The British Council is the world's leading cultural relations organization and creates opportunities for people in the UK and worldwide to understand each other, to work together and learn from one another. We see this as crucial to building secure, more prosperous and sustainable futures for us all. We build trust and understanding between different countries and cultures and develop strong international links that are of benefit to people in Britain and the rest of the world.

POSITION : Examinations Officer 

Purpose of Job

• To support Examination Services in Nigeria in delivering exams and tests and to maintain them at the highest professional standards as set out in the British Council's EQCA (Examination Quality & Comliance Standards), examinations boards and partner standards.

Accountabilities and Responsibilities: 
(including people management and finance)

• As Exams Officer, the post holder will be line managed by an Operations Manager or IELTS Administrator in Lagos.
• This role will support delivery of all examinations administered from the Lagos office. This role will ensure that assigned tests are delivered in a timely manner
• All administrative procedures are in full compliance with examination boards, partners and EQCA standards.
• Reliability: to ensure examinations are delivered securely according to board requirements
• Quality and Compliance: to deliver a high standard of customer service to our schools and their candidates. As measured by our own Exams Quality Standards, Customer Service Standards, and inspection visits from Cambridge International Exams, IELTS and other examination boards as required.
• Finance: all British Council standards for managing finances are met with relation to income reconciliations, cash handling, managing purchase orders, managing contracts and procurement.

Main Duties
Administration of examinations (pre-test):

• Overseeing the taking delivery of examinations materials and checking them prior to exams commencing, packing and returning scripts, maintaining logs appropriately.
• Answering enquiries about exams.
• Exam registration procedures including receiving and collating registration forms, entering and retrieving data on exam board registration portals, payments and exams correspondence including dispatch of results.
• Assist with recruitment and management of venue staff (invigilators, examiners and inspectors).
• Assist with evaluation of new associate schools, agents and other educational institutions.
• Assist with searching for and evaluation new venues.

Exam delivery:

• Delivering  Examinations on test days which includes:
• Supervision of venue staff
• Ensuring adherence examination day procedures
• Delivering speaking tests
• Overseeing practical examinations

Post-Examination administration

• Secure and accurate despatch of test answers and materials to the examination board. Maintaining accurate logs of examination paper movements.
• Effective delegation of duties when absent on leave or through illness etc.

Venue Staff:

• Venue staff creation, scheduling and payment.
• Assist with monitoring and training of invigilators.
• To be part of the recruitment, training and monitoring team for venue staff.
• To act as liaison between examiners and the relevant operations managers and trainers.

Client support:

• To assist in planning agent briefing events, and to support agents in the registration and preparing candidates for exams.
• To assist schools with becoming associate centres, as necessary.
• To assist Exam/Grant Funded Services (GFS) project managers in delivery of Education/Skills-specific events, including assisting with managing relationships with stakeholders.
• To assist with managing administration of exams with professional bodies partners, as necessary.

Marketing & Customer Service:

• To assist in providing data for marketing action plan and business planning. 
• Seeking and using customer feedback to improve service delivery.
• To assist the Regional Sales Manager in appropriate marketing of examinations in Nigeria.
• To follow a programme of visits to schools/educational institutions/training providers to build relationships with existing and potential clients to expand the business.
• To assist in customer service, delivery of other examinations and other duties as required in this small office, especially in times of staff absences.
• Finance
• To assist with preparation and submission of income reconciliations to agreed timescales.
• To record income correctly on the FABS (Finance and Business Support) system and in a timely manner.
• To comply with Contract and Procurement standards.

Continuing professional development:

• To ensure that elective and mandatory training is completed. To contribute to centre and national meetings and working groups.

Key Relationships

• Internal: Country Exams Manager, Deputy Country Exams Manager,  Examination Officers elsewhere in Nigeria and globally, Customer Service Staff Nigeria, Finance Manager Nigeria, Regional Exams Team, IELTS team, Professional Exams Team, Schools Team
• External: Vocational and higher education training providers in Nigeria and the UK. IELTS Regional Team.  School Principals, Educational Agents, AISEN, APEN, ELTAN and other professional teaching associations; venue staff, enquirers, candidates

Person Specification

Behaviours

• Working together (essential): Establishing a genuinely common goal with others.
• Making it happen (essential):
• Being Accountable (more demanding)

Assessment stage:

• Interview

Creating Shared Purpose (essential):

• Shaping the future (essential)
• Look for ways in which we can do things better.
• Connecting with others (essential): Making regular opportunities to understand others better.

Assessment Stage:

• These behaviours will be needed to successfully carry out the role, but will not be assessed for recruitment purposes

Skills and Knowledge (See The Generic Skills Dictionary for details)
Essential:

• Developing Business Level 1
  • Applies a range of standard analytical techniques to support business development – e.g. pricing tools, revenue tracking, monitoring sales prospects, audience figures or profit margin.

(Analytical skills)

• Using Technology Level 1:
• Able, with adjustments if necessary, to use office software and British Council systems to do the job and manage documents or processes.
• English Language proficiency to IELTS band 8.0, CEF C2 in all areas (or equivalent)
• Strong Attention to Detail.
• Customer Service Focus.
• Strong Organisation Skills.
• Teamwork.
• Ability to deal with conflict.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of the education and qualification systems in the UK and Nigeria

Assessment Stage:

• Short listing & Interview

Experience
Essential:

• Providing and monitoring service within quality standards.
• Working quickly and accurately to tight deadlines.
• Experience of handling and reporting on payments from customers.
• Training and managing a team to deliver to quality standards.
• Arranging meetings with stakeholders.

Desirable:

• Experience of delivering examinations in a timely and secure manner.

Assessment Stage:

• Short listing and Interview

Qualifications
Essential:

• A first degree or equivalent (including via work experience).

Desirable:

• A qualification in examinations management.

Assessment stage:

• Short listing