Senior Programme Manager (What Works Hub for Global Education)

About the Blavatnik School of Government

Our vision is of a world better led, a world better served and a world better governed. We are a global school committed to improving the quality of government and public policymaking worldwide, through three routes: teaching current and future leaders; generating research with impact; and engaging with governments and practitioners.

What we offer

The School is a collaborative, friendly, and dynamic department based in an award-winning building in Oxford. We host regular events and talks with well-known guest speakers – all of which are open to staff. 

On the social side, we have regular coffee/cake mornings for staff, a family-friendly Halloween event, and Christmas and summer parties. As an employer, we genuinely care about our employees’ wellbeing and this is reflected in the range of benefits that we offer including:

• An excellent contributory pension scheme
• 38 days’ annual leave
• Family leave schemes and a comprehensive range of childcare services
• Cycle loan scheme and discounted bus travel and Season Ticket travel loans
• Membership to a variety of social and sports clubs
• Opportunities for hybrid working (typically 60% of working hours on-site and 40% remotely)

More information about working at the School can be found on our jobs page.

About the role

The Blavatnik School of Government is looking for a highly skilled and experienced Senior Programme Manager to play a key role at the heart of a major £30m global research and policy initiative.

The What Works Hub on Global Education (WWHGE) aims to transform learning outcomes for children in developing countries by generating new evidence, and by working with policymakers and NGOs to deliver the best teaching at scale.

This post will sit at the centre of our operations team, working closely with the Programme Director and across the programme’s three pillars (research on implementation science; capacity building in partner countries; and evidence translation and synthesis with a particular emphasis on the second of these).

This appointment offers a unique opportunity to take on significant operational responsibilities in a high-profile multidisciplinary research and policy consortium in a mix of country settings, with a focus on the global south.

About you

You will have outstanding strategic, operational, and financial skills, will be used to dealing with people in different contexts and countries, managing complex projects, and experienced in working closely with donors. You will have strong diplomacy skills.

With experience of developing fund proposals, you will have a flexible approach, be motivated, resilient and possess a willingness to adapt to the changing needs and priorities of the programme.

You will have experience of project management on a research/policy project or programme and have excellent Project Management skills enabling you to deliver an ambitious programme of activity on time and on budget.

Application process

Please upload a supporting statement that outlines how you meet the selection criteria in your own words, along with your CV and the details of two referees as part of your online application.

The closing date for applications is at 12 noon (UK time) on Monday, 21 July 2025

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