Head of Business Intelligence in London

Requirements: You must have the legal right to work in the UK at the time of application. We are unable to support with visa sponsorship and relocation.

Role Context - About The Team:

About the organisation: We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. We uniquely combine the UK’s deep expertise in arts and culture, education and the English language, our global presence and relationships in over 100 countries, our unparalleled access to young people, creatives and educators, and our own creative sparkle.

About the role: The role sits within the Data Evidence and Performance (DEP) team, part of the Chief Operating Officer function. DEP provides central leadership for the British Council’s Data Strategy, working with stakeholders worldwide to leverage our data assets. The Head of BI Analysis sits within the DS&A directorate in the Data and Analytics portfolio and is a key member of the leadership team reporting to the Director of Data Science & Analytics. The role leads the BI specialism across the global organisation, working with colleagues in teaching, exams, and corporate functions. DS&A delivers the enterprise data platform, performance frameworks, and analytical services that underpin strategic decision‑making. The BI analysis team provides dashboards, insights, and reporting frameworks that connect organisational data to outcomes. The role holder sets and enforces standards for BI quality, accessibility, and governance across the organisation. The position is a leadership role responsible for multiple analysts embedded in regional and functional teams. The role contributes to organisational performance management through the Performance App programme. BI outputs directly support the Senior Leadership Team, Executive Committee, and senior leaders across business units. The role operates in a hybrid technical and strategic capacity, balancing delivery, coaching, and governance. Collaboration with digital, technology, data engineering, and product teams is essential to align BI development with data infrastructure. The postholder represents BI at internal and external forums, ensuring alignment with government and sector standards. This role drives the evolution of BI from reporting to proactive insight generation and strategic performance management.

Role Purpose - The Job: The Head of Business Intelligence (BI) Analysis provides strategic leadership for the British Council’s BI capability, setting organisation-wide standards for analytical reporting, data visualisation, and business intelligence governance. The role leads the data analysis function within the Data Science & Analytics (DS&A) directorate and is responsible for ensuring that performance and operational insights drive decision‑making across all business units.

• Lead the BI analysis function and act as head of profession for BI across the organisation.
• Define and maintain BI and data visualisation standards, including the Power BI Style Guide and data governance framework.
• Drive quality assurance processes for dashboards, metrics / KPIs, and analytical outputs across all business units.
• Oversee development and continuous improvement of the British Council Performance App, the organisation’s enterprise analytics platform.
• Line‑manage and coach BI and data analysts of various types within the Data Hub and across ‘spoke’ teams, supporting their professional development and alignment to best practice.
• Champion accessible, inclusive, and user‑centred data visualisation across the organisation.
• Collaborate with the Head of Data Science, Head of Analytics Engineering, and other specialists to ensure BI outputs integrate with wider data pipelines and analytical models.
• Partner with product, finance, and commercial teams to ensure BI supports strategic objectives and performance outcomes.
• Govern the use of Power BI and related technologies, balancing innovation with data security, privacy, and compliance.
• Represent the BI community internally and externally, sharing best practices and contributing to the British Council’s reputation for analytical excellence.

Main Accountabilities:

• Define and implement BI standards, governance, and assurance processes across the organisation.
• Lead the Power BI Style Guide Governance Group and ensure consistency of design, usability, and accessibility.
• Oversee the quality and reliability of all dashboards and KPI frameworks produced across the British Council.
• Act as lead contributor to the British Council Performance App, setting its analytical direction and delivery priorities.
• Provide expert guidance to analysts, ensuring outputs meet strategic and operational needs.
• Line‑manage and coach BI and data analysts across the hub‑and‑spoke model, supporting capability building and career development.
• Oversee data visualisation governance, ensuring compliance with data privacy, ethics, and accessibility standards.
• Collaborate with senior stakeholders to ensure BI insights inform decision‑making, planning, and performance management.
• Partner with data engineering and analytics teams to ensure BI tools are supported by scalable, high‑quality data models.
• Promote a culture of analytical excellence, inclusivity, and continuous improvement across all BI activities.

Role-specific skills:

• Applying statistical and analytical tools and techniques (Expert): Lead and innovate in the use of analytical and statistical methods; ensure quality assurance and continual improvement of BI outputs.
• Communicating between the technical and non‑technical (Expert): Communicate complex data insights clearly to senior stakeholders and external audiences; mediate across disciplines.
• Data ethics and privacy (Practitioner): Ensure all BI outputs adhere to ethical and privacy standards; champion responsible data use.
• Data management (Expert): Lead on data governance, metadata management, and quality standards across the BI function.
• Data preparation and linkage (Expert): Oversee data model design and ensure consistency across BI datasets; set and maintain data quality standards.
• Data visualisation (Expert): Set organisational standards for accessible, inclusive data visualisation; drive adoption of design best practice.
• Delivering business impact through data (Expert): Champion the strategic use of BI insights to influence decision‑making and performance improvement.
• Developing code for analysis (Expert): Govern and maintain coding and modelling standards for BI development to ensure reproducibility and maintainability.
• Managing a data project (Expert): Lead planning and delivery of BI projects and programmes, including stakeholder engagement and governance.

Requirements Of The Role:

• Significant experience leading BI or analytics teams in a complex, multi‑stakeholder environment.
• Proven experience with enterprise BI platforms such as Power BI, Tableau, or Looker.
• Expertise in data visualisation design, accessibility, and communication of complex insights.
• Strong understanding of data modelling, governance, and quality assurance in BI contexts.
• Strong Python (or R) and SQL skills for BI work.
• Experience in establishing and enforcing analytical and reporting standards across large organisations.
• Experience in managing and coaching analysts at multiple levels.
• Strong collaboration skills across technology, product, and business functions.
• Proven track record in delivering BI solutions that support strategic decision‑making.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, including at the senior leadership level.
• Understanding of ethical, privacy, and accessibility considerations in data and visualisation.
• Experience working in or with the public sector or international organisations.
• Experience developing and managing a BI style guide or equivalent governance structure.
• Experience contributing to enterprise data platforms or cross‑functional analytics programmes.
• Familiarity with Azure‑based data technologies and Power BI service administration.
• Professional certification in BI, analytics, or data visualisation (e.g. Microsoft Certified Data Analyst).
• Knowledge of Agile methodologies and product development lifecycles.

Education: Degree or post‑graduate degree in data analytics, computer science, business intelligence, statistics, or related discipline. Equivalent professional experience will be considered where a degree is not held.

Professional Qualification and Certification: Professional certification in Power BI, Tableau, or data analytics is desirable.