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British Council Brussels Newsletter © Jonathan Brennan

	Staff news & job opportunities

Staff News

In September and October, several new members of staff arrived to help further operations in our centre. We are most recently joined by two interns working closely with our EU Team, Kate Smith and Sati Bekyan (top left and right respectively).

Kate Smith will be working on the Our Shared Europe project. Kate has just returned from two years in Tanzania where she worked for Medecins du Monde. Previously Kate worked for Islamic Relief in the UK.

Sati Bekyan joins us as the new intern for the Creativity and Knowledge Economy team. She holds an Honours degree in linguistics from the university of Yerevan, and a Masters in EU Studies in the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven, where she recently graduated with Honours. Previous to joining the British Council this post, Sati was an IELTS invigilator for the British Council in both Armernia and Brussels.

Robin Davies (bottom left) has recently joined the British Council as Head of the Brussels Europe Team. He has recently left the Royal Navy - a career which mixed sea postings in RN destroyers and frigates with appointments in the Ministry of Defence, London and diplomatic postings in Moscow and The Hague. He has also served in Australian and Dutch warships, been to sea with the Russian Navy and also worked at NATO HQ. So how does a military career prepare one for a second career in the British Council? Actually, within the spectrum of international relations there are closer ties between multinational military and cultural relations than you might at first think. Robin has managed to stay afloat during his first month in the British Council, no groundings or collisions reported yet, and he looks forward to meeting many Council colleagues in the coming months - and fruitful engagement with the wide international community in Brussels.

And finally, after travelling and living in 9 countries among which China, Vietnam, Dubai and USA, Bikash Adhilari moved to Brussels to join, once again, the British Council. The Exams team was thrilled to welcome such a charismatic and experienced new colleague. Bikash has 5- year experience of working for British Council Nepal. In his position of IELTS administrator Bikash organised IELTS sessions of up to 600 candidates and coordinated IELTS sessions for 20000 candidates a year.

Job Opportunities

We currently have the following vacancies:

IT Project Manager
Cambridge ESOL examiners
Intern (paid)

Scroll down for more information on any of these vacancies.

IT Project Manager

The successful candidate will have strong Customer Service Orientation, as well as strong sense of analytical thinking and very good Operations Management Skills.

The ideal candidate would have a minimum of 1-3 years experience in the maintenance and administration of IT systems supplemented by IT certificates. Furthermore experience in developing procedures and user guidelines, providing training/making presentations, project planning and dealing with database administration would be an asset.

This job involves travel approximately twice a month and onsite as well as remote support to the teams. An excellent level of English is required. We welcome applications from all nationalities. However, all applicants must be entitled to work in Belgium.

If you are interested in this opportunity, read the job description. You can find additional information below. You should complete the job application form (also below) and send it to recruitment@britishcouncil.be. The deadline for application in 26 November, 2009.

Starting date is December 2009. Starting salary is 2948€ a month (gross).

Cambridge ESOL examiners

British Council Benelux is currently recruiting and training oral examiners for a number of examinations in English as a Foreign language (B1 to C2 levels) part of the Cambridge ESOL suite.

This activity would suit both qualified employed or freelance teachers with a flexible timetable who can commit themselves for six to ten days per year including Saturdays for a minimum of 2 years.

Oral examiners will be part of the British Council Benelux / Cambridge ESOL team of oral examiners. They will be attached to the Brussels centre and examine in Belgium. They will have the opportunity if they wish to examine for other British Council offices such as Amsterdam or Paris.

The following represent the minimum professional requirements normally expected by British Council Brussels - a full oral examiner profile is available on request from our Examinations Services Manager.

Education to first degree level or equivalent, preferably in a TESOL-related subject*
At least three years’ relevant, full-time and recent teaching experience in English as a foreign language
A recognised TESOL teaching qualification*
English native-speaker or near native speaker at CEFR C2 level
Previous examining experience is an asset.

Selection and induction: mid-November to mid-December

Training session: Saturday 9 January 2010

Please download Application form and Code of Practice/Job Description

The deadline for applications is 15 November 2009. Please contact Pascale Laurent for further information.

*an applicant may be exempt from either, but not both, of these in the light of considerable teaching experience supported by positive references.

Intern (paid internship)

Every year we take on an intern to assist members of the British Council’s office in Brussels. We offer two paid internships per year, the first beginning in March running until the end of August, and a second beginning in September and running until the end of February.

We welcome applications for the internship starting in March from 14 December until 30 January.

Applications for the internship starting in September should be submitted between 17 April until 29 May.

If you are a recent graduate, or are in the process of finishing your studies (ideally with a Master's degree and a strong interest in the European Institutions) this post may be for you. The successful candidate will have an excellent level of English and be fluent in French, Spanish, German or Dutch.

We welcome applications from all nationalities. However, all applicants must be entitled to work in Belgium.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your CV and cover letter to recruitment@britishcouncil.be.

Deadline for applications:

29 May for the September internship
30 January for the March internship

We also welcome unpaid interns for university students who have to carry out an internship within the framework of their studies before entering the workplace. These applications will be considered on a "needs only basis". If it is not possible for us to put in place a job plan which matches your profile at the moment you apply, we will keep your information in our database for future opportunities.

All applicants must have a valid Belgian work permit.

If you’re interested in this opportunity, please send your CV and cover letter to recruitment@britishcouncil.be.

Instructions for applicants
There are four documents that must be read or filled in as part of the application process:

Job description: criteria for the specific job (see links above for relevant job description)
Application guidelines: guidance on completion of the ‘standard application form’
Guidance on applying for a job at the British Council (MS Word 50 KB)
Standard application form: the document to fill in that constitutes your application
Standard application form (MS Word 50KB)
Behavioural competency dictionary: each job description lists behavioural competencies that are important to the job, and you will be asked to give examples that demonstrate these on the application form. Please refer to the behavioural competency dictionary for definitions of the competencies
Behavioural competency dictionary (MS Word 307KB)
Background information - working for the British Council (MS Word 37KB)

Further information

Work permits and visa: all applicants must have a work permit and visa to work in Belgium as the British Council cannot supply these.
Interview:
Applicants for long-term position must be available for face to face interview. The British Council can contribute a maximum of €100 towards travel costs as necessary, upon receipt of travel documents.
For stagiaire and short-term positions, it is possible to have the interviews on the phone. These positions will not be considered for reimbursement of travel costs.

This standard application form is available in other formats on request; these are large print, Braille and audio disk. The British Council is an equal opportunities employer.

Our Recruitment Policy
The British Council is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and is keen to reflect the diversity of society at every level within the organisation. We welcome applications from all nationalities and sectors of the community.
We guarantee an interview to disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria.
Applicants who do not read standard text should state preferred format for application pack: large print, Braille, computer disk or audio tape.
Please note that we do not accept any spontaneous applications.

For more information on the British Council's Equal Opportunities policy and details of our Integrated Equality Scheme (IES) please visit: http://www.britishcouncil.org/home-diversity.htm.

Please note that applicants must be entitled to work in Belgium.