Regional HRBP Advisor – East & Southern Africa

Location: East Africa Region (Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zimbabwe)

ABOUT MERCY CORPS:

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

PROGRAM/ DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

The People and Strategy team ensures that Mercy Corps has the people, strategies and learning that will enable it to be a world-class, cutting edge, humanitarian organization, creating transformational change in the world. We do this through the recruitment, retention and development of the best global talent. Our aim is to drive strategic thinking and planning at all levels of the organization; create a robust body of research to guide us internally and externally and steward the organizational culture. To achieve this, we align conversation on learning; keep the organization focused on what has the greatest impact; leverage our comparative advantages in the crowded and competitive international relief and development landscape; and assure we are constantly learning from our work and the external environment.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The Regional HRBP Advisor is responsible for completing a range of HR duties that provide support to members of the Mercy Corps Regional People Team, balancing the day-to-day needs of team members and consultative support to managers, in a timely and accurate manner with a spirit of teamwork and service. The Regional HRBP Advisor acts as a trusted advisor and consultant to employees and management on human resources-related issues. This person facilitates effective, proactive problem-solving with Mercy Corps' Regional leadership and cross-departmental colleagues through developing partnerships and discovering innovative solutions. This position collaborates with partners from the East Africa Region and the “COEs” (Talent Management & Acquisition, Compensation & Benefits) to ensure the “people needs” of Mercy Corps team members align with and are accounted for within the organization’s strategic initiatives.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

Strategy and Vision

• Understands how to leverage cross-departmental relationships and influence to identify creative and effective HR strategies.
• Keep up to date on trends in international human resource management, particularly in the international humanitarian aid sector.
• In collaboration with others on the Regional Human Resources team, identifies areas of opportunity to strengthen the HR operations and proactively offers recommendations to management.

Personal Leadership

• Consistently strives to exceed expectations; demonstrates flexibility, resilience and the ability to maintain positive relationships and composure, even under difficult circumstances.
• Maintains high ethical standards and treats people with respect and dignity.
• Maintains productive relationships with all stakeholders, including country teams, other headquarters functions, donors and regulators. Builds mutually rewarding professional relationships inside Mercy Corps at all levels.
• Promotes Mercy Corps culture by promoting the development and advancement of ideas that allows for new and unique approaches to problem-solving within existing policy and procedural requirements.
• Demonstrates an awareness of his/her personal strengths and development needs, modeling non-defensive behavior and openness to feedback; builds a culture of feedback and learning.
• Demonstrates high level of commitment to confidentiality and non-disclosure.

Regional Human Resources

• Collaborates effectively with members of the Regional People Team, and other stakeholders, in order to provide comprehensive, timely and equitable HR support to the Mercy Corps Regional team.
• Acts as the primary point of contact for internal HR life-cycle related processes, including offer letters, onboarding, transfers, promotions, performance reviews and end of services.
• Analyzes HR data, metrics and trends to provide insights to regional and country leadership, contributing to positive, program-focused outcomes.
• Supports in preparation of the Quarterly ESA HR Reports
• Supports administration of expatriate benefits
• Acts as the first point of contact for all people related issues for Mercy Corps teams and collaborates and/or escalates issues as needed to ensure resolution.
• Provides Mercy Corps’ country and regional leaders with consultative HR support relating to the people and issues that impact their programs, in a manner consistent with Global HR best practice.
• Participates within the larger Regional HR team to share ideas, develop standard practices and implement best practices across Mercy Corps programs.
• Designs and streamlines processes in collaboration with others in the People team in order to develop an improved HR experience across the global Mercy Corps team.
• Track performance review dates and generate reminders; coordinate timely and accurate completion of personnel transactions for all changes and end of service activity.
• Identifies HR initiatives and solves people management issues in a manner that complements Mercy Corps culture and programming priorities.
• Reviews and maintains all internal documents, notices and templates; makes necessary adjustments after seeking feedback from key stakeholders.
• Processes all independent consultant requests, ensuring the necessary approvals and supporting documents have been received and appropriately documented.
• Responsible for providing technical support to national offices upon request and, if needed, during emergency operations; including development or review of National Team Handbook submissions, national Salary Scales, national Benefit Summaries, etc.
• Assists with all internal and external audit requests relating to HR files and benefits for the assigned region of responsibility.
• Triages and implements improvements in field-based HR systems and processes in a manner consistent with established Mercy Corps Global HR practice.
• Conducts exit interviews of departing team members as needed.
• Serves as point of contact for HR technical support to field HR practitioners.
• Represents the Regional Human Resources team in People Team special projects and initiatives at the Region.
• As the focal point for the Regional HR team supporting expatriates, works to ensure that HR work streams supporting expatriates are consistent and that the HR experience across the global Mercy Corps team is comparable.

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.

ACCOUNTABILITY:

Reports Directly To: Senior Regional HRBP

Works Directly With: The Regional People Team, Region Leadership Team and Country Teams

Supervisory Responsibility: None.

KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, or personnel management.
• Degree or equivalent experience in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field, preferred.
• Multilingual is a ‘plus’ (English required with French, Swahili and/or Arabic as a second language).
• Able to maintain operational consistency with other team members and actively keep management informed.
• Demonstrated history of providing excellent customer service and a high level of attention to detail.
• Ability to follow procedures, complete tasks with high quality outputs, meets deadlines and works well under pressure and cooperatively with team members.
• A historically demonstrated ability to maintain confidential information.
• Must have strong analytical, mathematical and problem-solving skills, effective organizational and interpersonal skills; strong written and verbal communication.
• Understanding of HR processes and data, common analytical techniques and methodologies to share information and trends with non-HR professionals.
• Understanding of major US employment laws including COBRA, FMLA, and FLSA is a plus.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

The successful team member will be an avid learner, self-directed, innovative and action orientated. Furthermore, they must have the ability to work independently, employ effective time management skills, handle frequent interruptions and shift priorities, exhibit effective customer service skills and work effectively with a wide variety of individuals including team members based overseas. S/he will have the ability to work onsite and collaborate with team members, deliver compelling designs within the guidelines of specific project objectives and interact professionally and productively with HQ and other global staff. Additionally, the individual will thrive in a fast-paced environment prone to rapid change and be willing to increase his/her responsibility level in the assigned areas. The most successful Mercy Corps team members have a positive approach, a strong commitment to teamwork and personal accountability and the ability to be flexible and ensure that effective communication is a priority in all situations.

LIVING CONDITIONS/ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:

This position is a national position based in one of the East & Southern African countries where Mercy Corps is registered based on the portfolio of coverage.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/STA to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.