Head of English and School Education at British Council Rwanda: Deadline: 29 October 2025

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Head of English and School Education

Location: Kigali, Rwanda
Contract Type: Indefinite Contract

Pay Grade: 8

Closing date: 29 October 2025 at 21:59 UK Time / 23:59 East African Time

Requirements: You must have the legal right to work in Rwanda at the time of application.  We are unable to support with visa sponsorship and relocation.

Role Purpose – The Job:

To lead the English and School Education portfolio of contracts and programmes in Rwanda, to deliver a sustainable, impact driven and income-generating business.

To ensure the achievement of required financial, impact and quality targets, in accordance with the global framework and country plans.

To share knowledge, expertise and best practice from the country with the regional and global teams and externally, and vice versa.

The aim of the English and School Education portfolio of work is to support the improvement of teaching and learning in formal and non-formal basic education systems. English and School Education’s work is organised into three globally-operating programmes, each of which has a range of projects all working towards common objectives and outcomes:

• English Connects – open and online professional development opportunities, communities, events and resources for school leaders, teacher educators, teachers and other education professionals
• School Systems – support to international basic education systems and governments, with particular focus on language policy and practice, foundational learning, professional development, equitable access to and utilisation of education technology, and supporting women and girls to access quality education  
• Empowerment – building English language, digital and core skills where it empowers disadvantaged girls and young women, displaced people, economically and ethnically marginalised youth and disabled people. 

The English and School Education team delivers these programmes in Rwanda and elsewhere through policy engagement, research and insight, capacity building, technical assistance for assessment and curriculum. This is delivered through grant-funded, co-funded and full cost recovery contracts and programmes. We work in close collaboration with UK and international partners, the ministry of education, education and donor agencies. 

The British Council has operated in Rwanda since 2008, building cultural and educational relations between Rwanda and the UK.

In 2008, the Government of Rwanda made English the official language of instruction across primary, secondary and university education levels. Since then the British Council has been supporting improvements in teachers’ English language proficiency, pedagogy and school leadership through its own programmes (Connecting Classrooms, Schools Connect, English Connects) and large-scale donor-funded programmes (Supporting Teachers’ English through Mentoring (STEM), Building Learning Foundations (BLF), Secondary Teachers English Language Improvement Rwanda (STELIR)), working with a range of partners.

The dramatic changes in the donor funding landscape since the start of 2025, the rise of AI and other global disruptions in the education sector combined with MINEDUC’s launch of the Education Sector Strategic Plan 2024-2029, make this an exciting moment for education in Rwanda. The successful candidate will lead the British Council’s response to the challenges and opportunities created by this period of change.

Main Accountabilities:

Strategy and planning

• Liaise closely with leaders in the global pillar, across the region and in country to translate overarching corporate strategies into a high impact and profitable programme of activity, ensuring the plan is fully aligned to wider organisational objectives and responds appropriately to local market conditions/opportunities.
• Conduct or commission complex, comparative analyses of historic, current and projected commercial performance data across multiple markets and use this to set a profitable local, annual business plan for English and School Education.
• Translate global programme ambitions and the local business development plan into a set of targets for the English and School Education team. Closely monitor achievement against the plan and intervene to take remedial actions where necessary, liaising with leaders in the global pillar and region as appropriate to determine the most appropriate solution to protect both short and medium-term performance.

Leadership and management

• Provide inspiring and motivational leadership that role-models the British Council’s values and behaviours, and empowers and enables staff to deliver excellence, whilst promoting equity, diversity and inclusion.
• In close conjunction with other leaders in English and School Education set the vision, direction and annual business development plan for English and School Education in Rwanda, to ensure defined business objectives are realised in accordance with the overarching British Council strategy.
• Lead the development/commissioning and implementation of high quality programmes to build long-term business development/commercial capability and skills.
  
  
  

Brand and market positioning

• Build professional and personal networks with relevant opinion-formers, stakeholders and key partners and clients (including from the relevant government ministries and departments) to ensure a clear understanding of their needs. Use those insights to understand current and prospective business development opportunities for the British Council and inform planning/resourcing/investment decisions
• Track and monitor a range of market and competitor data, to inform the development of new products, services, client groups and ways of working that will maintain the British Council’s competitive edge in the medium-term.
• Collaborate with the marketing and communications team to define the marketing and communications strategy for the English and School Education operation in country, and ensure its effective implementation, to build brand consistency, quality and visibility across the country, the wider region and globally where relevant.

Business development

• Quality assure and sign-off bids/tenders/proposals appeals, within agreed corporate schedules of delegation.
• Within agreed schedules of delegation, take pursuit and contracting decisions based on robust analysis of potential costs/benefits/risks and personal business experience, in consultation with English and School Education global leadership and within regional structures where applicable.
• Lead complex or strategically/commercially important bid presentations/contract or partnership negotiations, as required, ensuring a high quality approach is taken and an appropriate wider team is in play to support such activity, thereby maximising the chances of success.
  
  
  

Relationship and stakeholder management

• Lead key account/partner relationships to support the achievement of agreed commercial and impact targets over both the short- to medium-term.
• Monitor, evaluate and report on the effectiveness of account management strategies over time and adapt approaches as necessary to achieve required targets. Proactively share experience and insights (e.g. case studies, R.O.I analyses etc) build the British Council’s corporate account management and business development capability and skill.
• Build and maintain excellent relationships with internal partners and stakeholders within and across the English and School Education sector, to ensure effective, integrated and joined-up delivery of agreed business objectives as well as pursuit of new opportunities.

Professional services / sector expertise

• Oversee the development of a bank of English and School Education data for the country, including trends in the field of English in education systems and data on competitor and partner landscapes. Participate in the insight analysis process associated with this and make recommendations from this which informs and supports discussion on country strategy.
• Oversee the collection and learning from monitoring and evaluation data in line with the theories of change and frameworks set out for each global programme that is active in country.
• Use sector expertise to represent the British Council’s perspective and demonstrate the UK’s capabiltities and thought leadership in relevant external forums such as government, NGO, and funder led technical working groups and task forces.

Consultancy, analysis and problem solving

• Apply advanced knowledge and technical specialism to solve a range of complex issues across English and School Education.
• Deploy a range of specialist methodologies, approaches and technologies to support the provision of high quality services and advice.
• Distil complex concepts and analysis into cogent and persuasive business case presentations, which convincingly influence decision-makers about the need for significant changes to policy or practice.

Commercial and/or financial management

• Produce and communicate business performance reports, including income, cost management, results and impact of portfolio against KPIs and mitigate identified variances by working with the English and School Education team and relevant business support functions.
  
  
  

Requirements Of The Role:

Minimum/essential

• Undergraduate or postgraduate degree in education-related subject area
• Experience in a leadership role which involves oversight and accountability for leading and/or developing and delivering capacity building education programmes
• Proven track record and strong experience in designing and managing education-focused programmes in Rwanda which deliver outcomes for all boys and girls
• Experience of leading proposals/bids for international development education programmes which deliver results in partnership with national Ministries of Education
• Good evidence of designing and implementing stakeholder engagement strategies and stakeholder management of diverse groups of stakeholders (including multilateral agencies, donors, government officials, partners, academics)
• Established credibility in the field of education including evidence of thought leadership within the sector

Desirable:

• Demonstrable understanding of language in education policies and issues as relevant to the country context
• Experience of designing and leading teacher education projects, including online
• Experience of designing and working on projects related to  the English language subject area

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

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