Role Profile
Job Description
Ref no:
Job Title
Head Newton Programme – Internationalising Higher Education
Directorate or Region
S Asia
Department/Country
India
Location of post
Delhi
Pay Band
F
Reports to
Assistant Director,
IHE India
Duration of job
Three years fixed term contract
renewable
Purpose of job:
To lead the planning, stakeholder engagement, implementation and monitoring of the British Council
Newton Fund programmes in India.
Context and environment:
The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the United Kingdom and other
countries. We call this cultural relations, and we believe it brings the people of Britain and India closer
together, and helps them to understand each other better.
We have been in India for over sixty years, and during that time have developed deep and lasting
relationships with individuals and organisations in India.
We have a network of 9 centres across the country and a team of 450 staff. In 2012, we engaged with
over 1.79 million people in India directly, and a further 60.59 million through our digital and remote
services. We continue to have an ambitious programme for our work in India.
We work in three core areas - English, the Arts, and Education and Society, through which we engage
with leaders, policy makers, influencers and opinion formers, from senior politicians through to teachers
and youth leaders.
Our work in Internationalising Higher Education (IHE) focuses on mobility and supporting the talent
pipeline of students studying in the UK and students studying in India. We provide market insight and
analysis of the education sector and support institutional partnerships in research, teaching and
innovation and convene relevant partners for UK benefit.
Programmes and activities include:
Supporting more mobility
Generation UK: design and launch a programme that will bring up to 25,000 18 to 25 year olds to India
over 5 years with the aim of developing a deeper, wider and stronger mutual understanding.
Scholarships and alumni: Deliver scholarship programme across India to attract best and brightest
Indian students to the UK and strengthen alumni networks.
Newton Fund: deliver capacity building programmes funded by the new Newton fund.
Creating opportunities for UK
Convening: to engage Indian and UK leaders and influencers in policy dialogues and conferences – at
global, regional country and state level (e.g. Going Global, regional education dialogues, FICCI
conference and state policy dialogues), and facilitate and support academic partnerships in research,
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Recruitment Team April 2014
teaching and innovation to support India’s reform agenda.
Market insight and Analysis
Research: commission and publish research into market developments and opportunities to inform and
support the UK’s international engagement, including: An Indian state by state analysis; potential
collaboration in humanities, arts and social sciences; Internationalisation, employability and industry
engagement and a comparative analysis with other countries with large education systems.
Newton Fund Programme:
In December 2013 the UK Government announced the establishment of a new £375 million five-year
Emerging Powers Research and Innovation Fund, to promote scientific capacity building in emerging
economies on a match-funding basis. The Fund forms part of the UK’s Official Development Assistance
(ODA) commitment and its primary purpose is to use science and innovation to promote the economic
development and welfare of partner countries. India is been included within the list of countries to benefit
from the Fund..
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) which manages the fund for HMG, has
appointed the British Council as one of the main delivery partners of the Fund, and approved six
programmes under the British Council offer:

PhD Programme (including scholarships, placements and PhD partnerships, to be managed in
partnership with RCUK)

Researcher Links – workshops and travel grants (as part of an overarching researcher mobility strand
with the Academies)

Institutional Links – higher value awards to stimulate partnerships at the group, department or
institutional level (as part of the overarching Research and Innovation Collaboration programme with
RCUK and TSB)

Professional Development and Engagement (including skills training for researchers, support for
research governance and management, and community engagement in research)

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education

Technical Training and Employability
In India we will be running Professional Development and Engagement and Researcher Links in the first
year, with the potential option to include other areas subsequently dependent on demand and resources.
The British Council Newton Team consists of a central Programme Management Team (based in the UK)
and country leads based in each of the Newton Fund countries.
Accountabilities, responsibilities and main duties:
To lead the partner discussions, planning and initial implementation and monitoring of the British Council
Newton Fund programme in India. This will include:
Programme Scoping / Planning

Consult with Country Newton Team (SIN/FCO based) to confirm national priorities identified under the
Fund, and agree approach to potential match funders.

Consult with country stakeholders around British Council programmes and identify potential match
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funders

Negotiate partner commitments to the match-funding obligations on a programme level.

Discuss programme requirements with partner funders, and negotiate details of the programmes
within the framework set out by the central BC Newton Programme manager (e.g. agree national
priorities for calls, any country specific eligibility requirements for calls; agree in-country selection
process etc)

Work with BC Newton Programme Team to produce a country plan for BC Newton activity

Work with SIN/FCO to ensure British Council relationships and activity is complementary to other
activity within the Newton Fund

Support other Newton Fund delivery partners to build relationships with key in-country stakeholders
Programme Implementation

Work with SIN and national partners to publicise the opportunities available under the Fund in country
(including those offered by other delivery partners).

Participate in relevant fora / events in India, eg donors’ meetings, sectoral conferences, to promote
awareness of the Fund and to ensure its coherence with other initiatives.

Continue to explore / maximise opportunities for the leveraging of national co-funding for the
programme, eg with corporates. For example, corporate sponsorship of individual workshops

Support UK and national stakeholders to engage with BC programmes

Agree necessary MOUs / operational alliance agreements with partner funders

Attend regular progress meetings with the BC Newton Programme Team (by teleconference, with an
initial face to face kick off meeting in September 2014)

Manage country specific elements of the BC Newton programme (with support from BC Newton
Programme Team). This could include: drafting terms of reference for consultancy/training
opportunities; establishing country selection panels; drafting country specific calls for activity under
the professional development, STEM Education and Technical Training strands etc

Negotiate and issue contracts (based on the global template) to beneficiaries in India

Oversee organisation of events and meetings under the programme (e.g workshops, roundtable
discussions, delegation visits to the UK etc)

Maintain financial oversight and responsibility for the country Newton budget and ensure that plans on
SAP are robust and up to date.
Programme Monitoring

Monitor the progress of the country programme for India, including the progress of individual
activities, and raise any issues of concern with the BC Newton Programme Team

Monitor and gather assurance for the fulfilment of match-funding obligations, in line with commitments
agreed for each activity, and for the programme in India overall.

Ensure that any matched funding (on-books, off books partnership, or off books in-kind contribution)
is recorded appropriately on SAP ahead of corporate deadlines
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
Contribute to programme reports and reviews as required by the BC Newton Programme Team.

Contribute to the effective marketing and communications of the Fund’s achievements, in
collaboration with the C Newton Programme Team and SIN/the British High Commission in India.

Organise relevant review meetings with national stakeholders in India.
Key external relationships:

Heads of research institutions and universities, Deans Research, Senior academics and other
influencers

SIN/BIS/UKTI/BHC

Departments of Science, Biotechnology, CSIR and associated agencies

Other Newton Delivery partners (RCUK, Academies, TSB where relevant)

Science and innovation stakeholders in India

Science / education media in India

Relevant corporates
Key internal relationships

Country and Area Directors

Director Education and Assistant Director, IHE

IHE team, E&S Senior Managers, Head Programmes, including project delivery teams

Other Education and Science related Advisors and teams in India and UK

Central Marketing and Communications team in India and UK
Other important features or requirements of the job
The post holder will have strategic leadership and capabilities required to lead on British Council’s higher
education programmes to develop a strong future talent pipeline of highly skilled researchers in the UK
and India; He/she will come with credible and strong sector knowledge and insights into how
international programmes works
The post will report to Assistant Director IHE, and will work closely with the Education & Society Senior
Management and the IHE teams.
Other important features or requirements of the job
(e.g. travel, unsocial/evening hours, restrictions on employment etc)
Some national and international travel. Occasional evening or weekend working where programme
requires.
Please specify any
passport/visa and/or nationality Post holder will need valid work permit to work in India
requirement.
Please indicate if any security
or legal checks are required
Reference Checks as per British Council India HR policy
for this role.
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Person Specification
Essential
Behaviours
Desirable
Assessment stage
Interview only
Making it happen (more
demanding)
Challenging myself and others to deliver
and measure better results
Shaping the future (more
demanding)
Exploring ways in which we can add more
value
Connecting with others (more
demanding)
Actively appreciating the needs and
concerns of myself and others
These behaviours will
be needed to
successfully carry out
the role, but will not be
assessed for
recruitment purposes
Creating shared purpose (more
demanding)
Creating energy and clarity so that people
want to work purposefully together
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
Skills and
Knowledge
Business Management and
Development – level 2
Market analysis and business
intelligence
Establishes business strategy
Product and service development
/commissioning
Managing Risk
Managing relationships with
customers, clients and
stakeholders
Resource management for
business development and
implementation
Monitoring and evaluation
Marketing and
customer service level 2
Shortlisting
and Interview
Strong higher
education sector
knowledge and
understanding, high
level analytical skills,
able to write reports
and proposals and
able to present well –
level 3
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Project and Contract
Management – level 2
Understanding the context and
market to identify and develop new
project
Development and delivery
Tendering and procurement
Managing risk
Monitoring, evaluation and
reporting
Business and system processes
Financial Planning and
Management – level 2
Risk Management
Planning and Forecasting
Monitoring and Reporting
Impact of financial transactions on
BC statutory reporting plus other
reporting obligations
Experience
Minimum seven year’s experience
of project and event management,
with some preferably in Indo-UK
collaborative work.
Experience of
working with
science/research
organisations
Short listing
and Interview
Short listing
Experience of leading and
managing innovative projects
Professional approach to
establishing and maintaining
effective client and partner
relationships
Qualifications
Masters degree in any discipline
Science qualification
Submitted by
Assistant Director, IHE India
Date
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27.06.2014
Recruitment Team April 2014