Head of Change – Finance

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.

We work directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world in partnership with the UK. We support them to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications.

Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 202122 we reached 650 million people.

British Council Pay band: Senior Grade, SMPL

Benefits Include, but are not limited to:

• 32 days annual leave, in addition to public holidays
• 3 days volunteering leave
• Career average defined benefit pension scheme
• An unrivalled opportunity for you to get to use all the experience youve built up working in and/or leading global organisations to support us in building trust across the world.

Location: Cardiff, London, Manchester, Edinburgh or Belfast. (The UK only).If outside London, there might be a requirement to travel to London office, once a month.
Department: Human Resources, Organisational Design
Contract type: FTC until 31st March, 2026

Closing Date: Sunday, 10th of December at 23:59 UK Time.

You must have the legal right to work in the UK at the time of application.

There is no relocation or sponsorship support.

British Council supports working in new ways such as hybrid working, subject to full approval by line management and conditional upon our ability to provide the appropriate level of service. This may not be appropriate for all roles but can be explored at interview.

Role Purpose:

The Head of Change is responsible for managing the global implementation of organisational design changes within the Finance Transformation Programme (FTX). The role is part of the core change team and works directly with FTX on a daily basis.

The role aims to ensure the long-term embedding of change, including new ways of working, culture, values, and behaviours. This encompasses the successful transition of transactional activities to a third-party Managed Service Provider along with changes to the retained model, including delivery of the newly designed Total Operating Model.

The role involves close collaboration with both the Finance Programme, Finance Leadership team and the global People and Organisational Design team (the core transformation team) to contribute to best practice development and build the organisation’s change delivery capabilities, fostering a coordinated approach across the British Council.

Role Context:

FTX is a comprehensive programme designed to revolutionise and modernise the financial management processes and capabilities of the British Council. With a focus on optimising financial operations, enhancing efficiency, and ensuring long-term sustainability, the programme encompasses a range of strategic objectives.

Key components of the programme include the adoption of financial technologies and systems to streamline processes and improve data accuracy. Additionally, it aims to restructure Finance teams across all regions. FTX places a strong emphasis on aligning financial practices with the British Council’s mission and values.

FTX is expected to yield significant benefits, including cost savings, improved financial reporting, and new ways of working. Furthermore, it will enable the British Council to allocate resources towards its core activities, such as promoting cultural exchange and education, and supporting international relations.

FTX represents a crucial step in ensuring the British Council’s financial resilience and capacity to continue its valuable global work.

Main Accountabilities:

People and organisational change

• Accountable for coordinating the delivery of change management activities within FTX, bridging communication between the programme and regions/business units. This ensures that regions and countries are prepared to implement the agreed changes, realising the intended business benefits.
• Ensure that change activities are meticulously planned and executed on time, meeting cost and quality targets in alignment with British Council policies and values.
• Collaborate with the core transformation OD team to evaluate Finance organisational culture, capability, and alignment, tailoring change management and communications approaches effectively.
• Implement a robust discovery and change impact assessment approach that aligns with global standards and ensures engagement of senior leaders and managers as necessary.
• Proactively engage with stakeholders, assuring consistency with and consideration of other workstream programs in planning and implementation.
• Manage the overall communication plan for key change messages across regions and countries, drawing from the People & Change communication plan and assets.

Project Management

• Collaborate closely with the core transformation team to establish a realistic timetable for program change deliverables, based on a comprehensive understanding of change requirements, resource needs, and dependencies.
• Develop an overall plan to manage changes across regions and countries, facilitating senior leaders in translating these into actionable plans. Regularly report on progress and track roll-out, working closely with regional transformation/change boards.
• Proactively monitor the people and OD aspects of project progress, managing and resolving issues and initiating corrective actions as needed.
• Escalate local organisational design issues from regions and countries to the Workstream Programme manager and Global Head of Change.
• Support the delivery of program change deliverables within time, cost, and forecasted benefits. Ensure future processes are mapped and embedded across the Finance function.

Risk & compliance

• Manage change dependencies and risks, establishing links with various elements of FTX both centrally and across regions.
• Identify and document the organisational impact of change, devising strategies to manage resistance and ensure successful adoption.
• Provide clarity to formal/informal People & Change resources to realise defined business change objectives following the overarching Transformation approach.

Relationship and stakeholder management

• Collaborate with the Programme Director to define and implement benefits, performance criteria, and expectations for the program/suite of programs in consultation with relevant stakeholders. Ensure these are effectively communicated through Delivery Teams to achieve Workstream Transformation objectives.
• Foster and support relationships with key stakeholders in SBUs, HR, Transformation, and regions to ensure effective and coordinated project goal delivery.
• Work with the Programme Director, PMO and Project Managers to ensure the prompt and accurate collation of management information, evaluation, and major project reporting for more effective planning and decision-making.

Role Specific Knowledge and Experience:

• Strong experience of working in large scale organisational change on a Finance transformation programme involving significant people change.
• Strong experience of working in a programme environment.
• Change programme management knowledge or experience and use of recognised change management tools and interventions.
• Flexibility, independence, and initiative to perform successfully in a rapidly changing environment.

Desirable

• Experience of managing change projects within charities, HM Government, or similar environments
• Subject matter expertise (SME) or good understanding of the Finance function
• Experience of managing the delivery of a large project across a major part of an organisation and/or a significant geographical area
• Proven experience in managing or influencing senior stakeholders
• Operating in international and multi-cultural organisations preferably in all regions and countries
• Experience of working in a matrix organisation

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality , Diversity, and Inclusion(EDI) Statement

The British Council is committed to policies and practices of equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. We support all staff to make sure their behaviour is consistent with this commitment. We want to address under representation and encourage applicants from under-represented groups, in particular, but not exclusively, on grounds of ethnicity and disability. All disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria are guaranteed an interview and we have Disability Confident Employer Status. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

The British Council iscommitted 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; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Councils Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

If you have any problems with your application please email [email protected]

Please note: Applications to this role can only be considered when made through the Apply section of our careers website. Our ASK HR email is only to be used in case of a technical issue encountered when applying through the careers website. Emails with supporting statements and CV/Resumes sent to this email address will not be reviewed and will be deleted.