Vice President, Human Resources

Location: Washington D.C.

The successful Vice President of Human Resources for Grameen Foundation (VP of HR), above all, has a passion for our mission: to enable the poor, especially the poorest, to create a world without poverty and will be able to represent, internally and externally, our core values:

•    We seek to empower the world’s poor, especially the poorest women;
•    We  hold ourselves and our partners accountable for transparency and measurable results, including performance and financial performance;
•    We champion innovation that makes a difference to the lives of the poor;
•    We first seek to form partnerships with those who can advance our mission before acting alone;
•    We respect, invest in and promote local social entrepreneurs and local ownership
•    We honor the voice, professionalism and integrity of our staff and volunteers.

Our people are critical to the success of our mission and in order to help us create a world without poverty, the VP of HR will lead the effort to create an environment where our people feel respected for their thinking and ideas, valued for their innovation and entrepreneurial abilities, and committed to working together to eradicate global poverty. 

Job Summary: The VP of HR will serve as a key member of the global Executive Leadership Team (ELT) to design and deliver talent management systems along with innovative human capital management practices aligned with organizational mission, values and strategy and will ensure compliance with labor and employment practices in the United States and foreign jurisdictions.  The VP of HR will guide and coach the individual ELT members and senior managers as the HR business partner to their organizations on trends in human capital management (HCM) practices and HR processes, and work to translate/align executive strategic decisions to a high performance workforce.  From this position on the ELT, the VP of HR will be able to view the people side of executive decisions and coach the ELT in identifying and resolving issues preemptively.

Reporting and relationships:  The VP of HR will serve as a member of the ELT, report to the CEO and President of Grameen Foundation, and supervise the Human Resource Department’s business partner staff.   The VP of HR will work closely with the General Counsel on compliance issues and act as the key HR business partner to individual members of the ELT.  The VP of HR will be expected to participate in internal communications, as well as external activities in collaboration with the External Affairs Department such a communications and networking, fund raising and volunteer recruitment.

Availability:   The VP of HR is expected to work a standard work week of 40 hours plus additional hours to get the job done.  The position will require travel within the US and abroad a minimum of four times per year.

Essential Job Functions

The VP of HR will guide all aspects of Human Capital Management (HCM) practices including the design and implementation of key processes relating to:

Strategic HR planning:  Translate business strategy into measurable human capital practices aligned with culture, values and the mission of GF, such as:
•    Refine organizational development strategies, especially change leadership;
•    Organizational commitment and performance goal setting; and
•    Rewards and loyalty programs.
Talent management:  Foster an organizational talent management mindset by driving the Talent Review process and resulting people capability development goals for both managerial and expert employees, such as:
•    Build capabilities through a comprehensive development and recruitment strategy
o    Develop cutting edge people development systems for both experts and future leaders in the organization with a view towards minimizing cost of these programs, including:
•   Just in time development and opportunistic people development practices
•    Foster a culture of mentoring and coaching
•     Develop unique training programs using the knowledge of in-house talent and the talent of those connected to GF (volunteers, board members)
o    Create a global recruiting strategy focused on attracting needed capabilities, including tapping into GF’s established volunteer base.
•    Build systems to unleash the creativity and commitment of poverty focused individuals
•    Establish a performance review/commitment program that includes career development; allowing the organization to proactively prepare for future programmatic and operational activities.
•    Develop a global diversity program which focuses on a variety of workplace issues including cultural diversity, work style preferences, and team dynamics.  
Internal communications:  Create formal internal communications systems focused on transparency around organizational decisions and HR processes
•    Internal communications vehicles
•    Key messages to employees, volunteers on people related issues
Manager support and training: Create a culture of management focused on consistent managerial practices and coaching and "on-the-job" training of managers. Build managerial and leadership results into the performance review/commitment process. 

Human Resources Business Partners: Build and develop a team of Human Resource Business Partners focused on providing client services to local and global managers
•    Create solutions to managerial challenges
•    Support consistent managerial practices with coaching and "on the job" managerial training
•    Support the day-to-day activities involving compensation, benefits, risk management and regulatory compliance

Required knowledge, skills and capabilities
•    Deep commitment to eradication of poverty and alignment with Grameen Foundation’s mission
•    Proven HR leadership skills.
•    Strong communicator who can successfully present oral and written information to staff, executive colleagues and board members. 
•    Exceptional ability to build credibility quickly and to influence key leaders to adopt key HCM initiatives.
•    Possess business acumen, ability to think analytically combined with sensitivity to people issues and the culture of the organization.
•    Thorough understanding of business priorities and translate them into executable global talent management strategy; creating a world class HCM program designed to unleash creativity and enhance loyalty within GF
•    Operate on a strategic, innovative and visionary level, but also be a seasoned, hands-on HR practitioner as required.  Ability to think broadly and pay attention to detail
•    Ability to successfully juggle multiple initiatives working at a fast pace
•    Strong program/project management skills
•    Ability to gain respect of professionals through commitment to build environment where employees can do their best work
•    International experience
•    Ability to lead and inspire an organization toward developing greater organizational capacity
•    Ability to produce quality results within tight timeframes and shifting priorities but within budget constraints

Expected outcomes within 18 months:
•    Successful execution of three initiatives within deadlines
•    High level of collaboration with internal and external partners demonstrated by 360 feedback
•    Recognition internally and externally for program delivery against commitments
•    Client (managers and employees) satisfaction with design and deployment of programs as measured by employee and managerial surveys
•    Key player in helping GF leadership establish GF as the ‘Best Non-Profit To Work For’
•    Ability to fill 3 key jobs with capable internal candidates
•    Respected within the organization and well represent GF externally
•    Create an external network that can support one another in building organizations to alleviate poverty.

Education and experience:
•    Bachelor’s Degree in International Development, Business, HR or Organizational Development, Communications or Organizational Psychology; Master’s Degree, preferred.
•    Experience in International development or demonstrated interest.
•    Minimum of 12 years experience with preferably 5 years as a senior HR leader in a fast paced organization.

Physical and Environmental Conditions: This position does not require unusual demands for physical effort.  This position may occasionally require physical effort to lift and transport boxes weighing no more than 50 pounds. Work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts that require normal safety precautions typical of places such as offices, meeting or training rooms, residences, or commercial vehicles; e.g., use of safe work place practices with office equipment, and/or avoidance of trips and falls, and observance of fire regulations and traffic signals.

Additional Comment:  The above job description is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, exhaustive of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made in appropriate circumstances to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

Interested candidates may apply by email to gfjobs@grameenfoundation.org. Please put “VP-HR” in the subject line.  No Calls Please.