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.

Role Purpose
• To ensure a high quality, efficient integrated customer service experience for all new and existing students across the British Council Teaching Centre. 
• To act as British Council’s ambassador and provide top quality services to all new and existing customers meeting all Key Performance Indices and deliver Sales & Customer Management targets to enable the British Council to meet its business targets and objectives.

Role context 
British Council in East Asia region
East Asia, with a population of around two billion people, is one of the most diverse and dynamic parts of the world and is characterized by continuing economic growth.  There is a strong demand for recognised education and English language skills, and an interest in many countries in exploring how creative, open and transparent societies can lead to greater prosperity.
We have operations in high growth developing economies of China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Burma, and the major developed economies of Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. Our annual turnover across these 14 markets is more than £321 million and our employee population is approximately 2600. We have 18 country offices, each headed up by a Country Director, and supported by shared functions for human resources, finance and marketing which support all businesses. 
In this dynamically diversifying region and in the context of a changing Government funding environment, our challenge is to maintain and develop the UK’s cultural, educational relationships and influence. Central to this is our commitment to supporting links between East Asia and the UK, and the development of strong bilateral relationships for the UK with countries in East Asia. We do this by connecting people at Government, institutional, community and individual level.
We are funded through a mix of Government grant and earned income, which enables us scale our impact and best serve our UK stakeholders and those we engage with. Our business model is to lead surplus generating business in English and our multi-million dollar Exams business, and growing self-sustaining and partnership-driven programmes in Education, Society and Arts fields. We are increasingly focused on generating maximum impact with our audiences with minimum draw on UK government funds. The balance of programmes, products and services that we offer, and the scale of businesses that we operate in each country, varies in response to the specific markets of this diverse region. Increasingly, we are working across countries and business fields, to maximise impact and the return on investment.

British Council in Korea
There is a huge demand for English in Korea. Our target audiences see English as a way of improving their lives through both social and economic advancement. The British Council is constantly looking at ways to reach more learners and meet their needs by adapting our services in response to their changing lifestyles and preferences.

British Council Korea currently operates in 6 locations in Seoul; City Hall, Euljiro, Seocho and Ilsan. We are one of the biggest among the global network with thousands of adult and young learner students at any one time and there are almost 17,000 candidates registering for IELTS examinations. Our customers engage with us face-to-face, online, through email and via the phone, and as a result we have a large Sales & Customer Management team to ensure efficient level of services.
 
Main accountabilities but not limited to the following: 
1.    Sales & Customer Management (75%)

New registration and Re-registration of students for Teaching Centre sales 
-    Be accountable for monthly sales and re-registration rate targets and monitor class fill 
-    Close the sale, maximising enrolment and protecting target achievement
-    Be accountable for refund requests of sales made and minimize the refunds 
-    Proactively present accurate and relevant Selling Points and Unique Selling Points on services offered by British Council Korea
-    Be the Single Point of Contact for prospects, guiding them through the journey from first enquiry to final sale
-    Maximise opportunities for cross selling and up selling
-    Register/waitlist students in appropriate classes and details are entered on the British Council system accurately

-    Follow up on customers who book placement tests but do not turn up, and customers who test but do not place

Customer Face-to-Face Duties 
-    Evaluate accurate English proficiency level for students by administering and delivering placement tests when necessary
-    Provide face-to-face consultations to all customers in the centre by finding out their needs, issues and concerns in a warm, professional manner
-    Be the first point of contact at Front of House for refund request and resolve all complaints/feedback
-    Ensure that all records are updated and maintained accurately in a timely manner from time to time
-    Handle cash desk accurately in the system and payments received correctly for course/placement test registration and other products/services 
-    Distribute promotion materials to customers  
Other Customer Liaison and Follow Up 
-    Revisit lapsed students via phone to reintroduce them to our products (warm calling)
-    Conduct phone based surveys from time to time on why students did not register with us or return to us.
-    Follow up with existing students on incidents e.g. absent / movement and cancellation or failing students
-    Arrange and support meetings with teachers and translation
-    Ensure that all existing customers (in the case of Younger Learners – their parents) are informed of re-registration periods in writing, telephone calls and class visits in a timely manner.
-    Provide post-sales customer management support to all Teaching Centre students as required from time to time in a professional manner meeting Council KPIs

Telephone & Email Enquiries 
-    Maximise conversion rates of enquiries to sales figures by communicating features and benefits of British Council offers, convincing and persuading prospects to enrol   
-    Handle enquires from new and existing students meeting British Council standards

2.    Support Duties (15%)

Product Knowledge  
-    Acquire and maintain an excellent level of product knowledge at all times
-    Liaise and train via product owners will be a necessary part of this with a proactive approach required at all times
-    Observe classes and hands-on experience of the product is required 

Offer Knowledge  
-    Acquire and maintain an excellent level of pricing, discounting and offer or package knowledge at all times in order to be able to counsel and guide students in their study pathways
-    Liaise and train via sales and business managers will be required—a proactive approach, including input and feedback from frontline customer experience is expected
-    Acquire and maintain an excellent level of pricing, discounting and offer or package knowledge of competitors to include mystery shopping exercises to gather market intelligence 

Other duties
-    Administrative duties in support of the team’s operation or any other duties as assigned by the line manager
-    Attend at regular professional development, training and skills programmes as required
-    Engage fully with the performance management programme 
-    Monitor equipment and furniture in FOH area to ensure in good working order/condition and stationary stock check in all classroom
-    Ensure that all databases and reports are updated and recorded in timely, accurate manner

3.    Project Work (10%)
Participate in projects as agreed in the performance management and professional development 

Other Responsibilities and Main Duties
As part of the wider Sales and Customer Services team serving both new and existing customers you will be required to support and assist your colleagues from time to time in tasks that ensure the smooth running of the Teaching Centre. This might include registering students, participation at Open Days, Parent Events, Seminars, Evening Receptions and Offsite Branch and Examination Promotions, for example. 

Requirements:
Language Requirements
•    Written and oral communications skills in English (IELTS AC module 6.5)
•    Fluent in Korean 
•    The British Council systems and global processes operate in English. Written and verbal proficiency in English is required.
Education
•    University degree

Role specific knowledge and experience:
Minimum/essential
•    At least 1-2 years of experience of working in a customer service/sales environment (and/or in the same industry)

Desirable
•    Working experience in a young learners’ educational institution is preferred
•    Experience of working with children
•    Experience of safe planning, organisation, and delivery of activities for children

Role specific skills:
Working with Children
•    Effective communication and engagement with children and their families
•    Ability to work in a way that promotes the safety and well-being of children

Further Information 
Pay Band –  J (starts from KRW 2,124,000 per month)
Contract Type – Indefinite
Location – Seoul, Korea
Other Requirements – applicants must already have the right to live and work in Korea.

Closing Date – 5 February 2023 - 23:59 Singapore Time (GMT +8)

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality , Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Statement

The British Council is committed to policies and practices of equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. We support all staff to make sure their behaviour is consistent with this commitment.  We want to address under representation and encourage applicants from under-represented groups, in particular, but not exclusively, on grounds of ethnicity and disability.  All disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria are guaranteed an interview and we have Disability Confident Employer Status. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with.

We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989.

Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

If you have any problems with your application please email askhr@britishcouncil.org

Please note: Applications to this role can only be considered when made through the Apply section of our careers website. Our ‘ASK HR’ email is only to be used in case of a technical issue encountered when applying through the careers website. Emails with supporting statements and CV/Resumes sent to this email address will not be reviewed and will be deleted.