Director Global Business Services

Key Responsibilities

Leadership and management

• Provide strategic leadership, drive, oversight, and assurance of implementation of strategies for organisational design, cost savings, increased effectiveness, delivery of CSR and Strategy 2025

• Provide leadership, engage senior stakeholders, and encourage corporate decision making, delivering change that increases effectiveness and efficiency, customer focus and staff engagement.

• Provide visible and energised championing of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Shared

Services, working closely with the Director Shared Services ensuring that there is clear and effective governance, agree or revise existing Service Agreements, set targets and KPIs to ensure that the organisation is obtaining value for money

• Oversee GBS governance, including leading cross-functional governance forums, as appropriate

• Manage and drive to resolution critical and complex cross-functional issues and escalations for professional services functions in scope of GBS

• Deputise for the Chief Operating Officer, as required.

Strategy and Planning

• Develop and hold the GBS vision of being a centre of excellence, valuable and trusted business partner providing insight into professional services and broader business operations

• Identify and provide solutions to remove blocks to implementation of strategic decisions across the organisation

• Support development and implementation of delivery strategy for GBS Organisation

• Design and deliver a cost transformation strategy for a sustainable operating model. Ensure that there is a clear roadmap to show how corporate and operational services will be delivered to meet the needs of the Comprehensive Spending Review, corporate strategy, and loan covenant obligations.

Relationships and Stakeholder Management

• Support the COO to ensure appropriate stakeholder, client & partner relationship management arrangements are in place to enable effective delivery of agreed impact and commercial objectives

• Work with HM Government on the shared services strategy for Arm’s Length Bodies

• Represent the British Council at external events/in external fora, as required

• Serve as the key interface between the Board of Trustees, SLT, Professional Services functions, PS customers (English & Exams / Cultural Engagement / International Operations etc.) and the GBS team.

Service Improvement

• Drive the GBS organisation to improve customer experience, operational excellence and deliver on efficiencies for professional services in-line with the agreed organisational strategy

• Drive and monitor GBS performance cross-functionally, including balanced metrics, benefit realisation and reporting frameworks

• Lead the design and implementation of commercial strategies and cost transformation plans to ensure that our corporate and operational services deliver increased efficiency and effectiveness, thus driving a demonstrable increase in value for money.

Operational Delivery

• Be the single point of accountability for delivery of operations for functions in scope of GBS

• Maintain high degree of control to manage and govern operations across outsourced, retained and captive operations

• Manage the overall GBS cost of operation.

Qualification & Requirements

Minimum Essential:

• Experience in leading a large team or major function
• Continuous Improvement implementation, both methodology and culture change. Significant experience in the leadership and management of complex transformation programmes across a substantial, geographically dispersed organisation to deliver defined business benefits
• Experience of developing relationships, coaching and management of senior stakeholders at the highest levels inside an organisation
• Experience of working with and supporting senior level boards. Experience of working in enterprise-wide Boards
• Ability to influence a diverse cross-functional senior leadership team
• Ability and passion to build and empower effective teams
• Experience of achieving outcomes and exceptional results through others, in particular virtual teams and those not in direct reporting lines
• Comfortable with leading those with complementary skills/expertise in different areas of business change
• Comfortable with interpreting and presenting financial and risk reports across a portfolio of different programmes.

Desirable:

• Prior experience of leading a shared services unit
• Prior experience of vendor management for large contracts (>£20mn per annum).

Requirements:

Candidates must have the pre-existing (permanent) right to work in location. Mobility / relocation / visa sponsoring support will not be provided. If you are currently sponsored by the British Council, in a country or regional role, please check with your local/regional HR colleagues if you are able to remain in your current location for this global role.

Benefits

Contract Type – Indefinite

Pay Band- 10

Salary Range is upto £95,357 plus 3,300 London Market allowance ( if based in London).

Location – UK Wide (London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast)

Benefits:

– 3 days volunteering leave

– 32 days annual vacation days

– An attractive Civil service pension scheme