Lead People Advisor Implementation

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.Lead People Advisor – Change implementationLocation: UK, Nigeria or GhanaContract Type: 1 Year Fixed Term ContractPay Grade: 8Closing date: 11 November 2025 at 20:59 UK TimeRequirements: You must have the legal right to work in one of the listed countries at the time of application. We are unable to support with visa sponsorship and relocation.Role Context - About The TeamThe 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.The Global Change Programme has been established to achieve an improvement in the profit and loss from current losses to sustainable surplus by 2030, through a combination of business growth and cost savings, divestments, operating model and organisational design changes.The Lead People Advisor will work closely with country and regional leaders and managers and the wider People function team particularly the People Solutions and Employee Relations colleagues, People Business Partners, and People Experience and Insights teams to implement the change.Role Purpose - The JobThe Lead People Advisor will support the People Solutions Implementation Lead through the delivery of legally and culturally compliant advice and guidance, across the broad spectrum of People function activity, to support the implementation of the global change programme.This role will ensure the proactive management and mitigation of legal and operational risk relating to Human Resources, including adherence and advice on policies and processes and coaching and guidance for line managers to enable early resolution of workplace conflict and grievances.Main AccountabilitiesLeadership & management Provide people solutions to support the implementation of business change plans across the regions. Work in partnership with people business partners to support local management to identify the people implications of their change plans across defined organisational areas, providing local insight relating to market conditions, legal context, etc. Lead the team of geographically dispersed Advisors responsible for providing expertise, advice and specialist support, building the capacity and capability required to deliver the agreed services. Relationship & stakeholder management Manage the relationship with key stakeholders and develop an in-depth knowledge of the businesses and their change plans and the culture being driven in order to advise on people implications of the business plans. Work with Hub Lead Advisors, to support workstreams in managing Union /legal relationships with the Country Directions. Manage the relationship with the People Solutions and ER teams within the hub to support the implementation, and with relevant resources with People Experience and Insight to ensure consistent use of frameworks and processes. Subject Expertise Apply advanced HR functional knowledge to solve a range of complex business issues across the regions; including the use of relevant people data. Support understanding of complex problems and enable informed business-planning and decision-making through the change programme by providing relevant local knowledge and insight. Manage ER cases related to the change programmes and use standard methodologies and frameworks to drive consistency across the team. Work with ER /caseworkers where necessary. Build management capability through delivery of advisory services that build management confidence to address people-related challenges and encourages early resolution in the case of workplace conflict. Service improvement Takes an employee centric and service focused approach to the delivery of Advisory Services. Actively champion and review organisational compliance with policies and practices within the change programme, understanding reasons for non-compliance and making recommendations to address this. Strategy and PlanningFeeds into the development of the PS plans to support the implementation of change Minimum/essentialRequirements Of The Role:Experience of leading a geographically dispersed team delivering People function solutions across multiple geographies and time zones Demonstrable experience of working at a senior level with a People function team, and understanding of and ability to use, core HR policies and processes within a legal context Experience of working within external legal providers and internal CoEs, in particular, Employee Relations DesirableHR qualification (MA/MSC or CIPD or equivalent)A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.Equality, Diversity and Inclusion StatementWe 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 StatementThe 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