HR Business Partner - Afghanistan

HR Business Partner – Afghanistan

Two-year fixed-term position

Location – Kabul

Salary – c£45,000 depending upon experience

Do you have a passion for working with people, thrive on a challenge and adaptable to change? Do you have experience of HR Business Partnering or HR Management within the INGO sector?

This is a great opportunity to join an established operation in Kabul on a two-year fixed term contract with support from the UK HR team. Covering our people operations in Afghanistan, you will play a key role leading all HR activities for our amazing people, doing amazing things to make the world a safer place. And that’s pretty special!

About Us

The HALO Trust is the world’s largest and oldest international humanitarian mine action non-government organisation (NGO). For over thirty years, we have been saving lives and helping war-torn communities recover, by making their land safe. Our mission is to protect lives and restore the livelihoods of those affected by conflict.

HALO is known for its work to clear landmines, but we also lead on dealing with unexploded ordnance, from bullets to aircraft bombs, and we educate communities to keep them safe. We also build safe arms stores and systems for securing guns. HALO was established in Afghanistan in 1988 and now employs over 9,500 staff in 28 countries and territories.

We are extremely proud of the work we do and the people in our team. For us all, it is more than just a job. It is a shared purpose.

About the role:

As a senior leadership role, the primary responsibility of the HRBP is to lead, manage and motivate all HR activities in the region. The successful individual will have a mandate to develop the programme HR departments in line with programme strategies set by the Head of Region and Programme Managers, the organisational strategy, and in support of all regional operations. There will be a requirement to develop the HR and safeguarding capacities of the four regional programmes.

Key Working Relationships: The HRBP will report directly to the Country Head and will work closely with the country Programme Managers, as well as the managers of the HR country teams. The Regional Director (UK based) would be the second reporting officer and the Director of HR (UK based) will provide professional support and be a sounding board for decision making as required.

Responsibilities:

The HRBP will provide a wide range of HR and safeguarding assistance to the Head of Region and the country programmes and will actively engage with the programmes and UK HQ HR departments.

The HRBP will be responsible for all aspects of HR and safeguarding in the region, including:

• Creating a culture of continuous improvement and review HR policies, systems and practices ensuring programme compliance with all relevant local legislation and working with external legal advisors
• Ownership of HR databases – oversee their development and implementation
• Assisting with the recruitment of national staff positions and supporting the recruitment of international staff positions
• Lead the roll-out of HALO’s global staff survey on the programmes
• Advising on compensation strategy and appraisal processes

Act as safeguarding focal point:

• Manage the programmes safeguarding policies, processes, and practices together with Safeguarding Officer, including ensuring compliance with HALO’s global safeguarding policy
• Lead on or support safeguarding investigations, ensuring timely reporting and record keeping
• Provide capacity building training to the programme’s Safeguarding Officer and oversee the delivery of safeguarding training to programme staff
• Work with the global safeguarding lead to develop suitable training material for the region

Support to Staff Livelihood Transition strategy:

Although the programmes in the region are some way off from completing landmine and UXO clearance activities, we will start developing a Staff Livelihood Transition strategy which aims at ensuring future sustainable livelihoods for our staff. The HRBP will:

• Identify training and professional development courses that match both the skills of our workforce as well as the demands of the local labour market.

Requirements

Who we’re looking for:

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Required

• Experience in all aspects of HR management, university degree in relevant field and/or professional certification preferred (e.g. CIPD)
• Significant experience in HR management in INGO in an international setting, preferably working on programmes of +1,000 staff
• Experience in implementation of HR database systems
• Project management experience
• Have proven experience of leading safeguarding in the humanitarian sector, across a diverse workforce, ideally including experience in designing and delivering safeguarding training
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills
• Demonstrated management and leadership skills
• Collaborative working and communication style
• Fluent English speaker with very strong written English
• Strong numeracy skills and data analysis skills
• Good cultural awareness, able to adapt to collaborating with different people
• A self-starter, able to organise and manage their own time and lead a team to deliver quality work in a timely fashion
• A practical and adaptable person, prepared to work in a challenging and fluid operating environment

Benefits

Our benefits:

• Local overseas allowance of $350 monthly
• Private Medical Insurance
• Non contributory retirement savings plan
• Non contributory life assurance (3 x salary)
• Shared accommodation in a rented HALO guest house, provided at nil cost.
• 49 days of leave annually (weekend inclusive, equivalent to 7 weeks of pay leave)
• Three economy return flights to the member’s official home address (or an alternative location up to an equivalent cost)
• Emergency medical insurance, including evacuation and repatriation.

How to Apply

To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter (no more than 2 pages) outlining how your skills and experience match the requirements of the role by no later than 11th June 2024. If there is a sufficient calibre of applicants, we reserve the right to close the role earlier than the date noted.

** PLEASE NOTE THAT APPLICATIONS WITHOUT A COVER LETTER TAILORED TO THIS POSITION WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED**

The HALO Trust is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any applicant for employment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

The HALO Trust is committed to a culture that is both diverse and inclusive and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.

The HALO Trust is committed to ensuring that it provides a safe and trusted environment which safeguards and promotes the welfare and well-being of anyone who comes into contact with, or is part of, the Charity, with a zero-tolerance approach to behaviours which challenge this.