Payroll and People Data Manager

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. For 90 years we have shaped brighter futures through education, arts, culture, language, and creativity.

Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries.

We connect. We inspire.

Payroll and People Data Manager

Role Purpose

The Payroll and People Data Manager is responsible for

The successful candidate will ensure excellence in end-to-end operations services across multiple countries, including operations and payroll services which have been outsourced to a professional services company and those which are delivered in-house, working collaboratively with internal stakeholders and the professional services company to plan and execute HR processes and practices and to drive a culture of continuous operational improvement.

Role Context:

The British Council Professional Services is on a journey undergoing significant transformation. For the People function, this means significant change to the delivery of people services to business leaders, line managers and employees.

The British Council has entered a contract with a professional services partner to provide people services covering areas such as HR Admin, Learning and Development, Pre-Appointment Screening, Pre-Payroll administration, and Payroll.

This partner provides an important operational and tactical component to HR operations and, as such, it is important to the British Council that this is integrated with the People function services performed by British Council to deliver value and cost effectiveness to the HR organisation and excellent service to the wider organisation and our employees.

Services that have not been transferred to the professional services partner, including payroll and HR master data, will fall under the direct responsibility of the Payroll and People Data Manager. It will be necessary to work closely with internal and external delivery teams to ensure a seamless customer experience and the highest quality services.

Developing those services in terms of continuous operational improvement, development of policy and practices, and contribution to the overall strategy of HR will make a significant contribution to the impact, effectiveness and efficiency of HR for British Council

The Payroll & People Data Manager is a member of t he People Solutions team and is based within a Hub. The People Solutions hubs ensure compliance with local legislation as well as meaningful interpretation of global policy to local context. The team has a key role to play in developing organisational capability in HR-Operations and Payroll services and building a continuous improvement approach to delivery best in class operations services.

The role reports to the Head–Global HR-Ops & Payroll. It will work closely with regional Operation leads, People Services Consultants, as well as country and regional leaders and managers, the managed service provider, shared service centre and the wider HR team particularly the People Solutions and People Experience teams

Main accountabilities but not limited to the following:

Strategy &/or planning

• Actively contribute to the development and execution of people services and payroll strategy, policy and processes.
• Ensure the payroll operations team is supportive of the payroll operations strategy and direction to deliver operational excellence.
• Drive Payroll transition & transformation projects,
• Manage delivery of the monthly payroll plan, create clarity in the roles and responsibilities of all those involved in the process (including the activities to be delivered internally and those to be delivered by the MSP).

Leadership & management

• Working with the Head of Global HR-Ops & Payroll and other members of the HR-Ops & Payroll leadership team to drive the standardisation of HR-Ops and payroll practices across the hubs and Payroll transformation projects.
• Drive excellence in service delivery, aligning team members to new ways of working and embedding capability to improve process performance.
• Implement a regional / global approach to payroll services,
• Prior experience in leading Payroll transition & transformation projects for multiple countries / regions will be a strong plus,
• People management of the regional payroll operations team to deliver operational excellence. Train, coach and develop the team assigned. Inspire them to question current practices and seek continuous improvement,
• Accountable for delivering an efficient and effective payroll operations service to the region / countries assigned,
• Provide operational direction to team, build expertise and a ‘can-do’ attitude within the process areas, empower and hold the assigned teams accountable to lead the end-to-end processes, driving standardization and continuous improvement.
• Actively participate with the HR-Ops & Payroll Leadership Team on defining direction to the future of Payroll Operations in support of the broader People function Vision and new ways of working.
• Lead & participate the regional / global and cross functional initiatives & projects with internal teams and vendors independently,
• Be open to integrate new scope opportunities, successfully executing as required,
• Prior Experience with multi country payroll processes, procedures, controls, regulations, and compliance
• Knowledge and/or Experience with diverse Payroll products and solutions, SAP HR/Payroll module, Workday, customer service tools like C4C, Service Now etc is preferred.

Relationship & stakeholder management

• Manage the day-to-day relationship with the external professional services partner as it relates to delivery of people services and payroll for the designated Hub, influencing opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Work with the People Insight team to define a plan to manage data integrity and manage delivery against the plan, liaising with colleagues across the Hub as required and embedding of new ways of working across business users.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across the Hub to deliver a positive and seamless experience of People function for colleagues, identifying opportunities for service improvement and communicating and influencing to ensure they are actioned.

Service improvement.

• Work with colleagues across the Hub and the external professional services partner to drive improvements in data quality to improve data integrity through better execution of people processes.
• Continuously review payroll operational practices, based on data and feedback from employees, service providers, other HR Pillars and Finance
• Provide training as required, to HR and business colleagues, to enable improvement in delivery of people processes.
• Handle and resolve any HR operational and / or payroll errors, providing excellent customer service to employees regarding HR, payroll & benefits inquiries.
• Actively contribute to service excellence by drawing on data and analytics to identify opportunities for process and service improvement and embedding them throughout the service provision.

Governance and Reporting.

• Generate/ review various operational and statutory payroll reports like production report, quality, balanced scorecard, and workforce management related reports on defined frequencies.
• Act as first point of contact in the region for any incident impacting delivery.
• Ensure that information security/ data security compliances with respect to payroll practices are implemented and managed effectively.

Professional services expertise

• Draw on industry and professional expertise about people services and payroll provision to embed new ways of working and optimise processes.
• Manage delivery of processes associated with payroll, including payroll processing, payroll taxes, year-end tax reporting, and compliance with country laws and regulations, working with the MSP where required.
• Ensure accurate and timely payroll and HR reports, as needed,
• Ability to rotate between EUROPE, LATAM, MEA and ASPAC time zones is required,
• Prior experience leading a team and demonstrable ability to motivate and manage a team is required,
• Strong strategic, transformational thinking and decision making is required,
• Strong project management capabilities
• A high degree of confidentiality, data protection assurance, conformity with British Council policies, procedures, external regulations, and agencies is required,
• Candidate should have a proven track record, and an ability to create positive relationship with diverse functions is required,
• Candidate should have experience influencing without authority and must be comfortable navigating the ambiguities.
• Motivation to achieve stretch goals, challenge to status quo, and desire to look for automation and continuous improvement is preferred,
• Prior experience in a multi-national company, and/or experience in a Service Center Environment preferred

Role specific knowledge and experience:

Essential requirements:

• Strong knowledge & experience in Payroll operations & servicing, principles of tax & other related payroll laws. Multi-region experience is preferred.
• Experience with payroll transformation & outsourcing,
• Knowledge of HRIS and payroll systems and processes
• Organisational skills, attention to detail, and ability to handle confidential information
• Strong team working and collaborative approach and ability to build relationships internally and externally
• Demonstrable experience in providing expert advice and guidance on internal and external communications and meetings.

Desirable:

• Experience of working with SAP Success Factors
• Experienced in Human Resource operations

Further Information

• Pay Band: 7
• Contract Type: Indefinite Contract
• Location: Noida, India
• The Role holder must have existing rights to live and work in India.
• Closing Date: Applications will close on 21 September at 21:59 UK Time

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

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Statement

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from all sections of the community as we believe that a diverse workforce gives added depth to our work. The British Council is a Disability Confident Employer. The Disability Confident scheme helps challenge attitudes, increase understanding of disability and ensure staff are drawn from the widest possible pool of talent. We guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the minimum role requirements. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

Safeguarding Statement

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 in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

If you experience any difficulties with submitting your application, please email askhr@britishcouncil.org