Payroll Consultant

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.

British Council Payband 6

Department: Payroll and Operations

Contract Type: 12 months Fixed Term Contract

Contract Hours: 36 hours per week, Monday to Friday

Salary: £25,520 - 28,470. In addition, there will be an annual London Market Allowance of £3,300 for London based candidates.

Location: London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast only

Closing Date: 19th April 2026

You must have the legal right to work in UK at the time of application.
There is no relocation or sponsorship support.

Role Purpose

• The Payroll Consultant is responsible for delivering and monitoring efficient, accurate, and compliant payroll operations across the region. This includes managing day-to-day payroll processes, ensuring statutory compliance, and maintaining high-quality employee payroll services.

Main accountabilities

Payroll Operations

• Deliver accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processing across all countries in scope.
• Complete payroll processes independently to ensure timely and accurate processing of payroll transactions, including salaries, allowances and other deductions.
• Ensure all pay awards, salary increments, and other salary changes are implemented accurately.
• Check pre-payroll calculations and payroll calculations, including manual adjustments and system-generated outputs.
• Provide detailed specialist payroll instructions, for our UK employees on international assignments, to internal and external payroll teams including assignment allowance, hypothetical tax and NIC and pension payment calculations.
• Review payroll changes, output files, reports, and accruals to ensure accuracy.
• Ensure maintenance of live checklists and SOP documents for all workstreams to reflect current steps, responsibilities and timelines.
• Check and validate the results of ‘provisional’ payroll runs with reference to exceptions and variation reports and taking appropriate remedial actions to ensure accuracy.
• Check and reconcile all necessary payroll reports and seek appropriate approvals for payroll processing and BACS authorisations.
• Confidently handle all aspects of statutory leave, payments and deductions and carry out manual calculations of statutory payments and Tax/NI calculations if required (SSP, SMP, SAP, ShPP, Parental Leave, Tax, NI and overpayments etc.).

Stakeholder & Vendor Collaboration

• Partner with MSP, Finance and other People Function teams to ensure smooth payroll execution and reporting.
• Collaborate with in-country teams, approvers, and external vendors to resolve payroll issues.
• Maintain proactive communication with the payroll service providers via scheduled monthly/quarterly/annual meetings.
• Partner with our external vendor for payroll/tax advice for our UK employees on international assignments
• Support cross-functional initiatives for payroll-related data accuracy and process alignment.

Case & Employee Query Management

• Respond to payroll-related and hr operations related queries from employees via case management systems (C4C).
• Handle and resolve complex employee payroll issues.  Strive to understand stakeholder queries and resolve tickets in a customer centric manner.
• Investigate discrepancies, exceptions, and one-off payments, ensuring timely resolution.
• Provide clear feedback to team members and pre-payroll teams on issues and improvements.

Compliance & Audit

• Ensure compliance with local legislation, global policies, and internal controls.
• Review, and ensure timely submission of statutory reports, accruals, and tax filings.
• Maintain audit-ready documentation, payroll records, and reference files.
• Liaise with third parties, government and statutory bodies as required.

Continuous Improvement & Automation

• Identify inefficiencies, recurring issues, and process gaps, proposing corrective actions.
• Lead process automation, digitalisation, and system improvements.
• Share lessons learned from audits and reconciliations to enhance payroll service quality.
• Support review and implementation of SOPs, variance sheets, and knowledge documentation.
• Participate in error calibration and feedback sessions with the MSP to prevent recurring issues.

Communication & Reporting

• Communicate payroll deadlines, changes, and issues proactively to stakeholders.
• Proactively communicate with all approvers and key personnel to ensure effective coordination and approvals of payroll payments.
• Ensure proper logging and tracking of payroll activities in internal systems.

Collaboration & Teamwork

• Support colleagues with workload, sharing knowledge and best practices.
• Promote consistency and adherence to payroll cut-off timelines.
• Participate in projects, initiatives, or activities beyond core payroll duties when required.

Role specific knowledge and experience: 

Minimum / Essential Requirements

• Extensive UK payroll knowledge - Minimum 3 years’ experience in a high-volume payroll environment
• Experience of delivering payroll operations, processes and practices.
• Strong understanding of HMRC processes and regulations affecting payroll including Real Time Information processing, PAYE, National Insurance and rules
• regarding direct payment and benefits
• Strong knowledge of current UK payroll related legislation and employment laws.
• Experience of supporting the payroll activities of international assignee roles overseas.
• Experience of maintaining/administrating employee benefits and wider payroll administration processes
• Highly Proficient in Excel, with excellent numeracy and literacy skills.
• High level of customer service and ability to deal with people at all levels
• Exceptional organisational skills, able to plan and prioritise work effectively, deal with multiple demands, manage competing deadlines and remain calm under pressure.
• Excellent attention to detail and high levels of accuracy.

Desirable Requirements

• Certified Payroll Qualification (e.g. CIPP or similar)
• Knowledge of automation in payroll
• Experience working with an outsourced payroll vendor.
• Expertise/Experience of payroll operations across several countries in the region, including designing tools, processes and procedures.
• Experience of working with SAP Success Factors
• Experience in HR operations in a shared service environment.
• Ability to demonstrate critical thinking skills and initiative.
• Preferably experience in a shared service/outsourcing environment.

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