Director of People
Nairobi
Business Operations – People /
Full-time /
Hybrid
Are you a strategic HR leader passionate about building inclusive, high-performing cultures?
We’re looking for a Director of People to drive our people strategy, champion operational excellence, and lead initiatives that empower our teams to thrive. If you bring deep expertise in HR leadership, a track record of scaling people operations, and a belief in the power of purpose-driven work, we’d love to hear from you. Join us in shaping a workplace where people come first.
About Busara
Busara is a non-profit research and advisory organization with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, and offices in India, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Mexico. Our 130+ staff come from over 15 countries, speak more than 40 languages, and have completed projects in more than 50 countries.
Our mission is to advance and apply behavioral science in pursuit of poverty alleviation, and since our beginning in 2013 have built the world's largest behavioral science laboratory and created applied research portfolios in agriculture, health, inclusive finance, governance, and education, among others.
Along the way, Busara has become a global leader in behavioral science and serves as an exemplar of mixing science and application to solve problems of equity, access, poverty, and opportunity.
Position Summary
The Director of People is responsible for driving organizational effectiveness, enhancing employee experience, and fostering a high-performance culture within the organization. They provide oversight for the team's objectives and ensure smooth coordination of activities to enable seamless People services delivery. The role focuses on building organizational delivery capability and streamlining processes to enhance efficiency and integrate sustainable operational practices within the people function.
The Director of People will take an integral and strategic approach to managing people talent, HR administration, learning and development, and culture. Success in this role will depend on their highly collaborative nature, ability to understand how the people support Busara's overall mission and business goals, capability to translate vision into practical objectives, and proficiency in overseeing the execution of team managers.
RESPONSIBILITIES
People and Culture Leadership
- Develop and lead the people managers to execute a comprehensive people strategy that aligns with the organization's long-term goals and objectives.
- Design and implement strategies to attract, retain, and develop top talent, fostering a diverse and competitive workforce.
- Collaborate with leadership to forecast hiring needs and develop strategic staffing plans. Continuously optimize recruitment processes to enhance the employer brand and improve the candidate experience.
- Championing a workplace culture and environment that promotes high performance, inclusivity, and diversity, ensuring all employees feel valued and respected.
- Develop and oversee programs that promote employee engagement and well-being, ensuring a motivated and high-performing workforce.
- Build internal capability by enhancing the effectiveness of our talent management lifecycle. This includes developing and optimizing Busara’s approach to recruiting, onboarding, managing, developing, and growing our people and supporting and coaching direct managers to excel at this.
- Oversee performance management review plans and processes from goal setting to evaluation. Lead career growth and development process to ensure Busara staff are growing internally, learning, and contributing to Busara's approach.
- Oversee timely and accurate administration of compensation and benefits in compliance with local labor regulations, ensuring competitive and equitable remuneration and benefits across all countries of operation.
- Lead the development and implementation of all people policies and processes, ensuring they are up-to-date, aligned with company culture, and compliant with local regulations, using external advice as necessary.
- Provide employee relations advice to leadership and staff, counseling employees on work-related issues while interpreting and applying organizational policies.
Team and Organizational Leadership
- Drive the strategy of the People team by setting annual targets, managing any team-building events, and ensuring clear division harmony on the organization's priorities.
- Provide guidance and line management to functional team managers, while supporting their professional development to ensure sound people expertise and service within the organization.
- Guide people and operations managers to set goals, manage their teams, and improve efficiency while holding them accountable and making all team hiring decisions.
- Serve as a member of the Leadership team, contributing to the development and execution of the organizational strategy and cascading organizational goals and objectives to the people and operations team.
- Actively contribute to building internal knowledge for organizational learning and share learnings at internal and external events and discussions.
- Serve on internal management committees as and when necessary.
Skills, Competencies, and Experience
- Minimum of 7 years’ work experience in HR, organizational psychology, growth, talent, or a related field, with at least 3 years in senior team management.
- HR knowledge in at least one of the markets where we work and the ability to quickly understand employment law and HR needs in new countries as we expand.
- Ability to work with and inspire people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and experiences.
- People function operational excellence: Strong operational skills with an emphasis on creating efficiencies, standardization, and leveraging technology to improve processes.
- Demonstrated leadership of a small to moderately sized team (5 to 10 people), especially with multicultural and multinational backgrounds, and the ability to mentor mid-level staff and young professionals.
- History of contributing strategically to the organization at a high level, with an emphasis on people.
- Use of data and state-of-the-art research in developing people-focused initiatives.
- Degree or advanced training in Human Resources or a related field; a Master's in Human Resources, organizational management, psychology, or sociology preferred.
- Familiarity with industry-specific regulations and compliance requirements. Understanding of research processes and methodologies is preferred.
As applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the vacancy is filled, you are encouraged to submit your application as soon as possible.
Data Privacy Statement
As part of Busara’s recruitment process, personal information provided by an applicant through various means will be collected and stored. This includes but is not limited to the information which the candidate provides to Busara in their application and profile, any data from role assessments, interviews information including video interviews and data provided to us by your referees. This data will be used to evaluate the application, communicate with the candidate, and where a candidate has selected this option, for future recruitment opportunities. All this information will be treated as part of each job application record and only retained for the required record retention period.
By choosing to apply for this position at Busara, you are giving Busara your consent to process your personal data as described above. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring that your personal information is secure.
