The British Council builds connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language.

We work in two ways – directly with individuals to transform their lives, and with governments and partners to make a bigger difference for the longer term, creating benefit for millions of people all over the world. We help young people to gain the skills, confidence and connections they are looking for to realise their potential and to participate in strong and inclusive communities. We support them to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications. Our work in arts and culture stimulates creative expression and exchange and nurtures creative enterprise. We connect the best of the UK with the world and the best of the world with the UK.

These connections lead to an understanding of each other’s strengths and of the challenges and values that we share. This builds trust between people in the UK and other nations which endures even when official relations may be strained. We work on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2019-20 we connected with 80 million people directly and with 791 million overall, including online and through our broadcasts and publications.

China Head of B2B Marketing, Exams

Overview

The British Council Exams team specialises in providing high-quality, internationally recognised exams and assessment services. Our work in Exams creates life changing opportunities for individuals in study, work, and life, as well as setting the international standard when it comes to exams integrity and security. Marketing and Communications at the British Council is a strategic function which drives awareness, understanding and engagement with us across our diverse audiences. We use insight, knowledge and analysis of our market and our customers to engage them with our work and our products and services in the most impactful, effective and innovative way. We lead the development of our brand and use our expertise to tell inspiring stories to enhance our global reputation, build lifelong relationships, engage our staff and demonstrate our impact.

Role Purpose

The successful post holder will lead the development and implementation of the China B2B Exams marketing strategy and plans, ensuring alignment to the China, regional and global marketing strategy, including the planning, delivery and evaluation of B2B marketing strategies across all Exams products. The China Head of B2B Marketing, Exams will work with the Exams Strategic Business Unit (SBU) to ensure that China B2B marketing programmes deliver planned business targets and fulfil customer needs effectively. They’ll also provide professional expertise to the Exams SBU within China and the region, share relevant knowledge and expertise with other marketing professionals, and help ensure alignment with marketing strategy across the British Council. This role plays a proactive role in the development of the Exams SBU within China and the region, including business planning, and the monitoring and reporting of performance quarterly and via monthly dashboards.

Role specific knowledge and experience:

The main essential knowledge and experience points that we are looking for you to evidence are:

• Fluent spoken and written Mandarin
• Degree or professional qualification in marketing or business, or demonstrable level of equivalent experience
• Considerable experience in developing B2B & partner marketing strategies, plans & programmes within a large and complex organisation
• Experience in the design and delivery of B2B plans and partner programmes to support products
• Experience in providing direction, oversight and coaching on the delivery of B2B marketing plans and activities
• Demonstrable evidence of collaborating & partnering with Sales and Business Development to develop and execute on a holistic end-to-end B2B customer and partner experience
• Experience in effectively negotiating budgets and resources with senior stakeholders
• Experience of delivering results through a dispersed team
• Experience in delivering financial performance targets through demonstrating effective marketing programmes and processes

Role Specific Skills:
CIM Marketing Competencies:

Insights (Level 5)

• Defines and prioritizes the insights needed to achieve business and marketing goals
• Develops insights about the organization, its environment and its customers that impact business decisions

Strategy (Level 5)

• Promotes a strong customer focus and influences strategy formulation and corporate investment decisions

Championing the Customer (Level 5)

• Articulates the strategic need for change and leads the implementation of change on behalf of the customer
• Works collaboratively with other departments and functions on behalf of the customer

Monitoring and measuring effectiveness (Level 5)

• Leads and promotes the use of metrics to improve marketing effectiveness

Digital Capability (5)

• Leads the embedding of digital capability into marketing strategy to benefit the customer

Integrated marketing communications (Level 5)

• Leads and directs the development of an integrated marketing communication strategy to communicate with all stakeholders
• Leads and directs the delivery of an integrated marketing communications strategy to communicate with all stakeholders

Risk and reputation management (Level 3)

• Ensures that all marketing activities comply with corporate governance processes and relevant legislation and regulation

Desirable Experience:

• Relevant professional accreditations e.g. CIM, Melcrum, GCN, CIPR, WOMMA etc.
• Experience in a global organization
• Commercial experience of the exams market
• Commercial experience in marketing effectiveness with KPI focused deliverables – financial, operational strategic and organizational including managing a diverse team; in a highly matrixed organization