Country Officer (Middle East and North Africa)

Role: Country Officer Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Location: Egypt

Fixed term for 12 months in the first instance

Why QS?

At QS, our culture fosters a flexible working environment that encourages our employees to own their career whilst personally and professionally thriving. We collaborate, respect, and support each other – and as a company, our values underpin these.

Our mission is to empower motivated people around the world to fulfil their potential through higher education, and to ensure everyone has the same opportunity to achieve that potential. We celebrate the diversity of our teams and believe through sharing our experiences we can learn from one another and become stronger together, which enables us to achieve our goal.

At QS, you’ll be responsible for implementing real change in the international higher education landscape, full of exciting and interesting challenges where you can drive positive impact across the business.

In October 2023 we were thrilled to be included in Newsweek’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces® in the UK list which is compiled using employee sentiment and satisfaction data. 

Using insights from more than two million employees in organisations with 50 to 100,000 members of staff, the list recognises workplaces where employees feel most respected and appreciated. 

Role overview

The Country Officer (MENA) will deliver recruitment, conversion, marketing, and sales activity across key recruitment markets across the Middle East and North Africa with dedicated focus on the Gulf, Jordan and Egypt.

The post-holder will develop and implement strategies to increase international student recruitment from the Middle East and North Africa and enhance the University’s profile across the region. A particular focus of the role will be on the effective relationship management of international sponsor bodies and enhancing the profile of the University’s UK and Dubai campuses with such organisations. The Country Officer (MENA) will be required to travel extensively, often for long periods of time including weekends and bank holidays. The post-holder must be able to operate effectively and autonomously under these circumstances.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop and implement student recruitment and marketing strategies to grow enrolments against ambitious targets to both the University of Birmingham UK and Dubai campuses.
• Strategically manage existing and new relationships with Agencies and Partner Institutions across the region, driving a high level of service delivery to these organisations, and growing enrolments through this channel.
• Manage the performance of recruitment agents, including target setting, the development of activity plans and training programmes.
• Deliver a rage of recruitment activities to include the attendance at recruitment fairs, engagement with feeder schools and the organisation and participation of virtual activities.
• Acting as the primary point of contact in the region for prospective students and key external stakeholders.
• Manage and coordinate incoming visits from University of Birmingham staff to the region, in liaison with professional services team and academic staff.
• Actively collect market intelligence to identify opportunities and risks and, work with agility, to make tactical changes to recruitment plans in response to changing market conditions.
• Manage travel and operational requirements associated with the delivery of activity.
• Supporting additional initiatives and projects as required as part of the University's

strategic plans for student recruitment.

Strategic planning and implementation

• Translate the University’s strategic aims into practical and achievable business development plans with deliverable results.
• Conduct market research and analysis to inform the University of trends and risks in the country.
• Implement annual marketing and recruitment plans including advising student and agents and developing feeder routes for on-campus recruitment.

Management of partners and agents

• As part of the strategic management of sponsor bodies, the Country Officer should drive enrolments growth through this channel through existing and new clients. The post-holder should work with University colleagues, to deliver a high level of service to sponsor bodies in response to an in-depth understanding of the clients’ needs. They should manage and distribute bespoke communications and respond to problems and issues with speed and professionalism.
• Develop and manage the University's network of agents to effectively meet recruitment targets in specified countries.
• Identify recruitment opportunities with prospective partner institutions.

Collaborative working

• To work closely with colleagues across the International Recruitment team which is based across a wide range of countries and the wider Student Recruitment and Marketing Team.
• The post-holder will be expected to work closely with a number teams in order to effectively deliver against objectives and to provide prospective students with the best possible support on the ground. These teams will include the Admissions Team, Birmingham Global, academic colleges and other professional services departments to provide students with the best possible support on the ground.
• To promote and sustain a constructive, supportive and friendly working relationship with all customers, external and internal, immediate and senior management and other work colleagues.

Key Criteria & Qualifications

Essential Criteria

• Excellent knowledge about the education system in the UK and Middle Eastern and North African countries.
• Expert knowledge about the admissions journey for overseas students.
• Experience of effectively managing relationships with international sponsor bodies or similar organisations.
• Capacity for dealing with multiple tasks at the same time and prioritising the matters of

urgency and importance.

• Good time management and problem-solving skills.
• High level of political and cultural awareness, diplomacy and excellent interpersonal and
• communication skills, written and verbal.
• Capable of representing the University of Birmingham at a high level to a wide range of parties.
• Ability to produce clear, concise reports and feedback on activity undertaken.
• Taking directions from senior colleagues whilst being able to operate on own initiative, being self-motivated and disciplined.
• Excellent command of written and spoken in English. The ability to speak in other languages would be an added advantage.
• Awareness of UK intellectual property and data protection regulations
• Ability to travel across the region for a minimum of 20 weeks a year.
• Ability to build and manage relationships with peers and senior managers.

Location

The post-holder will be home-based and expected to be located in one of the following locations:

Egypt, Saudi Arabia or Kuwait. Additionally, flexibility is required to meet the demands of the post,

including regular evening and weekend work.

So, who are we and what do we do?

QS is the world’s leading provider of services, analytics, insights, and intelligence to the global higher education sector - supporting university excellence across the world. Our student recruitment and enrolment solutions enable universities and business schools to connect with talented individuals seeking to further their academic progress and career development. Our portfolio of professional services includes consultancy, student mobility and academic partnerships management, and branding solutions. We publish highly visible and influential rankings of international universities, including the QS World University Rankings® which reaches a global audience of hundreds of millions of people.

Founded in 1990, our activities span across 50 countries, working with over 2000 of the world’s leading higher education institutions and over 12,000 employers.

 
Headquartered in London, QS has over 750 employees globally with offices in Australia, Malaysia, India, Romania, Singapore, France, Germany, and the USA. QS keeps growing organically, through acquisition and by recruiting top talent across key regions.

We take investing in our people very seriously.

Outside of the standard benefits we also offer resources to allow professional growth and wellness initiatives to nurture a healthy mindset:

• Free subscription to the Calm App – the #1 app for sleep, meditation, and relaxation 
  
• A focus on welfare which is led by our global wellness team, with mental health first aiders globally
  
• Access to a variety of diversity and inclusion initiatives and groups 
  
• Strong recognition and reward programs – including a peer-to-peer recognition platform, quarterly and annual QS Applaud Awards, Connect with your Career annual PD event
  
• Support for volunteering and study leave
• Free subscription to LinkedIn learning – with over 5000 courses and programmes at your fingertips 
  
• Options to join our outstanding global Mentorship programme     
  

Like what you’ve heard? Great, apply now!

As a candidate, we know the application and interview process can be daunting and so it’s important that you have a great experience with us. Our dedicated Talent Team will work hard to ensure you are fully informed at all stages and you are really excited by this opportunity to do meaningful work in the education space. 

Equal opportunities 

QS Quacquarelli Symonds is proud to be a fair and equal organisation where everyone has the same opportunity to achieve their full potential, irrespective of their background or personal attributes. We celebrate our diversity and believe through sharing our experiences we can learn from one another, be stronger together, and enable our business to thrive.