Human Resources Business Partner – Southern Africa (Angola based) At HALO Trust

HR Business Partner – Southern Africa (Angola base)

Two-year fixed-term position

Location – Menongue, Angola

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 Menongue, Angola on a two-year fixed term contract with support from the UK HR team. Covering our people operations in Angola and Zimbabwe, 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!

The HALO Trust is seeking an experienced HR professional to work for our Southern Africa team to be based in Angola. The role will be to provide support, inspiration and leadership of our HR and Safeguarding elements in our two programmes in the region: Angola and Zimbabwe. Initially the role will focus full time on our Angola programme for the first 12 months before expanding support to the Zimbabwe programme. This is a great opportunity for a HR professional to work within our team to bring in your experience and skills to strengthen systems and capacity and create impactful and sustainable change. The role will suit you if you are mission driven, solutions focused and pro-active.

About Us

The HALO Trust is the world’s largest and oldest international humanitarian mine action charity. Our mission is to save lives and restore livelihoods for those affected by conflict. HALO is known for its work to clear landmines and the disposal of other explosive hazards such as bombs, rockets, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). HALO was established in Afghanistan in 1988 and now employs over 10,000 staff across 29 countries and territories.

HALO has been working in Southern Africa since 1994 when we established our Angola programme and later our Zimbabwe programme in 2014. We have over 1,700 staff working across the two programmes. Combined the programmes clear on average 20% of all the landmines destroyed worldwide each year and clear some of the densest and most complex minefields HALO encounters. As well as our work in mine clearance, our Angola programme conducts weapons and ammunition management work and across the region we are committed to women’s empowerment and environmental protection.

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 and Safeguarding 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 two regional programmes.

The HRBP will provide a wide range of HR and safeguarding assistance to the programme managers and will actively engage with regional leadership and UK HQ HR departments. Beyond the systems and capacity of HR and Safeguarding in both programmes, the region wants to expand the professional development plans for our teams and ensure inclusive and accessible promotion and horizon expansion for all our staff.

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

Lead HR Systems and Capacity

Lead programme HR and Safeguarding teams, ensuring the team is resourced and supported through the necessary recruitment, mentoring and training.
Conducting systematic and responsive review and updating of HR policies, systems and practices ensuring programme compliance with all relevant local legislation and working with external legal advisors.
Lead the development and updating of programme’s HR Strategies.
Ensure all personnel records and training records and kept up to date through 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.
Advise on compensation strategy.
Lead the introduction of improved appraisal and promotion processes.

Safeguarding Lead and 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.
Ensure safeguarding records on HALO’s global database are kept up to date and that recommendations from investigations are implemented.

Professional Development and Capacity Building

Support the development of programme professional development plans, identifying pathways and opportunities for each level of the workforce.
Identify trainings and professional development courses and education opportunities that match both the skills of our workforce as well as the demands of the local labour market.
Lead the standardisation of access to promotions and professional development opportunities through inclusive and fair processes.

Staff Wellbeing

Coordinate with other departments such as operations, medical and logistics to ensure good standards of living/camp conditions and work environments for all.
Lead the development of programme Wellbeing Strategies including good feedback loop from reporting and staff surveys to implementation of change.
Lead the rollout of HALO’s global staff survey on the programmes.
Lead the recruitment and rollout of Wellbeing Officers for improved network of HR support and communication across the programmes.
Conduct focus group discussions and needs assessments as necessary for compiling recommendations for change and updating of annual HR Strategy

Key Working Relationships

The HRBP will report directly to the Head of Region and will work closely with the country Programme Managers, as well as the managers of the HR country teams. The Deputy Director of Programmes (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.

Who we’re looking for:

Key Skills and Competencies Required

Essential

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 trainings
Advanced Microsoft Office skills and strong numeracy skills and data analysis skills
Demonstrated management and leadership skills
Collaborative working and communication style
Fluent English speaker with very strong written English
Good cultural awareness, able to adapt to collaborating with different people
A self-starter, able to organise, manage their own time and lead a team to deliver quality work
A practical and adaptable person, prepared to work in challenging and fluid environments

Desirable

Portuguese and/or Shona language skills
Previous work experience in southern Africa
Knowledge of Angola and/or Zimbabwean labour law
Experience in humanitarian mine action

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 form a diverse candidate pool.

If you wish to apply, please submit your CV (no more than 2 pages) and a covering letter (no more than one page). Closing date for applications will be 5th June 2023. We reserve the right to close the advert earlier that the advertised closing date.

Key Information

This role is initially a two-year fixed-term position which will be located in the city of Menongue in Angola. Frequent travel across Angola will be required, which will include time spent in remote locations with basic living conditions. All accommodation will be shared with other international staff. During the second year of this fixed-term, travel to Zimbabwe will also be necessary.

The position will be eligible for HALO’s international staff benefits including three leave flights home a year, a living oversees allowance of $350 a month, emergency medical and life insurance, and 49 days of leave annually.

Salary – c£45,000 depending upon experience

HALO requires its applicants to work in line with our values, which are: