project Management qualification or equivalent work experience

Desirable:

• Qualification in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL)

Experience

Essential:

• Strong programme and project management skills
• Strong stakeholder and partnership management skills
• Experience delivering externally funded projects or programmes
• Direct experience of client-funded contract pursuit
• Experience overseeing monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL)
• Experience building relationships with government, donors, multilateral organisations, higher education institutions, researchers, alumni and students
• Knowledge and experience of embedding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within programmes
• Strong reporting, presentation and communication skills
• Ability to engage effectively with senior stakeholders

Desirable:

• Ability to analyse equality issues and identify opportunities to address them through programmes
• Knowledge of international student mobility trends
• Knowledge of transnational education and academic partnership trends in South Africa

Important Information

• Location: South Africa
• Contract Type: Indefinite Contract
• Pay Band: 6
• Department: Cultural Engagement
• Salary: Approx. ZMW 29,137.00 per month
• Languages: Written and verbal proficiency in English is required.

Background Checks

Employment with the British Council is subject to satisfactory background checks, both before appointment and periodically during employment, as required. The nature and level of checks will depend on the role and applicable local laws.

Proof of Identity & Right to Work

Applicants must have the legal right to work in the country where the role is based at the time of application and for the duration of employment. Visa sponsorship, immigration support and relocation assistance are not provided for this role.

Closing Date For Applications:

11:59 PM IST, Monday, 19th October 2026

8:29 PM South Africa Time (SAST), Monday, 19th October 2026.

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Statement

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.

Safeguarding Statement

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with. We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989. Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

If you experience any difficulties with submitting your application, please email askhr@britishcouncil.org