Vice President, People & Culture

Helen Keller Intl JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Vice President, People & Culture

(Global position – flexible to be based where Helen Keller can support employment)

Guided by the remarkable legacy of its co-founder, Helen Keller, Helen Keller Intl partners with communities striving to overcome longstanding cycles of poverty. By delivering the essential building blocks of good health, sound nutrition and clear vision, we help millions of people create lasting change in their own lives. Working in more than 20 countries – across Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States – and together with a global community of supporters, we are ensuring every person has the opportunity – as Helen did – to reach their true potential.

As we continue to grow and impact lives, we are seeking a dynamic and visionary Vice President of People & Culture to elevate employee performance and enhance overall career development and wellbeing. The Vice President of People & Culture will be a key leader in our organization, responsible for the workforce development and systems that deliver value for staff and our programs. This role is pivotal in enhancing the employee experience, developing talent management pathways, and promoting an inclusive, diverse, and empowering work environment.

The Vice President will lead and guide others to strengthen our commitment to equity and inclusion and build organizational systems that promote learning, uplift our staff and develop our cadre of leaders. The Vice President will also build organizational alignment, processes, and capabilities to support all people functions of the organization. They create and drive our comprehensive plan to achieve strong People & Culture objectives and manage a team to evolve our human resource functions, celebrate our talent and nurture a caring, fun place to work. The Vice President, together with other leaders, will also build organization-wide commitment to employee engagement and a high-performing culture.

Functional Relationships

The Vice President will report to the President & CEO at the start of their tenure and will work with the Executive Leadership Team as a consultant and advisor to design our organization of the future. The Vice-President will partner with the Executive Leadership Team to align People and Culture strategies with organizational goals and collaborate with country leaders to ensure that our global approach to the employee experience positions Helen Keller as a leader among international non-profits. They will be a key advisor to the CEO on people matters and maintain strong relationships across the organization, including with staff overseeing internal audit, safety and security and safeguarding.

The Vice President will lead and mentor a dedicated team of HR professionals, fostering a culture of excellence and mutual support. They will build and maintain relationships with external experts in human resources to stay informed about best practices and innovations.

The Vice President will work across the organization to create and nurture a people-centered culture where Helen Keller’s commitment to the values of rigor, compassion, integrity and courage are integrated into all aspects of organizational operations. They will engage with the People & Culture Committee of the Board of Trustees to ensure oversight and governance of human resource functions, workforce planning and our organizational approach to the employee experience and the future of work.

Specific Responsibilities

• Cultural Leadership: Lead efforts to promote and integrate our organizational values into daily practices, ensuring that compassion, courage, integrity, and rigor are at the forefront of our culture.

• Employee Experience: Drive initiatives to improve employee engagement and satisfaction, focusing on talent management, career development, and a supportive work environment where all colleagues can thrive.

• Organizational Design: Collaborate with the CEO and executive leadership team to assess and enhance organizational processes, systems, and structures. Evaluate and refine the organizational design on an on-going basis to better align with our mission and operational needs. Collaborate with leadership to ensure that we have effective implementation of our designs, including the right talent in the right roles at the right time and that succession plans are in place for key positions.

• HR Systems Leadership: Provide leadership for all aspects of the Global People and Culture function. This includes development and execution of a long-term plan for implementing agreed strategic capabilities and management of a talented team of professionals to execute HR systems; providing high quality customer service for recruitment and employee relations; overseeing a global performance management; procuring and maintaining excellent systems for compensation and benefits that promotes an equitable organizational environment and ensures compliance with relevant jurisdictional regulations; planning and monitoring organizational budgets; ensuring smooth administration of payroll; and contributing to accountability and excellence goals as a member of senior leadership of the organization.

• Change Management: Provides executive level support to, sponsorship of and/or direct leadership to change initiatives, whether related to organizational restructuring, culture transformation, or process improvement.

• Diversity and Inclusion: Lead organizational efforts to promote and support a diverse and inclusive workplace, encouraging varied leadership perspectives and ensuring that every employee feels valued andempowered.

• Policy Development, Compliance and Risk Management: Provide organizational leadership for creating and updating handbooks and policies that align with local labor law, including the administration of payroll taxes. Ensure employee relations are handled in accordance with our values and aligned with local labor requirements. Review and update our Human Resources policies to ensure they are fit for purpose. Lead risk assessment for the function with inputs from key stakeholders and collaborate with leadership to weigh risks and take decisions.

Qualifications

For our team to be a great fit for you, the following qualifications should resonate with you:

• Bachelors degree in Human Resources, Business, or similar required; MBA or relevant Masters’ degree preferred; plus a minimum of 15 years of directly relevant experience working in a complex international organization; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Personal commitment to Helen Keller’s mission and goals and the values embodied by our co-founder: compassion, courage, integrity and rigor.

• Demonstrated experience and a successful track record of:
  • Leading human resource planning, budgeting and workforce development;
  • leading and driving successful organizational change;
  • evolving performance management approaches to align with strategic planning and competency-based frameworks; and
  • leading teams to execute fundamental human resources functions.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively articulate decision points using relevant frameworks and data analysis
• A commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and experience implementing these concepts in a living, adapting organization.
• Ability to work effectively across cultures and with diverse groups as evidenced by excellent listening and communication skills, balanced and reasoned approaches to problems, ability to inspire trust and confidence, respect and understanding of backgrounds and cultures, and flexibility and openness to differing points of view.
• Knowledge of and experience in implementing change management initiatives using industry best practice to build trust and understanding among employees.
• The ability to make decisions in a dynamic environment, with an appreciation for how future needs may affect those decisions: a willingness to iterate a strategy and approach, with the ability to recognize the need to course-correct as necessary.
• Demonstrated understanding of the synergy between the programmatic, operational, and financial components of development initiatives.
• Knowledge of employee relations and a track record of supporting and evolving the full employee experience.
• Strong project management and communication skills with a track record of deploying them to execute organizational design and human resource strategy.
• Demonstrated ability to undertake high-level representation, including ability to make effective and persuasive speeches and presentations in English on complex topics to top management, public groups, and/or boards of directors.
• Excellent oral and written English required. Ability to read, analyze and interpret complex documents and to summarize information succinctly – both verbally and in writing—using an engaging style. French language skills are a strong advantage.
• Well-established and practiced organizational and planning skills.
• Lived experience working and living in the contexts where Helen Keller works strongly preferred.
• An ability to work in challenging and changing environments, to find solutions to emerging challenges, and maintain balance when under stress.
• Collaborative, flexible and solution oriented.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the application of information technology required to fulfill the job duties, such as HR Systems including Applicant Tracking Systems, Performance Management Systems, Learning & Development Systems and HRIS/payroll systems. Experience with the use of Artificial Intelligence applications to support human resources administration preferred.
• Ability and willingness to flex work hours to accommodate multiple time zones, as needed.

Compensation and Benefits

The full-time annualized midpoint of the salary range for this position is $210,00 with a minimum of $162,000 and a maximum of $258,000. Actual salary will vary based upon, but not limited to, relevant experience, salary of internal peers, and functional specialty.

To Apply

Qualified candidates should submit a cover letter and resume to HKI.Recruitment@hki.org noting the job title in the subject line. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

In the spirit of our founder and namesake, Helen Keller is dedicated to building an inclusive workforce where diversity in all its forms is fully valued.

Helen Keller is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, disability, veteran status or any other protected characteristic.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need to request accommodation during the application

or interview process, please contact us at the email above or call +1 646-356-1789.