Team Leader Operations - English & Exams

Overview

Team Leader – Operations in the English & Exams Shared Services team at the British Council, based in Noida, India. The role provides day-to-day leadership, coaching and operational supervision for the Finance Operations team, ensuring accurate, timely and compliant processing of finance activities.

What you'll do

• Lead and coach Finance Operations team members to deliver accurate, timely and compliant processing of assigned finance activities.
• Identify risks, bottlenecks and potential SLA breaches early, take corrective action within agreed procedures, and escalate higher-risk matters to the Delivery Manager.
• Supervise daily finance operations including refunds, accruals, reconciliations, invoice/payment support, payroll inputs, customer/vendor query handling and reporting activities, including work allocation, queue management, ageing review and prioritisation.
• Act as the first level escalation point for process queries, exceptions, pending approvals, reconciliation differences, payment/refund issues and stakeholder follow-ups.
• Maintain SOPs, process maps, trackers, workflow notes and knowledge articles, and ensure team members are trained on process updates.
• Support month-end, quarter-end and year-end activities by confirming task completion, evidence availability, open-item status and timely escalation of blockers.
• Support compliance with finance policies, delegation of authority, approval matrix, audit requirements, documentation standards and control checks.
• Monitor team performance, productivity, schedule adherence, attendance, training needs and quality outcomes, and provide feedback through team meetings and one-on-one discussions.
• Prepare shift plans, workload plans, handover notes and contingency support for peak finance cycles.
• Perform quality checks, sample reviews, error analysis and root-cause reviews, and track corrective and preventive actions to closure.
• Prepare and maintain team-level daily, weekly and monthly finance dashboards covering volume, productivity, SLA, ageing, accuracy, error trends, open risks and escalations.
• Ensure the team complies with information security policies, ISO 27001, IGA and access management requirements, including disabling accounts for leavers and absconders or employees on long leave, and reviewing access levels for finance systems and shared folders.

What you'll need

• Graduate.
• 5 years or more of experience in finance operations (O2C, P2P & R2R), shared services, BPO/back-office operations, accounting support or transaction processing environment.
• At least 2 years of team leading experience, preferably managing a finance operations team of more than 10 people.
• Working knowledge of refunds, accruals, reconciliations, invoice/payment support, payroll inputs, month-end support, reporting or similar finance processes.
• Good understanding of SLA management, quality checks, audit evidence, process controls and escalation governance.
• Understanding of finance operations, shared services, BPO/back-office service delivery and transaction processing controls.
• Strong MS Office skills, especially Excel; ability to maintain trackers, reports, reconciliations and dashboards accurately.
• Knowledge of SLA management, queue management, ageing analysis, quality checks, audit evidence and process documentation.
• Good people and interpersonal skills to build effective relationships with team members, managers and finance stakeholders.
• Clear verbal and written communication skills with ability to explain finance process updates, risks, exceptions and escalations professionally.
• Proactive approach with focus on problem analysis, root-cause identification, prioritisation, accuracy and timely resolution.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle financial, personal and commercially sensitive information appropriately.

Nice to have

• Experience in finance shared services, global operations, transition/hypercare support or multi-country finance processes.
• Working knowledge of ERP/finance systems, workflow tools, Power BI, Power Query or advanced Excel reporting.
• Lean/Six Sigma, accounting, finance or process improvement certification.

Details

• Location: Noida, India, on-site.
• 24/7 role with rotating shifts, including night shifts; two days off per week, which may not fall on weekends.
• Five days a week onsite; no hybrid arrangement.
• May be required to work extended hours during month-end, quarter-end, year-end, audit support, transition, training or hiring activities.
• Successful candidates must complete mandatory process training and achieve the required pass mark in a competency assessment before undertaking independent production responsibilities.
• Fixed term contract, 1 year.
• Candidates must have a natural right to work in India on a permanent basis; visa sponsorship and relocation support are not provided.
• OCI card holders must have, or be able to obtain, a valid special work permit from the Government of India.