People and Culture HR Manager (2 year fixed- term contract) - Nairobi (Kenya)

INTRODUCTION TO GIRLS NOT BRIDES

Girls Not Brides is the only global organisation uniquely focused on creating and sustaining a worldwide movement to end child, early and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU) and

ensuring that this movement leads to tangible change for the girls at risk or affected by the practice. We are a network of over 1,400 civil society organisations in over 100 countries working in partnership to end child marriage.

Our vision is a world without child marriage where girls and women enjoy equal status with boys and men and are able to achieve their full potential in all aspects of their lives. Our vision challenges deeply embedded social norms that harm the lives of girls, women and their communities.

INTRODUCTION TO THE ROLE

Girls Not Brides is seeking to appoint a People and Culture Manager who will support a strong, collaborative organisational culture. This is an exciting opportunity for a values driven individual to join Girls Not Brides while we shape our organisational strategy for 2026 and beyond, working with team members who are passionate about our mission.

This role will be responsible for supporting the full experience and team member life cycle. The key areas of responsibility will include providing support, advice and guidance on organisational culture, recruitment and selection, onboarding and retention, pay and benefits, people plans, well-being, learning and development and people management procedures and policies.

A significant influence on our organisational culture and ways of working, supporting our ambition to become an employer of choice, through a positive and inclusive working environment will be a priority for this role. Having responsibility for the day-to-day management of the HR function, this will be a varied but rewarding role, open to new and innovative ways of working and approaches to achieve the organisational strategy.

ABOUT YOU

You will be committed to maintaining high standards and making informed decisions to support the strategic direction of the organisation. The successful candidate will have a passion for supporting all team members and building strong working relationships. A range of experience in people management and an understanding of how our organisational values align with our work will be essential to being successful within this role. We are looking for someone with experience of working with diverse teams, being proactive, a quick learner, who can maintain confidentiality, and be flexible, meticulous and empathetic.

Working as a global team, all Girls Not Brides’ team members may from time to time be expected to work outside of normal working hours (e.g., early morning or early evening) this is not a regular occurrence and is only to accommodate the collaboration of teams across different time zones.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

People and Culture

• Provide professional ongoing support and people management expertise to team members through coaching, mentoring and training on people and culture practices.
• Influence and support the strategic direction of the organisation, working closely with the Director of People and Culture.
• Develop team member planning strategies for organisational and developmental changes considering internal and external factors.
• Responsible for reviewing HR systems, processes and providing relevant reports for informed decision making.
• Draft and manage all team member contracts, ensuring the documents are accurate, tailored to the specific context and legally compliant.
• Regularly review team member job descriptions to ensure they are up-to-date, consistent and aligned with the grade framework and organisational needs.
• Manage relevant team member benefits packages while liaising with relevant stakeholders/ benefit providers and managing relevant budgets.
• Conduct market salary review/ benchmarking and provide recommendations for amendments to the pay and benefits policy.
• Manage employment checks compliance, such as DBS, proof of right to work etc. Supporting the Operations team with UK visa queries or country specific queries.
• Lead on talent acquisition, retention, and leaver processes working closely with the relevant teams.
• Responsible for coordinating the monthly payroll and helping to resolve any pay queries from team members, working closely with the finance team.
• Contribute to broad operational activities, processes and procurement activities.
• Continuously review and develop people and culture policies, procedures following best practice and aligned to relevant legislation.

Champion organisational culture and values

• Model and champion Girls Not Brides characteristics/ behaviours in alignment with the organisational values while promoting and engaging with the whole team to reflect these values.
• Work alongside the Health and Safety Committee and other stakeholders to ensure that the organisation has a comprehensive wellbeing strategy and support with its delivery.
• Review organisational support programmes in place to ensure they are reflective of our organisational values needs.
• Deliver and report on an annual employee engagement survey to ensure feedback from employees is gathered and communicated to support and improve organisational development, employee engagement and job satisfaction.
• Champion and embed best practice in diversity, equality, and inclusion across the organisation.
• Proactively explore and utilise new technology and tools to ensure relevant operational systems are streamlined, fit-for-purpose, offers excellent value for money and is user-friendly.

Lead organisational and individual learning and development

• Manage and develop the performance management process and policy, to drive a learning culture, embed organisational values and achieve strategic objectives.
• Oversee and advise on all team member training and professional development to meet and integrate with organisational strategy and policy, while managing a budget.
• Ensure the organisation gathers team member feedback for continuous professional learning and development while ensuring we achieve training aims, objectives and value for money.
• Present findings and recommendations on learning and development to the Senior Leadership Team as required.
• Establish and maintain appropriate systems for identifying, planning and measuring learning and development needs.

Wider Organisational Responsibilities

• Support copywriting, proofreading and translation of communications outputs across our core languages as required
• Commit to the mission and vision of Girls Not Brides, putting these at the forefront of all planning, work and actions.
• Uphold the core values of Girls Not Brides in all areas of work and interactions with colleagues, members, partners, and other stakeholders.
• Comply with Girls Not Brides’ policies and processes, including for safeguarding, diversity and inclusion, the code of conduct and data protection.
• Ensure that internal databases and monitoring information are kept fully up-to-date.
• Commit to ongoing personal development and learning.
• Fulfil any other reasonable requests for the advancement of Girls Not Brides.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Experience

• Substantial experience in human resources, including within a diverse environment.
• A strong track-record of maintaining confidentiality, providing appropriate advice and expertise.
• A strong track-record of managing complex and sensitive organisational issues with empathy, fairness, consistency and values led.
• Proven experience of successfully reviewing and implementing HR information management systems, processes, and implementing policies.
• Exceptional attention to detail and able to work within a team and on own initiative.
• Experience managing work involving legal compliance and working with complex processes and documents.

Skills and knowledge

• Qualification (CIPD Level 5) or advanced training in relevant areas such as human resources, organisational management or employment law (highly desirable).
• Advanced knowledge of current best practice in people management and employment policies, procedures and legislation preferably in the charity sector.
• Ability to maintain appropriate confidentiality and knowledge of GDPR.
• Project management skills, strategic thinking and problem solving.
• Ability to build and maintain strong working relationships and effective verbal and written communicate.
• Ability to learn quickly and adapt to new areas of work.
• Ability to deal with change, competing demands, multiple priorities, time constraints and unanticipated events.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Proficiency in recent versions of Microsoft Office suite.