People and Culture Associate

The People and Culture Associate will serve as a trusted advisor to clients, providing expert guidance on people strategy, culture, and key components of human resources management. This role combines deep HR knowledge with consulting acumen to design, implement, and optimize frameworks across talent acquisition, performance management, employee relations, compensation & benefits, payroll management, and leadership development. A key component of the role is the accurate, timely, confidential, and compliant administration of payroll and employee benefits for Oakheed and assigned clients, including payroll input validation, reconciliations, statutory deductions, reporting, and resolution of employee payroll queries. The role will also support complex, site-based payroll environments covering national and expatriate employees, roster-based work patterns, site allowances, approved salary adjustments, statutory obligations, payroll controls, and monthly workforce-cost reporting. The consultant will assess client needs, benchmark best practices, and deliver tailored solutions that align people, culture, reward, and business goals. Success in this role requires strategic thinking, strong numerical and analytical skills, attention to detail, and the ability to translate insights into actionable outcomes that drive measurable impact for Oakheed ’s clients.
Key Responsibilities

- Contribute to the execution of client projects covering people strategy development, culture diagnostic, talent Acquisition, talent Management, organizational development, employee engagement, compensation & benefits, HR technology and other key areas of HR management.

- Conduct research and benchmarking as well as prepare exceptional analysis, reports and deliverables

- Develop frameworks, tools, and policies tailored to client needs.

- Maintain knowledge of HR requirements and government reporting regulations affecting human resources functions and ensure our client’s policies, procedures, and reporting comply.

- Contribute top notch knowledge and expertise to address a broad range of client issues.

- Contribute to the development and execution of Oakheed ’s growth strategy, business development and operational execution. Specifically, developing new business relationships through networking, referrals and various forms of branding activities

- Execute full life cycle of client engagement covering pitch development, project scoping, pricing and client management.

- Manage end-to-end monthly payroll administration for assigned clients, ensuring payroll is processed accurately, confidentially, and within agreed timelines.

- Maintain the payroll calendar and coordinate the timely collection, validation, and approval of payroll inputs, including new hires, exits, salary changes, allowances, bonuses, commissions, overtime, leave, timesheets, loans, and deductions.

- Prepare payroll schedules, verify gross-to-net calculations, conduct pre-payroll and post-payroll checks, investigate variances, and complete payroll reconciliations before and after payment.

- Coordinate payroll approvals, salary disbursement instructions, payslip generation, and secure distribution of payroll information in line with established authorization controls.

- Ensure the correct calculation, deduction, reporting, and remittance of applicable payroll taxes, pension contributions, social insurance, and other statutory or voluntary deductions, while maintaining complete supporting records and audit trails.

- Maintain accurate and confidential employee compensation and payroll records, promptly update employee master data, and ensure consistency between payroll, HR records, contracts, attendance, and approved compensation changes.

- Respond to employee and client payroll enquiries professionally, investigate discrepancies, implement corrections, and track issues to resolution within agreed service levels.

- Administer employee benefits, including enrolment, changes, renewals