Education Manager - Maternity Cover

Location: City of Edinburgh

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.

Education Manager (Maternity Cover)
Important Information:

Contract Duration:
Fixed term contract from 1 September 2026 – 31 December 2027

Pay band: 7

Locations:
Edinburgh, Scotland, UKClosing Date:
Applications will close on 30 July 2026 at 21:59 UK Time Rights to work:
You must have the legal right to work in the country at the time of application. Mobility / relocation / visa sponsoring support will not be provided.

Hybrid model:
Mandatory 2 days in the office each week

The Role:

Reporting to the Head of Education, the Education Project Manager role will provide operational support to a range of higher education and schools initiatives that align stakeholders’ international ambitions and priorities with British Council’s global education programmes. A key component of this is supporting the strategic communication and external relations function of the Scotland office’s education work. This includes developing and managing relationships with stakeholders from: the Scottish Government, Universities Scotland, Scotland’s 19 Higher Education Institutions, the Scottish Universities International Group, the Connected Scotland partnership and Education Scotland.

Main accountabilities but not limited to the following:

Product/Programme/Service delivery

Supports team activities to meet agreed service/programme/product delivery performance targets, schedules and deadlines. This will involve supporting the management and delivery of British Council Scotland's language trends 2026/27, working with the Language Trends Advisory Group in partnership with Queens University Belfast and activity around the Commonwealth Games. The latter ranges from Scotland lead outward and inward missions, to working with teams in Cultural Engagement to support the participation in and delivery of global education programmes for Scotland.

Manages resources within the education portfolio to ensure that work is carried out efficiently and effectively. This will include agreeing priorities and resolving day to-day operating resource issues, to ensure high quality, consistent and efficient services are delivered.

Uses digital platforms and technological advancements where appropriate to improve efficiency, impact and quality of project delivery.

Incorporates specific actions to address safeguarding and EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) priorities in programme design and delivery where relevant.

Customers & stakeholders

Translates agreed corporate and regional customer stakeholder management strategies into appropriate operational policies and procedures for Scotland.

Ensures that stakeholder and partner feedback is regularly gathered, analysed and acted upon to drive continuous improvements in customer experience.

Supports the development and management of relationships with senior education stakeholders, the central global education team and with education teams in priority geographies.

Risk & compliance

Uses standardised processes to monitor team/unit compliance with agreed corporate risk management procedures relevant to service delivery (e.g. EDI, safeguarding, anti-racism, security policies, financial protocols, anti-fraud measures, cyber security) to protect the interests of the British Council and its customers at all times. Highlights to senior managers any instances of non-compliance.

Uses standard corporate protocols to assess a range of risks into service/product/programme delivery. Makes appropriate contingency plans to manage delivery safely and effectively in challenging or high-risk circumstances.

Manages the Monthly Control checks (MCC) and annual compliance check (ACC) process for nominated team to ensure risks & issues are captured across the entirety of the project/programme in a consistent and compliant manner.

Analysis & reporting

Supports the Head of Education…