English & School Education Senior Project Manager

Role Overview

This project management role sits at the heart of the English and School Education portfolio, where you will be accountable for delivering education contracts and programmes across multiple countries. Working alongside regional teams, you will turn strategic priorities into practical delivery plans, oversee budgets and compliance, and keep partners and stakeholders aligned around shared outcomes. Your ability to spot risk early, capture learning, and present credible impact evidence will directly shape how the organisation grows this portfolio and strengthens its reputation with clients and funders.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the day-to-day planning and delivery of programmes and contracts, ensuring they remain on schedule, within budget, and compliant with organisational and donor requirements.
• Drive business planning cycles by analysing performance data, tracking progress against targets, and identifying improvements that feed into wider strategic discussions.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with clients, partners, subcontractors, and delivery teams, acting as a trusted point of contact for programme-related matters.
• Manage project finances, including budgeting, expenditure monitoring, forecasting, and reporting, so that resources are used effectively and financial risks are flagged early.
• Apply monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) principles to track outcomes, document evidence, and run structured lessons-learned or after-action reviews that inform future programme design.
• Identify project and programme risks, then work with senior responsible owners to develop and implement practical mitigation plans that protect delivery quality and reputation.
• Champion equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) throughout the programme lifecycle, ensuring that delivery approaches and team practices are equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist.
• Contribute to business development by sharing insights, best practice, and impact narratives from your programmes with both the local country operation and the global English and School Education team.

Requirements & Qualifications

• First degree in a relevant field, supported by a professional qualification or certification relevant to project or programme management.
• A foundational project management qualification is essential; equivalent in-house training or evidence of continuing professional development in this area will be considered.
• Proven experience managing multi-country or large in-country education programmes that have successfully met project closure and audit standards.
• Working knowledge of at least two different funding sources, with practical experience of operating within structured compliance and reporting regimes.
• Demonstrable experience in client management, partner management, or contract management within a programme delivery context.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage and coordinate a wide range of internal and external parties across different levels.
• Experience in identifying risk within projects or programmes and developing effective mitigation strategies in collaboration with a senior responsible owner (SRO).
• Solid understanding of monitoring, evaluation, and learning principles, including how to use data and feedback to improve programme performance.
• Hands-on experience conducting lessons-learned reviews or after-action reviews and applying findings to improve programme design and delivery.
• Experience managing dispersed or remote teams is desirable, as is a qualification in monitoring, evaluation, and learning.