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Director Partnerships and Programmes, Sudan
Location: Kampala, Uganda
Contract Type: 18 Month Fixed Term Contract
Pay Grade: 8
Closing date: 13 July 2025, at 23:59 East African Time
Right to work requirements: This role is open to all applicants including those who need to relocate to undertake the role. Candidates who do not have a natural right to work in the country will be provided with immigration clearance and visa support. Please note Visa approvals are beyond the British Council’s control so any job offer will be subject to securing the required right to work. Relocation support as set out in the British Council international relocation policy is available.
Role Context - About The Team:
This role sits within the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) Region and within the Cultural Engagement (CE) portfolio, which brings together our work in arts, education, English, and research. Our portfolio is delivered through a set of globally led programmes that locates our work and impact within our strategic framework. These programmes deliver our key performance indicators and impact ambitions.
The British Council has been operating in Sudan since 1947. Since the outbreak of war in Sudan in April 2023, our team have been working remotely from third countries, still delivering exceptional life-changing programming by working through partners and grassroots organisations. You will be joining us at a time of significant change, and your role will include ensuring continuity and assurance for our partners and stakeholders, as well as embedding a strong work community and culture for the team, who may be dispersed across Sudan, Egypt and Uganda.
This is an exciting new role for an established leader in the sector, to bring their expertise and work closely with the Country Director on working towards our long term ambition to return to Sudan with a self-sustaining portfolio specialising in education and youth employability.
You may be required to undertake regular travel to Sudan, although this will be subject to rigorous safety and security considerations and measures.
Role Purpose - The Job:
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Oversee the development, implementation and evaluation of partnerships and programme activities in Sudan, working closely with the Country Director and Regional Cultural Engagement Business Lead to ensure alignment with regional/global priorities and strategic objectives.
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Identify and position the British Council for client-funded programme opportunities within Sudan, with a particular focus on priority sectors English and School Education and Youth Skills (TVET and Youth Employability).
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Leverage extensive connections within the Sudanese education sector to uncover strategic opportunities for delivering Global British Council Programmes to strengthen the organisation’s reputation as a trusted partner.
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Maintain and nurture strong stakeholder relationships with major institutions, corporate partners, grassroots organisations, and regional colleagues, ensuring collaboration and safeguarding standards are upheld in all sectors.
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Lead the British Council Sudan’s Cultural Engagement portfolio of contracts and programmes.
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Provide technical sector expertise to ensure the delivery of high-quality, compliant initiatives, including those that aim to improve standards of teaching, learning, and assessment of English.
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Sharing knowledge, expertise, and best practice from Sudan with regional and global teams and external partners, fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement.
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Engage with regional workstreams across the Sub-Saharan Africa region, including finance, people management, safeguarding, procurement, and HR, to promote regional collaboration and consistency.
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Contribute to the development of a cohesive, high-performing team dispersed across Sudan, Egypt, and Uganda, playing a key leadership role within the Sudan Country Leadership team during a period of organisational change.
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Deputise for the Country Director as needed, representing the British Council with internal and external stakeholders to advance strategic priorities.
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Manage an experienced team of two managers and two coordinators (working predominately in the English and Schools, and TVET/Youth Employability sector), ensuring their work aligns with both the core programmes and the client-funded portfolio of current and pipeline projects.
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Foster a collaborative team environment and ensure effective delivery across all areas of responsibility, while maintaining a strong focus on strategic objectives and organisational goals.
Main Accountabilities:
Leadership & management
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Active contributor to the leadership of the Sudan operation and act as deputy to Country Director where appropriate.
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Accountable to the Country Director and have a dotted line accountability to the Regional Cultural Engagement Operations Director.
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Lead, mentor and manage the Sudan Cultural Engagement team, familiarising them with Cultural Engagement strategy, policy and practice.
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Develop and implement strategic staffing plans to meet current and future business needs.
Relationship and Stakeholder management
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Responsible for the cultivation and stewardship of existing and new relationships with key players in the Sudan cultural engagement sector, with a particular emphasis on English and School Education, but more broadly in the cultural and education sector.
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Proactively build and maintain relationships with specific stakeholders in the UK and Sudan supporting the development of professional networks.
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Position and establish the British Council as an active and expert contributor within the Local Education Group (LEG) which is the delivery vehicle responsible for delivering on the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) compact, which sets out priorities for education to children in lower-income countries. You will work with British Council technical experts to shape and design interventions, and position the organisation to bid for potential contract opportunities.
Sector/subject expertise
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Deep and specialist technical understanding of the education landscape in Sudan, including the interventions necessary for managing long term positive change.
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Bring existing expertise, knowledge and networks in the Education sector, specifically in the areas of English and Schools, as well as TVET, Youth and Employability.
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Contribute to the British Council’s priorities by positioning sector experience and thought-leadership in Sudan within internal and external forums, research platforms, conferences and publications.
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Contribute insight into principles and practice in inclusive education to support the design/implementation of current/future programmes, working in line with the British Council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies.
Business development
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Identify potential new clients/partners and manage initial scoping and research in line with British Council processes and policies. Use networking opportunities to develop contacts with business potential in a country and regional context.
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Ensure alignment of opportunities with British Council’s global and regional strategy.
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Support the development of commercial proposals through the technical writing for evidence-based bids/proposals which are appropriate to the context, ensuring mainstreaming of British Council’s equality, diversity and inclusion policies (EDI) and gender transformative programming approaches.
Programme management
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Work with Cultural Engagement Business Leads, the Global Programmes teams and the Country Director to ensure we are strategic and purposeful in our choice of programme delivery in Sudan.
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Design and support robust monitoring and evaluation plans for the Cultural Engagement projects in Sudan, working in collaboration with the regional evaluation advisor and drawing upon their expertise.
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Host weekly programme team meetings to ensure cohesion across the teams, ensure deliverables and outcomes are being met, identify risks and opportunities, and agree with the Country Director on the management of programme boards.
Commercial and/or financial management
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Produce business performance reports, including income, cost management, results and impact of portfolio.
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Manage the Income and Expenditure accounts for programmes/individual projects and contribute to business planning exercises.
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Support contract audits by gathering data and checking compliance and document security.
Requirements Of the Role:
Minimum/essential
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Undergraduate degree in a relevant field or equivalent sector experience.
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5-10 years’ partnerships and programme management.
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Experience of delivering externally funded high value projects or programmes (min value of 2 million GBP).
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Experience of pitching for new business and developing programme proposals.
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Experience of engaging with diverse stakeholders including multilateral agencies, donors, government officials, academics.
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Experience of geographically dispersed teams.
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Experience of overseeing monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) within projects and incorporating lessons learned from MEL into programmes and strategy.
Desirable:
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Qualified to postgraduate degree level in ELT or other English/Education-specific qualifications.
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TEFL-Q: a diploma level qualification in teaching English as a foreign / second language which meets UK accreditation requirements.
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Experience of managing teacher education projects for English language teachers.
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Experience of managing online teacher education projects.
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Experience and presenting at international conferences.
Additional Information:
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Unsocial/long hours are likely to be required from time to time.
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
