Job Description

 Plan International Sierra Leone

Job Announcement (1 position for nationals only)

10-05-2024 People and Culture Manager

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child but know this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it is girls who are most affected.

We strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges girls and vulnerable children face. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood, and we enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local and national level using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 85 years and are now active in over 80 countries.

Plan International is registered in (country) and started operations in Sierra Leone in 1976. Plan is one of the largest INGOs in the country. Plan has about 100 staff with offices located in Moyamba, Port Loko and Freetown. Plan International Sierra Leone has been working with girls, young people, communities and the government to raise awareness about the importance of children’s rights. 

We engage people and partners to: 

• Empower children, young people, and communities to make vital changes that tackle the root causes of discrimination against girls, exclusion, and vulnerability.
• Drive change in practice and policy at local, national, and global levels through our reach, experience, and knowledge of the realities children face.
• Work with children and communities to prepare for and respond to crises and to overcome adversity.
• Support the safe and successful progression of children from birth to adulthood.

As One P&C, we support the achievement of Plan International’s Global Strategy by

• Creating a more engaging people experience
• Supporting the evolution of our workforce
• Accelerating performance, leadership, and learning
• Promoting technology and process excellence

Plan International embarked on an ambitious and exciting strategic change initiative to make the organization more transparent, legitimate, and agile. Strengthening our People and Culture processes is one of the key enablers in attaining our strategic goals.

The Country Office P&C Manager will: 

• • Understand, influence, and Interpret the Country Office (CO) strategy and Plan International Inc (PII) P&C’s Strategic Plan and priorities to develop and implement CO P&C strategic and operational plans to enhance the Country Office’s performance through our people. 
  • Partner with the Country Management Team (CMT) to nurture an agile organizational culture in the CO, underpinned by our values and feminist principles.
  • Lead and manage the P&C function in the Country Office (CO) focusing on responsive and efficient operations and targeted excellence. 

• Build CO P&C capacity and capability to deliver CO strategic and operational plans, through competency assessments, learning and development, performance and talent management, workforce planning, etc. 

We are currently seeking to recruit:

Title:         People and Culture Manager

Grade:         Level 17 – Part of the Country Leadership Team

Location:         Country Office

Reports to:         Country Director

Direct Reports:      People and Culture Specialist 

Matrix Reporting to: Country Director (Business Leader) Regional P&C Director (Functional Leader)

DIMENSIONS OF ROLE

The impact of this role is significant within the country and the region and could have some impact PII-wide. The role operates in scope of, and aligned to:

• Country Office Strategy 
• PII P&C Strategy and Strategic Plan 
• Labour Law, PII policies and procedures and industry best practices
• International assignee hosting 
• CO Complexity related context: (customise as required: Low, Medium, High)
• Membership in relevant networks in the country with other INGO’s and/or private sector

Other dimensions of the role are as follows: 

• A member of the Country Management Team
• Line management and budget management of the P&C department
• Management of sensitive and confidential information
• Membership in relevant networks: PII Regional and Global P&C other professional networks

ACCOUNTABILITIES

Strategic Leadership and Direction

Understand, influence, and Interpret the Country Office strategy and Plan International Inc (PII) P&C’s Strategic Plan and priorities to develop and implement CO P&C strategic and operational plans to enhance the Country Office’s performance through our people. 

• Be an active participant and contributor to the Regional and the Global P&C team (i.e., sharing of skills, ideas, and expertise)​
• Influences the development of PII P&C strategy and ensures and supports operational implementation within the country office and the region, to enhance the Country Office’s performance through our people.
• Operate as One Plan across the breadth of P&C specialisations. Integrate P&C work in the CO operations and programme planning (including people aspect of project/grants from proposal development to grants completion) as appropriate. Foster a culture of inclusivity, diversity, and equity in the CO.

Agile Organisational Culture

Partner with the Country Management Team (CMT) to nurture an agile organisational culture in the CO, underpinned by our values and feminist principles. 

• Partner with management to build a highly engaged and inspired team and achieve targeted excellence through our people. 
• As a member of the Country Management Team, support change management and initiatives required for sustainability, accountability, and quality.
• Adopt a culture of continuous improvement as part of the Country Management Team (CMT) – process, policies, and systems, conduct reflections and analysis with CMT of P&C Key Performance Indicators for making strategic decisions and improvements.

Globally integrated, responsive, and efficient P&C function

Lead and manage the P&C function in the Country Office focusing on responsive and efficient operations and targeted excellence.

• • Ensure high-quality operational service across the full employee lifecycle for staff, including but not limited to contracts of employment, pre-employment checks, onboarding, payroll, probation, sickness absence, parental leaves, job changes and exit. Ensure that the country’s P&C function (policies, procedures, systems, and controls) is in place and compliance with PII policies, P&C frameworks local labour laws and requirements.
  • Ensure implementation and enriching PII P&C strategic priorities within the CO, specifically around Employee Relations, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Engagement, Talent Acquisition, Performance Management and Succession Planning, Total Rewards, Staff Care and Wellbeing, Data and Analytics, Employee Value proposition etc., to ensure successful implementation.
  • Make decisions, develop solutions to diverse and complex problems and anticipate and resolve challenges within the country and in line with regional and P&C policies/ parameters.
  • Ensure the Talent Acquisition pipeline is in place and critical positions are filled within expected timelines to enable CO effective operations.
  • Facilitate Talent Management and Workforce/ Succession Planning, including short and long-term succession bench strength for leadership and strategically critical roles. Contribute to cross-regional succession planning.
  • Ensure High-Performance culture through coaching CO leadership, management, and staff in performance management. Ensure cadence is in place for CMT reflections, staff objective setting, mid-year, and annual performance reviews, development plans, regular 121 on deliverables, aligned to values, wellbeing, and development, etc.
  • Ensure Staff Care and Wellbeing practices are in place, in line with the global framework and CO context, Staff Care Framework is adjusted to the local context and applied consistently, Staff Care champions are in place and EAP is used.
  • Ensure Employee Relations and Case Management practices are robust and in line with global framework and use of data and trends to address focus areas, update policies, communication and training and leadership decision making.
  • Interpret people-related Data and Analytics drive data-driven decision-making by the CMT. Facilitate ongoing data integrity and staff ownership of their data on HRIS. Work to continually improve data and reporting to help COs to enhance their performance.
  • Ensure Total Rewards policy and practices is embedded and aligned with the CO context and PII Total Rewards philosophy. 

• Support the humanitarian response plans according to the Emergency Response Manual and CO Disaster Preparedness Plan. Support and provide expertise and advice to the Surge P&C Manager.

P&C capacity and capability

Build CO P&C capacity and capability to deliver CO strategic and operational plans, through competency assessments, learning and development, performance and talent management, workforce planning, etc. 

• Coach, monitor and train the P&C team to ensure teams are equipped to deliver on agreed P&C services and priorities, in line with global P&C strategy, plans and frameworks.

• • Work with P&C teams to identify:
    • capability gaps and training requirements and develop strategies and plans to address needs/gaps.
    • talent pools and manage capability and capacity development opportunities.  
  • Oversee competency development, talent and performance management, succession planning and workforce planning of staff and roles in the P&C function of the Country Office.
  • Support the PII P&C in the design and roll out of capability development initiatives within the country office.

• Ensure the P&C team is equipped to support national, international, and hosted employees in the country.

• Analysis and preparation and presentation of analysis of key areas for Country Management Team; cost-efficiency, staff turnover, in-depth analysis and development of scenarios of possible pathways of mitigation key risks in their area of expertise

Safeguarding

Ensure that Plan International’s global policy for Safeguarding and PII policy for Preventing Sexual Harassment Exploitation and Abuse; and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

• Regional P&C team
• Country Office Management team
• Country Office P&C Managers in the region
• Country Office P&C team (line management)
• Country authorities in relations to the labour law and compliance

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE

High and Medium Complexity 

• Significant professional expertise and in-depth knowledge acquired through professional qualifications, inherent understanding, and substantial relevant experience in developing and embedding people, capability, and organisational / HR practices.
• Fundamental understanding and extensive experience in strategic and operational aspects of people, capability and organisational/HR practices in a leadership role and ability to plan and prioritise work within the context.

Low Complexity 

• Professional expertise and knowledge acquired through professional qualifications, inherent understanding, and relevant experience in developing and embedding people, capability, and organisational / HR practices.
• Good understanding and some experience of working in strategic and operational aspects of people management, capability and organisational/HR practices and ability to plan and prioritise work within the context.

Desirable 

• Experience of working in non-profit sector
• Local language and Intermediate level of English

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES 

• • Understanding Plan International in context Business Competency, aligned to ‘We are open and accountable’ Leadership Competency, Maintaining professionalism.

• Working well together: Listening to colleagues, stakeholders, and partners with humility, sharing information and listening to their input, being open to feedback, aligned to Managing people and relationships business competency. 

• • Adapting and coping in challenging and changing environments 

• Self-awareness, aligned with Plan International Leadership Competency ‘I see and develop myself as a leader’. 

• Motivating and influencing others, and working with others, aligned to ‘We work well together’ Leadership competency, and Business Management competency ‘Managing People and Relationships’: 

• Working with others, managing people, and promoting culture of equity, diversity and inclusion. 
• Delivering results: Planning and managing resources, projects and partnerships for the effective and efficient delivery of results, aligned to the Leadership Competency ‘We strive for lasting impact. Ensuring a realistic budget is in place for the team and our activities, aligned with business priorities and including planned change (We are open and accountable).

P&C TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES 

• Business Acumen: Ability to understand influence, and translate key business drivers, priorities, and demands of various stakeholders in a globally diverse organization. 

      Business Knowledge, Industry Knowledge and Financial Knowledge

​

• Relationship Management: Ability to understand the needs of various stakeholders and focus on continuously improving the stakeholder experience​, Customer Focus, Collaboration and Networking, Persuasion and Influencing

• Talent Management: Ability to nurture and act as a champion of an agile organisational culture of high performance, inclusion, innovation and engagement. Comfortable with Change and shifting priorities, able to deal with ambiguity and uncertainty​.

Strategic HR Expertise, Employee Experience management, Change Management and Technology Savviness

• Data Savviness: Ability to analyze, interpret and communicate data to influence and support business decision making for different stakeholders and audiences​.

Data foundation, interpretation and story-telling 

• Agility: Ability to analyze and evaluate information, create diverse solutions and ideas and take constructive criticism to further stretch the imagination of what is possible​  Critical thinking, Creativity, Innovation and Growth mindset​

• Strategic Consulting: Customer and stakeholder centric design of processes rather than internal focused ​Consultative Problem Solving, Project Management, Risk Management

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

Office /desk; in country travel to CO locations. 

10% international travel, mostly for 5-8 calendar days each, with several weeks’ notice.

LEVEL OF CONTACT WITH CHILDREN

Low contact: No contact or very low frequency of interaction.

GENERAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Ensure staff understands Plan International’s commitment to driving a feminist agenda within the organization, and the ambition for gender equality and gender transformative leadership is embedded in our value-based leadership framework.

PLAN INTERNATIONAL’S VALUES

We are open and accountable

We create a climate of trust inside and outside the organisation by being open, honest, and transparent. We hold ourselves and others to account for the decisions we make and for our impact on others, while doing what we say we will do.

We strive for lasting impact

We strive to achieve significant and lasting impact on the lives of children and young people, and to secure equality for girls. We challenge ourselves to be bold, courageous, responsive, focused and innovative.

We work well together

We succeed by working effectively with others, inside and outside the organisation, including our sponsors and donors. We actively support our colleagues, helping them to achieve their goals. We come together to create and implement solutions in our teams, across Plan International, with children, girls, young people, communities, and our partners.

We are inclusive and empowering

We respect all people, appreciate differences and challenge inequality in our programmes and our workplace. We support children, girls and young people to increase their confidence and to change their own lives. We empower our staff to give their best and develop their potential 

Applications:

The last date for submission of the Application (CV and cover letter) is: 24th May 2024 by 5:00 pm

Your application should include: 
·         A cover letter
·         A comprehensive CV including details of two referees, one of whom should be your current of most recent supervisor

  Send applications to the below link: Sierra-Leone.Recruitment@plan-international.org

Only short-listed candidates shall be contacted. References will be taken and background and anti-terrorism checks will be carried out in conformity with Plan International’s Safeguarding Children and Young People’s Policy. 

Plan International follows an equal opportunity policy and actively encourages diversity welcoming applications from all especially women and people living with disability.

Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.