Local Consultant for Professional Development Programme for Senior Faculty Members

Background and Context

The British Council Bangladesh, in collaboration with the Higher Education Acceleration and Transformation (HEAT) project, is implementing a Professional Development Training Programme for Senior Faculty Members. The programme focuses on strengthening strategic leadership, governance, curriculum reform, and research management among senior academics in Bangladeshi universities.

A set of core leadership-focused training contents has already been developed by the International Consultants. In addition, further thematic content will be developed to address identified gaps and emerging priorities, ensuring that all modules are comprehensive, contextually relevant to the Bangladeshi higher education system, and aligned with the overall objectives of the HEAT project.

As part of the implementation plan, a pool of Local Consultants will be engaged on specific thematic areas to support the development, contextualisation, and delivery of the Senior Faculty Members Training modules with the UK-based experts. The thematic areas to be covered under this assignment are:

Module 01: Strategic Leadership in Higher Education

Building on the existing leadership content, the module materials will be reviewed and further developed to reflect how senior faculty can lead faculty development processes, student welfare initiatives, and teaching, learning, and assessment initiatives within their institutions or specific work areas.

Module 02: Institutional Governance and Quality Assurance

The module materials will be developed and delivered to address how senior faculty can contribute to institutional governance and management, including finance, internal quality assurance and continuous quality improvement (IQA & CQI), and the effective use of infrastructure, facilities, and resources to ensure academic quality.

Module 03: Industry-Academia Collaboration and Innovation Ecosystems

Module 04: Curriculum Reform for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Design, Content and Review)

Module 05: Research Leadership

Local expertise mostly will work on the module 2, 3, 4 and 5 along with the UK based consultant.

Scope of Work

Each consultant will cover agreed thematic component(s) within Module 01-05. They will work collaboratively with UK-based consultants and British Council team to:

 Outline, Module and Manual Development 

• Participate in familiarisation meetings and design workshop with the International Consultant/UK-Expert to align on project objectives and methodologies, and to agree on the overall approach with the International Consultant and co-develop the full content outlines for each of the modules.
• Based on module outline, local consultants will develop and contextualise comprehensive training content, detail training manual for all training sessions in line with the content outline, and support materials for Modules 02–05 through series of online and offline design workshops and individual assignments. Each expert will be responsible for assigned module(s).
• Ensure that module materials are relevant to the needs of Bangladeshi higher education institutions and aligned with the HEAT project objectives.
• Provide feedback on UK-developed drafts and contribute to localization and adaptation processes specifically for Module 1.

Training Plan Design

• Contribute to the development of a practical and scalable training delivery plan covering cascading phases.
• Modify and refine the training plan based on feedback from stakeholders and implementation experience.
• Ensure integration of assessment mechanisms, mentoring frameworks, and delivery timelines in the plan.

Training of Trainers (ToT) Delivery

• Based on the training plan, the local consultants are expected to co-deliver the ToT with the International lead consultant.
• Ensure Master Trainers are prepared to deliver consistent and high-quality instruction in all assigned modules.

Reporting and Documentation

• Submit draft and final versions of session outlines, materials, training manuals, and plans.
• Document progress, feedback, and learning throughout ToT phase.
• Prepare module-level progress reports, session summaries, and monitoring reports in collaboration with the UK-based consultants.

Deliverables

• Co-develop and localise training outline for each of the modules and manuals for selected theme(s) within Modules 01-05.
• Develop detail module, detail training manual for all training sessions in line with the content outline.
• Develop training session plan, including assessment, following the lead consultant’s guidance.
• Deliver Training of Trainers (ToT) for Master Trainers.
• Produce status updates and reports in line with agreed requirements.

Timeline and Working Days

• Engagement Period: January 2026 to May 2026 (with the possibility of extension, subject to requirements)
• Estimated Working Days: 6–10 days per module/assignment, subject to confirmation by the British Council and alignment with the overall training calendar and budget.

Payment Terms

• Consultants will be contracted on a per-day basis.
• Invoices should be submitted monthly with detailed records of workdays and outputs.
• Payments will be processed following verification by the British Council Project Lead.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Advanced academic qualifications (Master’s degree required; PhD strongly preferred) in Higher Education-related fields such as Educational Leadership, Education Policy, Curriculum and Instruction, Research Management, Quality Assurance, Education Technology, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, or related disciplines.
• Significant experience of high impact teaching and learning practices including online.
• Minimum of 12-15 years of progressively responsible experience in higher education leadership, training, or institutional development.
• Experience leading curriculum reform aligned with OBE, competency-based curriculum design, and 21st-century/IR4.0 skills integration.
• Proven experience in senior leadership roles in universities (e.g., Pro-VC, Dean, Director of Academic Affairs, Registrar, Director of Quality Assurance, Director of Research, Director of Industry Engagement), with exposure to multiple leadership domains.
• Demonstrated experience in strategic planning, institutional transformation, and leadership capacity development in higher education institutions.
• Experience in institutional governance and quality assurance systems, including accreditation, policy development, and internal quality enhancement mechanisms.
• Demonstrated experience in industry-academia collaboration, innovation ecosystems, applied research partnerships, technology transfer, or entrepreneurship initiatives.
• Strong track record in research leadership, including research strategy development, competitive grant acquisition, postgraduate supervision, and publication in peer-reviewed journals.
• Proven experience in training needs analysis, module development, facilitation, and adaptation of content for digital and blended learning environments.
• Strong facilitation, mentoring, and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to work collaboratively across institutions and cultural contexts.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in Bangla and English.

 Interested candidates should submit the following documents to GoingGlobalpartnershipsTNEBD@britishcouncil.org by 20 January 2026:

• Updated CV with relevant academic and training experience.
• Expression of Interest (EoI) outlining suitability for the role and preferred module(s).
• Daily expected consultancy rate (in BDT), inclusive of all applicable taxes.