Country Director

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.

Country Director Malawi

Location: Lilongwe, Malawi
Contract Type: One Year Fixed Term Contract, Renewable
Pay Grade: 8
Closing date: 16 March 2025 at 20:59 UK Time / 23:59 East African Time

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

Role Context – About The Team:

The UK-Malawi relationship is highly valued and UK education highly respected and . Both FCDO and the British Council have invested consistently in education over the decades. We will continue to build relationships of trust, to support Malawi’s development, its young people via strengthened collaboration between UK and Malawi and though FCDO and British Council in country.

We will deepen and scale our work of helping enhance the skills, employability, and life chances of young people through interventions systems strengthening in TVET, providing access to UK Education and qualifications and direct capacity building of young creatives.

An EDI ethos will underpin our work. We will foster a joined-up approach with FCDO in youth engagement including supporting UK Alumni engagement that will contribute to build strong human capital building and stronger mutually beneficial connections with the UK.

Our work will continue to prioritise innovative and tailored educational partnerships that help improve TVET systems, equipping them to meet the demands of youth employability and to boost provision of skills employers require. We will apply technical knowledge of education system reform, providing targeted expertise, grants, and insights to help build capacities across the Malawi TVET system.

We will work in the Arts sector and leverage a modest investment in creative economy programming to build the capacity and impact of creative professionals, policymakers and entrepreneurship networks.

Role Purpose – The Job:

Through an in-depth understanding of Malawi and the UK, lead the development and delivery of effective,sustainable and corporately aligned cultural relations between the two geographies, drawing on the UK’s cultural assets and thereby strengthening awareness of, positive attitudes towards and collaboration with the wider UK. By role modelling inclusive leadership, the role will be unifying across all areas of the British Council, whether Cultural Engagement, Teaching and Exams or Professional Service functions.

Leads, develops and delivers a strategic education portfolio of cultural relations partnerships, programmes and contracts across mixed funding streams and business models. Ensures an overall balance of impact and financial sustainability; delivers corporate and regional outcomes and ensures that benefit is achieved overseas and for the UK. Provides sector expertise at regional level. Leads large, dispersed teams and manages senior partner and stakeholder relationships.

Main Accountabilities:

UK and country insight and intelligence to identify cultural relations opportunities.

• Has a thorough understanding of the country context, through extensive networks of opinion leaders and formers and other sources, and identifies opportunities to increase cultural relations impact through a similar understanding of the UK
• Has a sound understanding of comparators and (potential) partners to enrich insight and support business development and cultural relations impact, including competition in the ‘soft power’ space
• Ensures insight is organisational, it is shared and accessible to the organisation, rather than retained by the individual and country
• Insight is used to influence regional and global strategies

Shaping, monitoring & delivering the whole country British Council strategy, narrative and brand – our cultural relations response

• Develop and deliver a strong medium-term (3 year) strategy and annual/multi-year country plan for Malawi, with support of regional SBU/marketing leads and relevant members of country team. Strategy and plans are based on insight and include a compelling articulation of our strengths, niche and value, drawing these from across all areas of British Council, ensuring we aim for the strongest possible cultural relations impact
• Strategy and narrative are aligned with, and inform, agreed regional and SBU strategy/global programmes and narratives to enable us to amplify our impact appropriately and ensure our cultural relations response is seen as cohesive

Identifying and leveraging partnership and contract opportunities to deliver the strategy

• Is seen as a strong public face of the British Council in country leading and contributing to relevant public debate in ways which strengthen the UK’s and the British Council’s reputation and positions the British Council to work in partnership with like-minded organisations.
• Secures partnership and contract opportunities which align to our strategy and benefit the British Council and UK, through effective market, client and partner insights and networking.

Managing stakeholders: FCDO, other UK Delegations, devolved administrations, representatives of UK institutions

• Identify key in-country and UK based stakeholders at the Mission/s. These must include, as a minimum, HMA and DHM with whom CD must maintain proactive contact – at least once per month with regular participation in SLT / Heads of Section meetings
• Key HMG stakeholders are actively consulted on our Country Strategy and Plan, which are shared and agreed with the Mission. Equally, we will contribute to the Mission’s business planning and KPIs and aim to be the SRO for any cultural, educational and English sub-items in the Mission’s Strategic Plan, and to advocate for such activity as part of the Mission’s activities.

Lead the Malawi team. Overall duty of care

• Support and champion change within the country team when needed, and instilling a culture which embraces continuous change
• To actively contribute to an inclusive and anti-racist organisational culture, being aware of your own biases, and taking action to mitigate against these. Ensuring people feel valued and are treated equitably, with support for people’s well-being and mental health.

Protect trust in the British Council and the UK

• Risks (safeguarding, fraud, IGRM, safety and security etc) are managed effectively across the operation and evidence of this monitoring and challenge is clear (e.g. through recorded reviews of risk register) Concerns are escalated up the management line appropriately
• Compliance with British Council policies and processes, (including amongst teams reporting outside the country operation) is modelled and championed and staff held to account for the same

Requirements Of The Role:

Minimum/essential

• Recent experience of working in-country and an understanding of the government, education and culture sectors and decision making processes.

Apply Now