New Job for Country ICT Manager at British Council Nigeria

⏲ Dec 4, 2019, 9:11 AM
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The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We are recruiting to fill the position below: Job Title: Country ICT Manager Location: Lagos Pay Band: 7 Department: Business Support Services Job Category: IT Role Type: Advisory, policy and expertise Duration: Indefinite Contract Reports to: Deputy Director Operations Role Purpose

To provide visible and engaging leadership of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) function within the British Council main offices in Nigeria, ensuring strong overall management through provision of bestpractice IT services and operations, team leadership, security management, business partnering and training to the IT team and wider staff body.

Main Opportunities/Challenges for this Role The major opportunity is to reshape the British Council’s IT function in Nigeria to respond to the expansion and strategic demands of the operation. For the first year in particular:

There is a strong opportunity to lead the transition of the IT team from a compliance-led to a businesspartnering function, operating from newly improved premises where all facilities and equipment are up to corporate global standards. This will involve the embedding of a new, service-driven team culture both within the IT team and through its interface with other sections.
An associated challenge (and opportunity) is the existing software skills-base among the wider teams; many staff do not exploit O365 to its potential, do not use collaboration software effectively and are over-reliant on email for communication and project management. The postholder can therefore make a strong contribution to increased efficiency and effectiveness of the country operation through training and overseeing the uptake of more contemporary and effective ways of working.

The following years will build on the basis established for the IT function and develop it further. Main Accountabilities Leadership of the IT function:

Oversee best-practice performance management in the team
Lead and manage the team to provide a serious customer and business-support driven ethos; actively communicates the difference between this and pure technical implementation
Play a leading role, in collaboration with colleagues and external suppliers, in the development of digital products and media for the British Council in Nigeria
Maintain a skills framework and advise on required outcomes for learning & development
Oversee appropriate, stretching, motivating continuous professional development (CPD) among the team
Provide mentoring or coaching to the team to ensure ongoing motivation and performance at ‘top-of-theirgame’
Develop a positive team spirit, a positive motivation climate and a close, collaborative unit

Relationship and stakeholder management:

Act as trusted advisor / business partner / consultant to other sections, becoming involved in the decisionmaking process with colleagues in support of the business
Support business development through solution-led design and development of IT interventions
Provide input to strategic and business-driven decision-making for the senior team:

Country Leadership:

Internal Strategic Business Unit (SBU) leads
Operations and Business Support Service (BSS) leads
Manage and lead on an effective relationship with Global Information Services (GIS)
Lead locally on effective management of Vodafone's service delivery, in liaison with GIS
Manage the performance of key suppliers
Develop and drive an (IT) team culture of taking and using feedback to enhance stakeholder relationships

IT Operations Management:

Lead the Nigeria IT team to ensure an effective, fit-for-purpose IT infrastructure is in place for the country operation, including all hardware, software and systems
Conduct periodic reviews of the interface between the IT and other functions to ensure best effectiveness, including the core business streams (Education & Society, Arts, Examinations) and Business Services streams (especially but not limited to Facilities and Information Management), leading group discussions with key stakeholder groups
Create an Annual IT strategy based on key business drivers and technical developments, integrating it with needs and developments of the business streams above
Drive implementation of the Annual IT Strategy through the IT team, incorporating it appropriately into performance portfolios (deliverables, development plans and behaviours), drawing appropriately on input and support from Global Information Services
Ensure weekly, monthly and quarterly checks are carried out fully by the team and reported on appropriately to GIS
Design, manage and oversee effective IT Proactive Preventive Maintenance (PPM) systems
Oversee best-practice procurement, vendor management and contract management for the IT function
Ensure the seamless operation of external-facing webstreaming platforms
Use network management tools to determine network load and performance statistics
Maintain strong awareness of the external landscape for web-enabled team collaboration and data analytics sites and advises the business on implementation
Run local testing of new software in liaison with GIS to enable an efficient approval process

IT and data security management:

Undertake assessment of risks, make preparations for crisis management, and provide quality written input on IT to the Business Continuity Plan. Organise testing of the IT continuity plan on a calendarised annual basis
Communicate security risks and issues to staff to minimise risk to the business
Track and resolve any instances of use of unauthorised assets, e.g. unlicensed copies of software

Training:

Act as lead trainer for IT initiatives, to ensure best-practice use of the available tools is embedded into day-today work
Champion corporate IT initiatives (e.g. O365)
Train and enthuse staff on IT-led new ways of working, e.g. O365, OneNote, SharePoint
Train staff on best-practice email and calendar management to ensure optimal business effectiveness
Train and enthuse staff for good-practice collaboration on tools other than email
Train staff on effective knowledge and data management, e.g. use of SharePoint over shared drive

Key Relationships Internal:

Country Management Team (CMT) Nigeria
Senior Leadership Team (SLT) Nigeria
Director and Deputy Director Operations, Nigeria
IT team
Head of Facilities Operations, Nigeria
Facilities Team, Nigeria HR Team, Nigeria
Information and Records Manager, Nigeria
Regional Engagement Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, Global Information Services (GIS)
Regional Delivery Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, (GIS)

External:

Key vendors and suppliers of ICT-related services and products

Qualifications Minimum / Essential:

Project Management: Prince 2 Foundation Level or recognised equivalent
MCP on Windows 2008 certificate or corresponding level of knowledge
ITIL Foundation certificate or corresponding level of knowledge

Desirable:

Project Management: Prince 2 Practitioner 1 or recognised equivalent.

Assessment Stage: Shortlisting Role Requirements Threshold requirements:

Passport requirements/ Right to work in country - Existing right to live and work in Nigeria.

Assessment stage: Shortlisting

Direct contact or managing staff working with children? - No

Person Specification Minimum / essential:

English language to IELTS 6.5 in all four skills (academic module)

Desirable:

English language to IELTS 7.0 or above in writing (academic module)

Assessment Stage: Shortlisting, IELTS Assessment (Academic Module) Role Specific Knowledge & Experience Minimum / Essential:

Microsoft Office 2016 package exploitation and support
Extensive knowledge of O365 functionality, including Skype for Business, Teams, OneNote, One Drive, Planner, Sway
Demonstrable knowledge of contemporary software applications for collaborative working and project management
Ability to write structured, cohesive narrative reports in plain English

Assessment Stage: Shortlisting, Post-shortlisting: (IELTS Academic module 6.5 in writing) Role Specific Skills (if any)

Practical knowledge of computer networks (client-server and work group networks)
Practical knowledge of working with Microsoft Windows Server products in the Active Directory environment.
Demonstrable experience in IT training delivery, including knowledge of training transfer and evaluation principles
Stakeholder management and consulting skills (see ‘Communicating and influencing’ below)

Assessment Stage: Shortlisting and Interview: British Council Core Skills

Communicating and influencing level 4: Uses influencing techniques Uses formal and informal negotiating and motivation techniques to influence others’ behaviour and persuade them to think and act differently, while respecting difference of view and culture
Managing people level 3: Manages a team Provides full line management to a team where all members are working in a similar area of expertise or business. Scope includes planning, setting objectives, role modeling an inclusive culture, recruitment, development and performance management.
Managing projects level 3: Leads smaller projects Analyses requirements with the sponsor/stakeholders, defining the specification with awareness of equality and diversity impact, planning, revising, implementing and evaluating on small-to-medium scale and/or low risk projects
Using technology level 3: Identifies improvements Identifies where new or improved technology could benefit business efficiency, the customer experience or market opportunities and makes evidence-based recommendations
Managing risk level 3: Develops the culture Has track record of analysing potential risks, promoting risk awareness, and holding others to account for their practices

Assessment Stage: Shortlisting and Interview, Post-shortlisting occupational profile assessment: British Council Behaviours

Creating Shared Purpose (More Demanding): Creating energy and clarity so that people want to work purposefully together
Connecting with Others (More Demanding): Actively appreciating the needs and concerns of myself and others
Shaping the Future (More Demanding): Exploring ways in which we can add more value
Working Together (More Demanding): Ensuring that others benefit as well as me
Being Accountable (More Demanding): Putting the needs of the team or British Council ahead of my own
Making it Happen (More Demanding): Challenging myself and others to deliver and measure better results