Human Resources Business Partner at British Council Nigeria

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.

We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Human Resources Business Partner

Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Role Type: Business Delivery
Pay Band: 6/G;
Duration: Fixed Term (till December, 2020)
Reports to: Human Resources Operations Manager

Role Purpose

To support the Human Resources function in providing bespoke HR services to the Nigeria FCR Programmes in the Justice, Security and Conflict Sector across the broad spectrum of HR activity, in the delivery of efficient and effective business operations across all the FCR locations.

Geopolitical/SBU/Function Overview
The British Council in Nigeria is implementing the European Union Conflict Management in Nigeria programme under their Trust Fund (EUTF) and the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption programme in Nigeria under their Development Fund programme (EUDF). We will be implementing the Agents for Citizen-driven Transformation (ACT) Programme under the European Union development fund. In partnership with COFFEY, we are delivering the Policing work under their Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) and are managing the Programme Coordination Office for DFID’s Deepening Democracy in Nigeria Phase 2 (DDiN2) Programme. To support our existing contracts as well as future contracts, we are developing flexible structures that meet the global British Council standards to provide support to our FCR (Justice, Security and Conflict) work in Nigeria.

The Conflict Management programme in North Eastern Nigeria is a €21m EUTF-funded Programme (2017-2021) and works with the overall aim of enhancing state and community level conflict management capability to prevent the escalation of conflict into violence in a number of locations in North-Eastern Nigeria. The Programme has an annual turnover of around £5-£6m and work in 3 states – Adamawa, Borno and Yobe as well as in Abuja. The programme is being delivered alongside a partner (International Alert) with the British Council leading the contract.

The Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) programme in Nigeria is a €25m EUDF-funded Programme (2017-2021) and has the overall aim of enhancing good governance in Nigeria by contributing to strengthening of the rule of law, curbing corruption and reducing impunity. The programme has an annual turnover of around £5-£6m and work in 4 states – Adamawa, Anambra, Kano, Lagos, as well as in Abuja. The RoLAC programme will be extending to Edo State.

The Agents for Citizen-Driven Transformation Programme is a €15m EDF-funded Programme which aims to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in Nigeria through enhancing the credibility of CSOs and enhancing their role as independent development actors and drivers of change. The ACT programme has completed its inception phase and has begun implementation phase. The programme will be implemented at the Federal and in selected states where EU programmes concentrate.

The Nigerian context is generally challenging, having poor infrastructure and currently facing a volatile security situation. Three states remain under an extended State of Emergency – Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. In addition, there is still a significant reliance on the cash economy, corruption is high and the regulatory and compliance structures that exist are highly ineffective. The overall economic situation is not good with the low oil prices leading to high unemployment, increasing inflation and a shortage of foreign currency causing the value of the Naira to weaken considerably. This makes Nigeria a very challenging environment in which to deliver programmes of this size and value. The Programme Support Office is located in Abuja, but in an office that is separate from the main British Council office.

The post holder must therefore have the ability to work in an ambiguous and difficult environment in which British Council processes need to be adapted or developed to cope with unusual requirements and difficult context. The post holder will work closely with the programme delivery and management teams as well as having significant interactions with the technical teams and Nigerian partners.

Main Accountabilities
Accountabilities, responsibilities and main duties:

HR Administration:

Leave records management and reconciliation to ensure client invoicing are based on accurate billings.
Timesheets administrations and management that supports financial processes for client invoicing. Useful for analysis and decision making.
Record management – Keeping an up to date HR record system for electronic as well as hard copy records for staff and consultants.
Receive and provide responses to both inbound and outbound enquiries relating to the HR function.
Providing guidance, consultation and assistance to complaints and reported grievances in the programme.

Contracting and Consultancy Management:

Support the management of the induction, welfare and wellbeing of visiting consultants, establishing effective mechanisms to ensure that they can be located and contacted in an emergency and that they know how to access emergency support outside working hours, should this be required.
Manage the consultancy process and oversee the administration of consultant’s contract from identifying the consultant, to performance monitoring and completion.
Work closely with consultants to ensure they understand the terms and conditions of their consultancy and content of their contract documents.
Monitor and track call down consultancy days for all consultancy contracts to ensure the contract limits in terms of time and money are met and Value for Money (VFM) is achieved.
Actively solicit feedback on the support they receive.
Manage the contracting service of the HMOs: oversee relationship and ensure adherence to agreed service standards
Manage the records required for remittances to Life insurance/ NSITF and other statutory contributions: oversee relationship and ensure adherence to agreed service standards
Keep updated records of all consultancy contracts, CVs and TORs in central database
Manage contracts movement record log and reconcile with database monthly

Workforce Planning, Recruitment and Induction:

Liaise with the Regional Resourcing Team on recruitment processes.
Oversee the induction for all new staff and actively quality checking elements of the induction programme to ensure consistency in the process across all offices. Collecting feedback on induction programmes and acting on feedback provided to improve the process.
Support in the development of recruitment metrics and workforce planning data
Provide Line Manager’s with recruitment support, advising on recruitment policies and processes.
Work with the recruitment hub to ensure that correct recruitment procedures are adhered to during the recruitment process.
Conducting pre-employment checks, etc.) to ensure that all pre-hire requirements are completed before a new staff member’s start date.

Team Management and Engagement:

Contribute to the development, implementation and evaluation of existing and new strategies, plans and priorities.
Support the EU Programme team in becoming a high performing team by actively contributing to team planning, shared activities, learning and supporting all team members to achieve set goals.
Work closely with SMT to manage staffing issues as part of strategic plan.

Continuous Learning and Development:

Champion continous learning and professional development in all areas across the Programme.
Ensure career planning, development planning and continuous programme development are embedded in the EU Programmes.
Ensure the capability planning for longer term business priorities are understood and integrated in yearly Learning and Development interventions and plans.
Create a culture or organisation and individual learning where individuals take ownership for their development clearly supported by an L&D offer.
Manage 3rd party providers of Learning Programs to ensure value in terms of both quality and costs.
Support staff compliance in completion of mandatory online courses during induction as well as refresher courses.
Actively engage in own continuous professional development.

Engagement with country cluster, SSA and Global HR Community:

Build and maintain effective working relationships with HR persons in country, across the region and globally.
Collaborate proactively with colleagues in the wider HR community: To support delivery of the programme objective; understand and comply with corporate policy and standards; actively contribute to the development of new policy and practice; share achievements, learning opportunities and challenges to contribute to organisation learning and programme.

Performance Management:

Ensure the Performance Management system operates to corporate standards and guidelines and good professional practice.
Support planning and goal setting for every performance year. Manage the year end reviews as well as manage compliance to agreed timelines.
Provide support and advice to staff, via briefings and other methods and liaise with line managers to co-ordinate associated activities such as moderation.

Communication:

Communicate policies and processes to staff and consultant and act as the point of contact and information for staff, component managers and consultants.
Circulate notes on weekly staff update to all Programme Team members.
Communicate any changes in policies and processes, and keep staff and consultants informed at all times.

Financial Management:

Liaise with Finance Team for staff monthly payroll calculations and actual payouts.
Prepare operational budgets, ensuring VFM is pursued in the procurement of services on behalf of the team.

Key Relationships
Internal:

BC Employees, Staff Association, SSA regional HR team, Local Labour Lawyers, Health Maintenance Organization, Insurance Brokers.
All Visiting National and International Consultants
Other Project Teams

External:

External relationship management where appropriate (i.e. linked to function of role), to include: Consultants, external partner organisations, Civil Society Organizations, MDAs, etc.

Role Requirements

Passport requirements/Right to work in country: All applicants should have a pre-existing legal status to live and work in Nigeria. British Council will not facilitate / sponsor visa applications and work permits.
Direct contact or managing staff working with children? Appropriate child protection assurance checks in accordance with British Council policy
Notes: Some unsocial hours, weekend work and travel may be required where the need arises.

Person Specification
Qualifications:

Graduate level education. CIPM/CIPD/SHRM Qualification or working towards it
Knowledge of Nigerian Labour law.

Role Specific Knowledge & Experience:

At least 2 years’ experience in HRM
Experience of working as part of a successful team/function.
HR experience within FCR projects.
Experience of working in a complex, multi-cultural context.

British Council Core Skills

Managing Projects (Level 2) Analyses project data: Examines project data and performance, reporting on progress and recommending corrective action as needed.
Communicating and Influencing (Level 2) Relates communications to circumstances: Displays good listening, writing and speaking skills, setting out logical arguments clearly and adapting language and form of communication to meet the needs of different people/audiences.
Planning and organising (level 2) Plans ahead: Organises own work over weeks and months, or plans ahead for others, taking account of priorities and the impact on other people.
Analysing data and problems (level 2) Uses data: Reviews available data and identifies cause and effect, and then chooses the best solution from a range of known alternatives

British Council Behaviours

Connecting with others (More demanding): Actively appreciating the needs and concerns of myself and others.
Working together (More demanding): Ensuring that others benefit as well as me.
Making it happen (More demanding): Challenging myself and others to deliver and measure better results.
Being accountable (More demanding): Putting the needs of the team or British Council ahead of my own.

Remuneration