Director People Team Europe - UK

at  Mercy Corps

Location: London or Edinburgh, UK - also possibility for remote-working from anywhere in the UK
Position Status Full-time, Permanent
Salary: hiring range: £63,840 - £79,800 placement in range informed by professional experience -
Closing date: Please submit application and cover letter by July 8th

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS & TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

• 10 years of Human Resources experience in global roles with a bachelor’s degree in HR or related field.
• CIPD (or equivalent) qualified to Level 7 is highly desirable.
• A minimum of 7 years international HR experience.
• Understanding of the HR legal requirements in UK and mainland European countries, especially Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, and France. Knowledge of Germany an advantage.
• Exposure to INGO or similar international organisation is highly preferable.
• Experience leading a diverse team across geographies for at least five years.
• Demonstrated capacity to utilize analytics and technology to improve efficiency.
• Demonstrated capacity to incorporate best in class assessment approaches in global organization.
• Demonstrated experience and ability to create, implement, maintain, and improve HR processes.
• Experience of improving team member wellbeing, through support initiatives and working practices that gets the best from all team members and increases engagement and trust.
• Experience of working as part of a global organization with specific responsibilities for a region and working within a matrix management structure and reporting to more than one manager.
• Experience of overseeing benchmarking, establishing salary/job bands, and managing movement of staff within the bands across multiple legal jurisdictions
• Demonstrated understanding of working in Europe, and significant experience with the challenges of operating and managing HR functions in the region.
• Demonstrated passion for staffing in international relief and development environments.
• Ability to communicate and problem-solve effectively across diverse cultures with sensitivity.
• Experience facilitating senior level conversations.
• Fluency in written and spoken French and another European language is desirable.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Advocates for and represents all areas of Mercy Corps’ People strategy. Actively participate as a strategic leader and member of the Mercy Corps Europe (MCE) senior leadership team and People Team SLT.
• Works with the Executive Director to guide the overall vision and approach of the People Team in MCE, delivering clear actionable plans aligned with needs and the context for MCE, and gain support/ownership for that agenda with key stakeholders.
• Build a strong, people-focused team in Europe characterized by high-level of trust, engagement, innovation and creativity who are aligned to the vision and have the skills and motivation to deliver it.
• Strategically develops and manages cross-departmental and cross-functional relationships and activities to ensure that the people function is well integrated into wider agency objectives.
• Design, develop and lead the People function for Mercy Corps in Europe, supporting the Executive Director in Europe to deliver on the European Strategic Plan.
• Oversee the expansion of MCE into new countries in Europe and ensure full HR compliance in all European legal jurisdictions in which Mercy Corps operates.
• Set and track annual KPIs as part of the three-year strategic plan for Mercy Corps in Europe, providing this data monthly and quarterly to the Executive Director in Europe and supporting with reporting to the Board as required.
• Lead the compensation benchmarking across all European markets and benchmark individual roles within the pay bands, ensuring there are clear guidelines for all staff on how to position staff within bands, support career development and ensure staff are trained to manage staff according to the Mercy Corps progression approach.
• Ensure our benefits align with vision to ensure we remain an employer of choice able to attract, develop, and retain talent.
• Support Senior Leadership Team in Europe to promote team member wellbeing and build the culture which will support us to deliver on the Mercy Corps strategy.
• Serve as a trusted and credible advisor to managers and team members on a wide range of HR-related topics, including performance management, team member development, All Voices survey and leadership development
• Leverage and supports ongoing communication campaigns to strengthen the People team brand throughout appropriate digital, social media and in-person avenues within the agency. Apply lessons learned and best practices to achieve this objective at the country and regional level.
• Partner with the Employee Relations Team to ensure strategic decision-making and compliance in all performance and conduct related issues.
• Leads and assists in the development and planning of organizational change/transformation, leading identification/framing of problems, creation of trusting relationships, and action plan fulfillment.
• Works with the People team leadership team to develop and implement organization-wide HR policies and programs and ensure that they are consistently applied across the region.
• Adopts a data and evidence-based approach to identify trends and areas for improvement and providing recommendations to senior leadership on how to address any issues or concerns.
• Actively promoting the organization’s diversity and inclusion initiatives and working with the European Senior Leadership Team (ESLT) and the People team functions to develop programs and initiatives that support a diverse and inclusive workplace.
• In addition to these specific responsibilities, the Director, People Team must possess strong leadership skills, excellent communication and interpersonal abilities, and a deep understanding of HR best practices and regulations. They must also be able to work effectively in a fast-paced and dynamic environment and be able to adapt to changing business needs and priorities.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Reports Directly To: Executive Director MCE, and the VP, People Team
Works Directly With: ESLT, Total Rewards, Talent Management, Leadership and Learning, Talent Acquisition, Employee Relations, People Operations, People Systems, Corporate Finance; Ethics, Legal and other teams as needed.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO PARTICIPANTS AND STAKEHOLDERS

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.