Head English & School Education

Job Details

The British Council Uganda is seeking a Head of English & School Education to support the development and delivery of a strategic portfolio of partnerships, programmes and contracts across mixed funding streams and business models, ensuring an overall balance of impact and financial sustainability, delivering country outcomes, and supporting the Country Director. The role leads the English and School Education (ESE) portfolio of School Systems, Empowerment and English Connects, providing technical sector expertise, overseeing business development, and delivering quality, compliant implementation. This is an Indefinite (Internal/External) Full Time position at Pay Band 8 in the Cultural Engagement Department, based in Uganda. Closing date: 09:29 PM Uganda Time (EAT), Thursday 27 August 2026. Interviews between 7th to 18th September.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Work closely with leaders in global and country teams to translate corporate strategy into a high-impact, profitable programme of activity, aligned to organisational objectives and responsive to local market conditions.
• Use analysis of commercial performance data to set a profitable annual business plan for English and School Education, translating global ambitions into team targets and monitoring progress.
• Ensure ESE projects deliver demonstrable benefit to the UK through partnerships with the UK sector, leveraging grant through partnership funding.
• Provide inspiring, motivational leadership that role-models British Council values, empowering staff to deliver excellence while promoting equity, diversity and inclusion.
• Set the vision, direction and annual business development plan for ESE in-country and lead development of high-quality programmes.
• Provide formal line management to the in-country ESE team, developing, motivating and managing performance.
• Quality assure and sign off bids, tenders and proposals within agreed schedules of delegation, and take pursuit and contracting decisions based on robust analysis of costs, benefits and risk.
• Commission expert advice as needed and lead complex or strategically important bid presentations and contract negotiations.
• Build professional networks with opinion-formers, stakeholders, partners and clients, including relevant government ministries.
• Track market and competitor data to inform new products, services and ways of working, and collaborate with marketing and communications on country ESE marketing strategy.
• Lead key account and partner relationships to support commercial and impact targets.
• Oversee development of ESE data and insight for the country, including sector trends and competitor and partner landscape.
• Oversee collection and use of monitoring and evaluation data in line with programme theories of change and represent British Council perspective in external forums.
• Produce and communicate business performance reports, including income, cost management, results and impact against KPIs.
• Consistently create an inclusive and anti-racist organisational culture.

Qualifications, Skills and Requirements

• Undergraduate or postgraduate degree in an education-related subject area (Essential).
• Desirable: Masters in ELT, Educational Technology, Education and International Development or similar; English teaching qualification; Project management qualification.
• Experience in a leadership role with oversight and accountability for leading and/or developing and delivering capacity-building education programmes.
• Proven track record designing and managing education-focused programmes in-country that deliver outcomes for all boys and girls.
• Experience leading proposals and bids for international development education programmes delivering results in partnership with national or federal Ministries of Education.
• Strong experience designing and implementing stakeholder engagement strategies and managing diverse stakeholder groups, including multilateral agencies, donors, government officials, partners and academics.
• Established credibility in the field of education, including evidence of thought leadership within the sector.
• Able to manage development and implementation of quality standards for English/education and plan and manage dissemination of global thought leadership outputs.
• Written and verbal proficiency in English is required; must have legal right to work in Uganda.
• Desirable: Understanding of language-in-education policies relevant to country context; experience designing and leading teacher education projects including online; experience with English language subject area projects.