Job Description

The British Council builds connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language. We work in two ways - directly with individuals to transform their lives, and with governments and partners to make a bigger difference for the longer term, creating benefit for millions of people all over the world. We help young people to gain the skills, confidence and connections they are looking for to realise their potential and to participate in strong and inclusive communities. We support them to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications. Our work in arts and culture stimulates creative expression and exchange and nurtures creative enterprise. We connect the best of the UK with the world and the best of the world with the UK. These connections lead to an understanding of each other\'s strengths and of the challenges and values that we share. This builds trust between people in the UK and other nations which endures even when official relations may be strained. We work on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2019-20 we connected with 80 million people directly and with 791 million overall, including online and through our broadcasts and publications.

Role Purpose
This role will be responsible for the creation and implementation of lean transactional payroll operations and for the running of payroll operations activities in the region, its compliance, efficiency, and accuracy. This will include designing tools, processes and procedures to manage a methodical payroll administration, leveraging MyHR and ensuring successful partnering and integration with other platforms. The key focus is to review, analyse, recommend and drive regional payroll operational and administrative models, ensuring excellent implementation in the deployment of payroll operational process and procedures. The role requires a systematic, integrated approach with a focus on continuous improvement.

Main accountabilities but not limited to the following:

Payroll Administration:

• Review employee data (new hires, changes, additional earnings) from MyHR to inform payroll run(s) and pre-empt any issue, if any. In some countries data may come from multiple sources which will need to be reconciled.
• In countries where payroll is outsourced
• liaise with providers in line with agreed calendar, by providing accurate data
• troubleshoot any issue raised by employees on the Employee self-service portal
• resolve adhoc issues such as back payments or pay corrections etc.
• continuously improve the process and efficiency of the collaboration with the provider
• In countries where payroll is not outsourced,
• complete payroll calculations manually (through excel templates) or through a payroll system.
• Make contributions to statutory bodies (pension, social security particularly)
• Ensure system generated pay slips are distributed to employees accurately and on a timely manner.
• Consolidate payroll register report and other payroll related reports and seek appropriate vetting and approvals for payroll processing
• Prepare all journals and accruals related to payroll in the countries allocated to this role.
• Liaise with the respective government statutory bodies for matters related to statutory or government reporting.
• Ensure accurate, timely payment and compliance with all statutory requirements. This will include notifying finance on fund allocation.
• Ensure the preparation of annual tax reporting is accurate and timely.
• Ensure proper documentation and compliance for internal controls and audits.
• Ensure timely processing of final settlement for leavers
• Ensure accurate processing of overtime payments and reimbursements
• Ensure timely processing of Purchase Request (PR) and Purchase Orders (PO) for HR related vendor payments i.e medical insurance, medical claims, payroll vendor fees, etc

Case Management

• Attend to employee enquiries on payroll related issues via case management platform
• Timely management of queries - respond daily to queries via C4C (case management ticketing system), in line with Service Level Agreements.
• Strive to understand stakeholder queries and resolve tickets in a customer centric manner.

Records Management

• Maintain rigorous filing of all payroll related documentations (payslips and payroll reports especially).
• Archive/ Destroy payroll records in line with data protection policies and practices in the country.
• Support audits where required

Continuous Improvement

• Support continuous improvement initiatives
• Approach issues and roadblocks with a Continuous Improvement mindset
• Contribute to outsourcing projects particularly at the stage of transition into business as usual

Stakeholder Communication

• Proactively communicate with all approvers and key personnel to ensure effective coordination and approvals of payroll payments
• Raise issues to appropriate management levels in a timely manner to ensure fast resolution and risk mitigations are put in place.

Team-work

• Proactively support and offer help to other team members when their workload requires additional support
• Ask for help from management and team members where needed
• Support change initiatives and be a change advocate particularly in outsourcing initiatives
• Show flexibility in delivering activities that are not strictly in this role scope.
• Involvement in projects or activities outside of the scope of work described here will be required. Support of local compliance requirements will be required

• Generate/ review various operational and statutory payroll reports like production report, quality and workforce management related reports on defined frequencies.

Collaborate with other HR pillars

• Work collaboratively with other HR areas to support the initiatives undertaken for the business
• Continuously feedback to other HR areas on changes and/or issues faced by the payroll team to ensure the business has a single combined HR perspective

Requirements:

• The British Council systems and global processes operate in English. Written and verbal proficiency in English is required.
• Professional experience related to the role.

Role specific knowledge and experience:

Minimum/essential

• Experience of reviewing and improving payroll operations processes and practices.
• Expertise/Experience of payroll operations across several countries in the region, including designing tools, processes and procedures.
• Has worked in a multinational organization, with varied cultures and nationalities
• Experience leading payroll staff
• Proven ability in solving process and technical issue.

Desirable

• Knowledge of automation in payroll
• Ability to demonstrate critical thinking skills and initiative
• Preferably experience in a shared service/outsourcing environment.
• Experience in people management/team leadership is desired.

Role specific skills:

• Web application & Windows application development on .Net platform, Angular, VUE and another JS frameworks.
• Database management & development

Further Information

Pay Band - 6

Contract Type - 2 years, fixed term contract

Location - Any location in East Asia

Other Requirements - Job holder must have the right to live and work in the country selected.

Closing Date - 28 November 2022 - 23:59 Singapore Time (GMT +8)

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

Equality , Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Statement

The British Council is committed to policies and practices of equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. We support all staff to make sure their behaviour is consistent with this commitment. We want to address under representation and encourage applicants from under-represented groups, in particular, but not exclusively, on grounds of ethnicity and disability. All disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria are guaranteed an interview and we have Disability Confident Employer Status. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

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; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Council\'s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

If you have any problems with your application please email

Please note: Applications to this role can only be considered when made through the Apply section of our careers website. Our \'ASK HR\' email is only to be used in case of a technical issue encountered when applying through the careers website. Emails with supporting statements and CV/Resumes sent to this email address will not be reviewed and will be deleted.

British Council