Lead Operations & Payroll 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.

The Role

The Lead People Operations & Payroll Manager leads the regional delivery of People Operations and Payroll services, translating global strategy set by the Global Head of People Operations & Payroll into operational excellence. The role is accountable for streamlining, standardising, and digitally enabling HR and payroll processes to ensure services are delivered efficiently, consistently, and in full compliance with local and global requirements. A strong focus is placed on continuous improvement, automation, risk governance, data integrity, and employee experience.

As the regional execution lead within the British Council’s People Services & Solutions (PS&S) function, the postholder sustains and enhances the transformed operating model by embedding service optimisation and governance maturity. The role works in close partnership with Finance, Reward, Advisory, Digital & Technology, and the managed service provider (TCS), balancing global standardisation with local compliance, strengthening regional capability, and advancing digital and data-driven practices to support business agility.

Accountabilities

The role leads the regional implementation of the global People Operations & Payroll strategy, driving process standardisation, automation, and data-led decision-making across multiple countries. It is accountable for operational excellence, continuous improvement, and service optimisation, ensuring efficient, compliant delivery aligned to the global service framework. Working closely with Regional Operations leads and cross-functional partners across the People Function, the role ensures effective oversight of operational delivery through regional managers and teams, strengthening employee experience and service maturity.

The role provides strong governance, risk, and vendor leadership, overseeing compliance with statutory requirements, audit controls, data-protection standards (including GDPR/PDPA), and business-continuity planning. It manages strategic relationships with managed service providers and payroll vendors, leading performance governance through KPIs, SLAs, and data insights to drive accountability and improvement. In parallel, the role develops regional capability through leadership, succession planning, and skills development, embedding a culture of collaboration, learning, and high-quality service delivery.

Role specific skills

Data Literacy

Analytics translation: Translates people data into actionable insights (Developing)

Data-driven decision making: Uses data to inform decisions and people practices (Developing)

Business Acumen

Customer understanding: Understands customer needs and applies user-centric principles (Developing)

Digital Agility

Digital adoption: Creates an environment that enables and supports digital adoption (Developing)

People Advocacy

Risk mitigation & ethics: Ensures ethical conduct, regulatory compliance, and mitigates people risks (Developing)

 Execution Excellence

Action orientation: Delivers adaptive, actionable plans to achieve results (Developing)

Problem solving: Identifies practical solutions to overcome operational challenges (Developing)

Interpersonal skills: Builds effective relationships to achieve shared outcomes (Developing)

Role specific knowledge and experience

Minimum/essential

• Extensive experience (15+ years) in People Operations and Payroll
• Proven leadership in HR Operations and multi-country Payroll delivery within a shared-service or outsourced environment.
• Experience driving process standardisation, automation, and continuous-improvement programmes.
• Strong understanding of payroll governance, statutory compliance, and vendor management.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence and collaborate across global, regional, and local teams.
• Experience working with HRIS platforms (e.g., SAP SuccessFactors, Oracle, or similar) and vendor-management systems

Desirable

• Experience working with external service providers (MSPs).
• Knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, or other process-optimisation methodologies.
• Experience in regional project leadership or service-maturity enhancement initiatives
• Project Management

Education

• Professional HR or tax/payroll qualification

Language Requirement

The British Council’s systems and global processes operate in English. Written and verbal proficiency in English is required for this role.

Important Information

Department: People Function
Contract type: Indefinite Contract (permanent role)
Pay band: Grade 8
Location: Noida, India

Applicants must already have the legal right to work in India. Visa sponsorship or relocation support is not available. Flexible and hybrid working is supported, subject to operational requirements and line manager approval.

Closing Date

Applications will close by Sunday,15 February 2026 (11:59 PM local time)
Interviews are expected to take place in the following weeks.

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