CES Operations Manager

CES Operations Manager

Date: 23 May 2024

Location: Kyiv, Wider Europe, UA

Company: British Council

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.

We work directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world in partnership with the UK. We support them to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications.

Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2021–22 we reached 650 million people. Purpose of Role: To control the cost of the country teaching operation including effective teacher utilisation planning, management of indirect costs and process improvements to improve margins. Responsible for the effective management of the teaching operations team ensuring they operate in budget and in accordance with regional and SBU strategies. The role will be focusing on operations within Corporate English Solutions (CES) in Black Sea and Wider Europe (BSWE) cluster.
Role context: The English and Examinations Strategic Business Unit (E&E) is one of three strategic business units in the British Council (the others being Arts and Education & Society) all of which have the remit to build trust for the people of the UK by building relationships through aspects of our language and culture. E&E achieves this by enabling people across the world to access the life-changing education and work opportunities that are created by learning English or gaining valuable UK qualifications. Promoting the English language also provides a medium for communication, helping break down barriers of misunderstanding or mistrust between cultures. The British Council’s 2020 vision for English & Examinations is to be the world authority in high quality English language teaching, learning and assessment, as well as the International distributor of choice for UK professional and school qualifications. This Operations Manager role will be dediced to a specific type of our products – Corporate English Solutions (CES). The corporate sector has been one of the more resilient sectors in terms of continued demand for training since the onset of the pandemic. To better meet this demand, we have broadened our range of quality products and now provide a mix of solutions to clients in keeping with the changing demands of young professional workers and their employers. The CES Operations Manager will be managing the details of service delivery execution for corporate contracts and leads on financial management and customer care duties towards our corporate clients from the B2B, B2G and B2I sectors. The postholder is involved throughout the customer journey from the initial signing of contract through the delivery stages and finishing with the organisation of end of course customer reports and feedback. The role is a critical one as the postholder leads the back-end processes once sales opportunities have been closed with our growing number of corporate clients. The post holder will have line management duty for the people withing the CES contract delivery function.
Main Accountabilities: Service delivery

• Working with the Cluster Operations Lead, translates Regional English Strategies into 1-3 year Operations plan, including continual improvement to global standards, effective integration of new products/services /delivery methods and process/ systems changes.
• Implements a range of standardised, operational procedures and systems within the Teaching Centre(s) to achieve specified, clearly measurable targets (revenue, volume, time and/or cost).
• End to end oversight of operational planning, logistics, resourcing, service delivery performance /standards and effective capacity management for the country.
• Agrees SLA (Service Level Agreement) requirements and performance management of supporting functions/external suppliers.
• Provides support and oversight to student administration including transfers, waiting lists, absences.
• Identifies and shares examples of best practice with Cluster.
• Works with the Commercial Manager to anticipate demand and liaises with internal and external stakeholders to utilise internal classroom space and source external space against demand.
• Manages the day to day logistics of the Teaching Centre including timetabling, cover and duty rota using agreed templates.
• Sets up, maintains and communicates the academic calendar using agreed template.
• Manages academic processes such as attendance, academic records, reports and certificates according to product and service guidelines ensuring compliance with TCMS academic management policies and processes.

Relationship and Stakeholder management

• Develops and maintains excellent relationships and communication with internal stakeholders across a range of business and geographical areas, to inform and enable medium-term innovation and improvements in the quality of teaching delivery.
• Builds good working relationships with corporate stakeholders including Tax, Legal and Information Governance.
• Manages safeguarding of Young Learners and parent engagement for the country.
• Ensures customer complaints and issues are resolved within according to agreed process and SLA.

Analysis and Reporting

• Supports business process improvement through reviewing data, analysing outcomes and providing recommendations to the Cluster Operations Lead.
• Reports on teacher utilisation using agreed regional templates.

Risk and compliance

• Uses standardised processes to monitor compliance with agreed risk management procedures relevant to teaching delivery (e.g. child protection, security policies, financial protocols, anti-fraud measures). Highlights to senior managers any instances of non-compliance.
• Ensures team receive and maintain appropriate induction/training in all relevant risk management procedures.
• Uses standard corporate protocols to assess a range of risks in teaching delivery, conducts risk assessments of teaching premises.

Commercial and/or financial management

• Responsible for accuracy of student financial and registration data including management of debtors and refunds; Teaching Centre financial records as per audit requirements and hourly paid teacher and YL Assistant pay claims.
• Accurate and timely completion of FCCF requirements including income reconciliations, cash flow and deferred income.
• Manages the resourcing and administration for freelance staff, (Teachers, Young Learner Assistants) including overseeing pay claims, managing leave, rota and timetabling.
• Oversees and coordinates stock management and inventory for teaching centre.

Leadership & management

• Plans and prioritises countrys operational activities, and supports team development towards effective delivery of services and delivery of work plan.
• Manages day to day performance of country operations team, Motivates and encourages team performance, addressing sickness, discipline etc., to ensure high quality service delivery is maintained at all times.

Tasks and coordinates others (e.g. third party suppliers, external partners) to complete activities in accordance with agreed service delivery/ contractual requirements (e.g. cost schedules, time deadlines etc.).
Role specific skills

• Communication and Influencing
• Operational Management
• Process Improvement
• Risk management
• Managing People

Finance and resources
Role specific knowledge and experience Essential

• Experience of operations management with exposure to streamlining operations.
• Experience of cost management.
• Experience of successfully delivery of business process improvement.

Desirable

• Experience of working as part of a dispersed team
• Experience of implementing change.
• Experience of operations within teaching delivery

Languages Ukrainian (native/ C2) for both written and spoken communication. English at min C1 for written and spoken communication.
Education and Professional Certification Higher education
Further Information
Pay Band – 6 / G Contract Type – fix term with possibility of extension Location – Ukraine Requirements – Candidates must have the legal right to work in Ukraine. Closing Date – 6th of June 2024
The British Council is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and welcomes applicants from all sections of the community. We work to ensure that people are not unjustifiably discriminated against on the basis of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, religion or belief, sexual orientation or any other irrelevant grounds. We guarantee an interview to disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria The British Council believes that all children have potential and that every child matters - everywhere in the world. The British Council affirms the position that all children have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse as set out in article 19, UNCRC 1989 https://www.britishcouncil.org/organisation/transparency/policies/child-protection
A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.
Equality , Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Statement
The British Council is committed to policies and practices of equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. We support all staff to make sure their behaviour is consistent with this commitment. We want to address under representation and encourage applicants from under-represented groups, in particular, but not exclusively, on grounds of ethnicity and disability. All disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria are guaranteed an interview and we have Disability Confident Employer Status. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.
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; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.
If you have any problems with your application please email askhr@britishcouncil.org
Please note: Applications to this role can only be considered when made through the Apply section of our careers website. Our ‘ASK HR’ email is only to be used in case of a technical issue encountered when applying through the careers website. Emails with supporting statements and CV/Resumes sent to this email address will not be reviewed and will be deleted.