WHO YOU ARE
We are seeking a highly experienced and strategic Director of People to lead our People function and champion our commitment to building an exceptional employee experience. Reporting directly to the CEO, this role is critical in maintaining a culture of excellence, developing our talent, and ensuring our people strategy aligns with our ambitious mission goals. The Director of People will be instrumental in shaping the future of our workforce, focusing on areas such as talent acquisition, employee development, performance management, compensation & benefits, and fostering an inclusive and engaging work environment.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Reporting to the CEO, with the possibility of shifting managers eventually to another C-Suite member, the Director of People Operations is a key leadership role responsible for
1. Responsibility: Strategic People Leadership
Year one goal: Develop and roll out a comprehensive "Spark People Experience Guidebook" that articulates the organization's values, norms, traditions, and HR practices. Launch a scalable onboarding and employee experience program.
Duties:
- Design and codify the Spark team member experience, including organizational rituals, traditions, and internal communications.
- Define and operationalize unique organizational culture across all locations.
- Support the CEO and executive team in building a mission-driven, high-trust and high-performance culture.
- Advise executive leadership on people and management.
2. Responsibility: Team development
Year one goal: Oversee and optimize the full talent acquisition lifecycle, from sourcing to interviewing to onboarding and coaching, ensuring Spark attracts and retains top-tier talent, and resolves performance issues in a timely and respectful manner.
Duties:
- Develop a values-aligned talent acquisition, onboarding, and retention experience that promotes the team culture, including excellence with community-orientation.
- Manage and continuously evaluate competitive compensation and benefits programs, ensuring they are equitable, attractive, and compliant.
- Design and implement practical performance management systems, including goal setting, feedback mechanisms, and performance reviews.
- Guide managers through disciplinary processes ensuring performance improvement plans and other disciplinary measures are effectively implemented and documented.
- Analyze turnover data and implement retention strategies rooted in engagement and growth.
3. Responsibility: Safeguarding
Year one goal: Upgrade cross organizational and programs safeguarding policy and ease of use so that we have practical to use and compliant systems for those we serve, and the staff and partners. Establish a fully compliant and practical use safeguarding framework across programs and geographies, with mandatory training completed by all staff, demonstrable incident response capability, and ease of use for community members, staff and partners.
Duties:
- Develop and maintain comprehensive safeguarding policies and procedures that protect employees, program participants, and stakeholders from harm, ensuring ease of use and compliance.
- Establish clear reporting mechanisms and investigation procedures for safeguarding concerns, ensuring timely and appropriate responses while maintaining confidentiality and supporting all parties involved.
- Collaborate with leadership teams to create and sustain a culture of safeguarding awareness, providing regular training and guidance to managers and employees on recognizing and responding to potential risks.
- Work with Programs leadership to champion safe programming design and implementation, embedding safeguarding principles across all aspects of Sparks work.
- Oversee the management of safeguarding incidents and concerns, working closely with external agencies, legal counsel, and regulatory bodies as required while gleaning and sharing learning from each case.
4. Year one goal: Conduct a full audit of HR policies, local labor law compliance, and employment contracts across all countries of operation. Deliver recommendations and begin implementation.
Duties:
- Ensure legal compliance with local labor laws in all jurisdictions where Spark operates.
- Verify that employees and independent contractors are properly categorized.
- Review and update employment contracts, employee handbooks, and organizational policies.
- Lead risk mitigation in HR matters (e.g., terminations, disputes, audits).
- Oversee the administrative HR function, identifying opportunities to streamline and automate.
REQUIREMENTS:
Qualifications, experience & skills:
- 10+ years experience in people operations, talent, or related work, with 5+ years of relevant work supporting teams across Africa, USA, and Europe, in a leadership role, preferably in a fast-paced, high-growth environment..
- Designs with people in mind, vs copy and paste.
- Cross-cultural fluency: Experience managing people and compliance across multiple geographies.
- Builder mindset: Comfortable designing systems and frameworks from the ground up.
- Familiarity with international HR compliance, particularly in the U.S., U.K., and Sub-Saharan Africa.
SAFEGUARDING
Spark Microgrants is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for those we serve and work alongside.
OTHER INFORMATION
Job Location: Flexible. Preference is for this position to be based in Kigali, Lilongwe, or NYC.
How to Apply: https://sparkmicrogrants.bamboohr.com/careers/144
