People Business Partner at British Council

Role purpose

The People Business Partner is a key, senior member of the business leadership team and will contribute to development and delivery of business plans. They will be accountable for working in partnership with business leaders to diagnose, design and deliver the talent and organisation development plans for the business area. Typically, they will work with directors in the larger and more complex parts of the organisation and collaborating with their peers across all teams, will identify new opportunities where talent and organisation development can add value, based on data and business insight.

Key elements of the role include: 

• Collaborating with peer groups and the Director of People Business Partnering to develop strategic workforce plans.
• Co-owning delivery of business and strategic workforce plans with the leadership team
• Coaching senior leaders and influencing them to grow and develop talent, promoting a culture of learning and growth.
• Working with peers to identify and build skills for the future.
• Influencing the development of policies, products and initiatives that address future talent and organisational needs.
• Diagnosing the talent & organisational implications of business change and leading strategic organisational re-design, including oversight of implementation
• Work with Organisation Development Team in the delivery of projects, providing direction, coaching, mentoring and suitable challenge to enable delivery.

Role context

The British Council recently completed a significant Transformation programme, with departments at varying stages of implementing new operating models. The business-aligned People Partnering team, part of the Talent & Organisational Development Directorate (T&OD), focuses on developing people and the organization post-transformation. They partner with leadership teams to develop diversity, future skills, capabilities, and ways of working to enhance our global impact. The team also plays a key role in activating our EVP (Employee Value Proposition) and influencing our culture and employee experience.

They have a deep understanding of their business areas and work closely with business leaders, building strong relationships to address key people and organizational opportunities and foster a culture of learning. Their work shapes the Talent, Learning & Performance CoE and influences other CoEs.

 

Main Accountabilities 

 

Leadership & management

• Partner with senior leaders on talent progression, retention, and organization design alignment with business strategy.
• Set direction for Organization Development Leads and Specialists, enabling project delivery through collaboration and coaching.

Strategy and planning

• Co-create plans with leadership teams to deliver the strategic workforce plan and oversee implementation.
• Provide data and insight for business planning to prioritize people considerations.

Relationship and stakeholder management

• Build and manage relationships with senior leaders, bringing challenge and thought leadership.
• Coach senior leaders to improve relationships and ways of working, fostering One British Council.

Commercial and financial management

• Provide input to the Talent & OD budget to prioritize impact opportunities.

Sector/subject expertise.

• Act as the business partner to senior directors, providing coaching in strategic HR for talent management and organizational development.

Consultancy, analysis, and problem-solving

• Consult with the senior leadership team and use data and insight to solve strategic people-related problems.

 

Role specific skills

Data Literacy

• Analytics Translation: Translates people data into actionable insights (developing).

Business Acumen

• Context Interpretation: Identifies, interprets, and applies insight into external business trends and organizational factors (developing).
• Customer Understanding: Understands customer needs and applies user-centric principles (developing).
• Strategy Co-creation: Co-creates business strategy and aligns HR priorities (developing)

People Advocacy

• Culture & Wellbeing: Shapes inclusive performance culture prioritizing wellbeing (developing/exemplary).
• Change Navigation: Builds change structures and capacity to promote change and resilience (developing).

Execution Excellence

• Action Orientation: Implements actionable and adaptive plans to achieve results (developing).
• Interpersonal Skills: Achieves shared goals using effective interpersonal skills (developing).

Role specific knowledge and experience

Minimum/essential

• Experience of business transformation and aligning people plans to enable change, including talent and organisational design & development.
• Experience as a member of a business leadership team, in a line or professional services partnering role.
• Experience of strategic business and workforce planning

Desirable

• Experience within a centre of excellence in learning & / or organisational development, talent management, employee engagement or change.
• Experience within a global organisation.
• Experience in an external or internal consulting role.
• Experience in strategic organisation re-design projects.

Please note that we are seeking candidates with a comprehensive background, including talent, organisational development/design and change management.

Language Requirements

• The British Council systems and global processes operate in English. Written and verbal proficiency in English is required.

Education

• University degree or equivalent professional experience

Professional Qualification and Certification

• CIPD or equivalent OD / Change qualification (desirable)

Salary: Starting at 43,923,377.00 Naira per annum

Benefits:

• Annual Leave: 25 days paid leave, excluding Nigerian and some UK public holidays (pro-rata).
• Medical Insurance: Comprehensive coverage for you, your spouse, and up to 4 biological or legally adopted children under 18 years.
• Dedicated learning and development opportunities
• Flexible working arrangements

Working Hours:

• Abuja: Monday to Thursday, 08:00 - 16:30; Friday, 08:00 - 13:00.
• Lagos: Monday to Thursday, 07:30 - 16:00; Friday, 07:30 - 12:30.

Department: Human Resources
Contract type: Indefinite Contract

Closing Date: 22nd August 2024 at 23:59 UK Time
Interview Dates: Week commencing 2nd September 2024