Regional Pay and Benefits Manager, EO - British Embassy Manila

The British Embassy Manila is a large diplomatic mission delivering a dynamic and rapidly expanding programme of activity in support of the UK’s objectives on prosperity, security and consular matters. The Embassy is a modern, diverse and inclusive employer where everyone contributes to the embassy’s values of Well-being, Opportunity, Respect and Collaboration.

Main purpose of job:

This role sits within the FCDO’s global HR Hub network, which delivers professional HR services to staff across the UK Government’s overseas network. Based in Manila, the Asia Pacific HR Hub supports British Embassies, High Commissions and Offices across the region, working as part of a connected global service covering recruitment, HR advisory, pay and benefits, and workforce support.

Within this network, the Regional Pay and Benefits Manager is responsible for the end-to-end delivery of payroll and wider pay & benefits services for Country Based Staff (CBS) across the Asia Pacific region. The role focuses on maintaining strong payroll controls, improving service delivery, and ensuring processes are compliant and aligned with FCDO policy and local labour requirements. The role reports to the Regional Deputy Head of HR Hub Pay & Benefits.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?

Payroll Management, Controls and Service Delivery (60%)

• Manage Payroll Officers, including workload planning, coaching and performance support.
• Responsible for the successful delivery of agreed SLAs/KPIs in payroll for hubbed-in Posts in Asia Pacific.
• Act as subject matter expert for payroll processes, ensuring operational issues are resolved and updates are implemented.
• Coordinate payroll timelines and cut-off dates with Posts and the Global Transaction Processing Centre.
• Review and approve CBS payroll processed by the team, including reconciliations, variance checks and validation of payroll data, accuracy, audit and compliance requirements
• Resolve payroll queries and issues in collaboration with Posts, Finance and other stakeholders, including incident management and tracking of actions.
• Review new engagements, social security & benefits, allowances, overtime, final payments and ensure compliance with CBS Handbook, FCDO policy, local labour law and statutory requirements.
• Lead the team in safeguarding payroll information. Ensure that the team adheres with data privacy policies and handling of sensitive information.
• Support Post transition and lead standardisation and continuous improvement of payroll processes across Posts.
• Maintain payroll procedures, standard operating documentation and the payroll Business Continuity Plan.
• Engage, motivate and develop payroll team to effectively deliver payroll including driving strong customer service

Pay & Benefits Advisory (20%)

• Provide guidance to Posts on pay positioning, salary administration and pay-related queries.
• Create and maintain pay scales for Posts, drawing on pay award and benchmarking outcomes where relevant.
• Prepare performance-related pay models and run simulations to inform pay decisions at Post.
• Advise on allowances, including responsibility allowance, acting arrangements, overtime and other benefits.
• Interpret and apply CBS policies in routine and complex queries, providing feedback to support continuous improvement of pay practices and policies.
• Support data collection, validation, analysis and documentation for pay award and benchmarking exercises across the region.
• Coordinate implementation of approved pay award outcomes across Posts.

Stakeholder Engagement (10%)

• Act as a primary point of contact for Corporate Services Teams, and maintain effective working relationships with Posts, Finance, HR colleagues and other stakeholders.
• Provide clear guidance and updates to Posts on payroll processes, timelines and requirements.
• Deliver presentations on pay and benefits topics to the network and wider stakeholders as required.
• Engage with Pay and Benefits colleagues in other regions to share good practice and support consistency where appropriate.
• Contribute to consistent and customer-focused service delivery across the region.

Management Information and Reporting (10%)

• Produce regular and ad hoc payroll reports and data outputs for internal stakeholders.
• Ensure payroll-related data is accurate, complete and well-structured for reporting purposes.
• Support preparation of management information for pay award and workforce cost analysis.

Undertake any other duties as reasonably assigned, consistent with the grade and purpose of the role.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure)

• Line management of 3x AO Regional Payroll Officers

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Human Resources or related field
• At least 5 years payroll experience and/or managing/supervising a team
• Experience managing payroll across multiple countries, ideally within Asia Pacific
• Strong analytical and numerical skills, with confident use of MS Office applications and advanced Excel skills
• Excellent written and verbal communications, with strong organisational skills
• Confident working with people at all levels in a fast-paced environment
• Discretion and professionalism in handling confidential employee information
• Able to work with minimal supervision, with strong accountability attention to details and prioritisation skills.

Language requirements:

• Language: English & Filipino
• Level of language required: Proficient

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• Experience in payroll-related project work, such as due diligence or system/process cut-over
• Experience working in a shared services or regional hub model

Reminder:

• Please note that your application must be submitted before 23:55 (Manila time) on 1 July 2026.
• Please submit your application via this link: https://tinyurl.com/5bkywjxf
• All jobs advertised third party websites will always link back to the tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.