Human Resources Manager – USAID Kenya Primary Literacy Program

EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER (EDC)

Education Development Center (EDC) is a global nonprofit that advances lasting solutions to improve education, promote health, and expand economic opportunity, with a focus on vulnerable and under-served populations. Since 1958, we have been a leader in designing, implementing, and evaluating powerful and innovative programs in more than 80 countries around the world.

EDC promotes equity and access to high quality education and health services and products that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. We support an inclusive workplace culture that embraces many perspectives and broadens our understanding of the communities we serve, enhancing and enriching our work.

EDC is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Project Description

The USAID Kenya Primary Literacy Program (USAID KPLP) is a five-year initiative that supports the Kenyan Ministry of Education to deliver interventions at scale as well as pilot and expand innovations that address the language and literacy needs of primary grade learners while building more inclusive, accountable, and resilient education institutions and systems.

USAID KPLP has three broad objectives:

1. Improving education services and student learning outcomes, including for vulnerable populations;

2. Strengthening education institutions and systems to become more accountable, self-sustaining, and resilient; and

3. Empowering local youth organizations to strengthen and sustain community and family support for student learning and wellbeing.

Position Description

The Human Resources Manager will lead all aspects of the Human Resources (HR) function, which will include recruitment, onboarding, performance management, training, administering pay, benefits and leave, and enforcing EDC policies and practices for personnel in the central Nairobi office as well as in the regional offices. The successful candidate will be a conceptual thinker with outstanding relationship building, cross-functional communication, and conflict management skills.

The incumbent must exhibit strong decision-making skills and have experience with Kenyan local labor laws, employee relations, talent acquisition, onboarding, offboarding, training, and overall personnel management. The HR Manager is expected to be comfortable managing grey areas and introducing processes and technology solutions to streamline and strengthen HR’s ability to be an agile partner to the organization. The HR Manager will handle sensitive and confidential documents and information and dealings with co-workers and EDC partners with the highest level of professionalism. The HR Manager will report to the Finance and Administration Manager. This is a full-time position based in Nairobi, Kenya. The HR Manager’s responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Under the oversight of the Finance and Administration Manager and working closely with EDC’s Home Office (HO) Human Resources team, ensure that all employee relations procedures including disciplinary actions, employee counseling, dispute resolution, and separation procedures are handled promptly, professionally, and in compliance with EDC policies and Kenyan labor law;
• Serve as the main liaison with EDC Home Office Human Resources team;
• Manage all employment actions including recruitment, hiring, new employee orientation, performance management, capacity building activities, employment agreement drafting and renewals, disciplinary process, and separations;
• Work with local and Home Office leadership to set local recruitment, onboarding, and training initiatives to maximize staff productivity;
• Act as a trusted and strategic advisor to leadership in all matters related to Human Resources management;
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with staff members at all levels;
• Monitor employee relations practices and proactively coach managers and staff to ensure a productive work environment;
• Coordinate with USAID KPLP partners to facilitate alignment of HR policies and practices;
• Encourage problem-solving and direct communication among employees and supervisors;
• Ensure HR record keeping is accurate and up to date as per EDC guidelines; conduct frequent HR record audits with assistance from Home Office team members when needed;
• Manage staff benefits procurement (in conjunction with procurement team), renewals and, reconciliations;
• Administer all staff benefits programs, enrollments, changes, removals; and maintain appropriate documentation;
• Support monthly payroll as appropriate, including management of leave requests, timesheet reconciliations and all payroll records;
• Conduct onboarding and off-boarding meetings; orientations and exit meetings, assigning and collecting project equipment, keys, phones, and other materials as appropriate;
• Track all performance evaluations to ensure timely completion, accuracy, and fairness in accordance with EDC policies and procedures;
• Keep up to date with local labor laws and support revision of employment documents and manuals to ensure EDC’s compliance with local laws and regulations.
• Participate in senior management meetings and decision-making processes, as appropriate;
• Proactively assess and address potential or existing risks or problems and work with project management and leadership to minimize or eliminate them;
• Assist with periodic reporting as appropriate and when necessary, submit inputs to periodic reports in a timely manner;
• Comply with project and EDC policies concerning security, HR, data privacy, and confidentiality;
• Perform other duties as assigned.

The candidate for the position of HR Manager shall have at a minimum the following qualifications:

Education:

Master’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field.

Skills and Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of progressive experience in Human Resources and Operations Management;
• Management experience required;
• Strong knowledge of Kenyan labor regulations;
• Solid experience with the entire employee life cycle (hire, onboard, train, performance management, employee relations, and separations);
• Demonstrated leadership skills as it relates to HR initiatives;
• Experience leading the entire recruitment cycle, conducting market scans and managing external talent acquisition resources, such as contractors;
• Understanding of nonprofit management and governance preferred;
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment, and handle highly confidential information appropriately;
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a cross cultural setting, negotiate diplomatically, and function well under pressure;
• Supervision experience required;
• Excellent verbal and writing skills;
• Flexible approach to problem-solving;
• Strong interpersonal & organizational skills;
• Excellent analytical skills and aptitude for details;
• Willingness and availability to travel to regional offices and areas covered by the project;
• Proficiency with MS Word and MS Excel required;
• Knowledge of USAID regulations preferred.

Language:

Fluency in English is required.

Other

Applicants must be Kenyan nationals or hold current work authorization.