Head of Administration (m/f/x) – HR Department – Brussels – MSF Belgium

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides assistance in more than 60 countries to populations in distress, to victims of natural or manmade disasters and to victims of armed conflicts, without discrimination and irrespective of origin, religion, creed or political affiliation.

Head of Administration (m/f/x) – HR Department – Brussels – MSF Belgium

We are looking for a customer-focused team manager/leader eager to improve HR services for all our employees.

CONTEXT

Within MSF Operational Centre Brussels (OCB), the Administration Circle is part of the People Deployment Hub whose purpose is to develop, promote and ensure the implementation of fair HR policies that are consistent with MSF’s values and adapted to the needs of its social mission. The People Deployment Hub covers the following 4 areas: 1) Administration, 2) International Mobility (travel), 3) Reward and 4) Staff Health

The Head of Administration is responsible for the development and implementation of administrative management policies for MSF’s Human Resources in the field and at headquarters (in and out-of-Brussels). This position is accountable to the People Deployment Hub Coordinator and has the direct supervision over 10 staff members (Administration Officers, Payroll Officers, Administration Referents and Experts).

The head of administration will strive for operational excellence with a strong customer focus; constantly looking for opportunities and actions to improve HR services to all OCB contracted staff, processes, structures, and procedures.

RESPONSABILITIES

1. Ensure Operational Excellence of the Administration Circle

• Line manages, coaches, develops and motivates the administration team and manages performance and absence.
• Plans the activities and coordinates the workload relating to the Administration Circle and informs the People Deployment Hub Coordinator on the progress
• Supervises and coordinates the execution of personnel and salary administration including cross administration and administration for specific populations (regional staff, out-of-Brussels HQ staff, …)
• Ensures that all questions by MSF employees are answered accurately and in a timely manner and recommends corrective solutions to address employee issues where relevant
• Monitors and manages interactions with all internal & external parties to enable execution of the labor contracts. This may include both contractual and non-contractual parties
• Gives advice to the People Deployment Hub coordinator regarding potential risks, including compliance on all GPDR related matters for data privacy and document management

1. Coach individual team members and re-enforce team cohesion & collaboration

• Makes sure (new) employees have the competences and skills to successfully fulfill their roles
• Organizes the induction and installation of newcomers (DE, computer, badge, induction in the position)
• Coaches staff to adapt to a culture of autonomy, solution orientation, to take responsibility with the objective to increase personal well-being
• Centralizes feedback and does regular appraisal. Detects possible training needs, discusses them with the employee and approves training requests
• Puts the individual development of each staff member at the center of his/her attention and acts as first contact point for career questions
• In terms of team follow-up, makes sure there is a healthy team dynamic, with solidarity, with space for expression of opinion and attention by all to the team
• Organizes regular team meetings to encourage collaboration and enhance team spirit

1. Coordinate the activities of the administration circle

• Acts as first point of escalation for particular cases within the expertise domain of the Administration Circle
• Prioritizes in case of conflicting priorities
• Management of service providers and governmental counterparts: act as focal point for the different suppliers and governmental offices, in order to guarantee efficient and effective co-operation. Liaises with Purchasing department for tenders, contract renewal or termination
• Organizes the necessary intra and inter department working platforms to enhance workflows, to be updated on other departments ambitions and relays relevant information to team members
• In collaboration with the People Deployment Hub Coordinator, designs the staffing structure and budget for the circle

1. Contribute to the design & improvement of HR policies & processes

• With the input of technical specialists, analyses the operating model of the employee’s administrative life cycle and makes proposals on what will have to change in results and how this will be achieved. Have decisions validated on the right level. Makes sure the domain is integrated in other domains and stakeholders are involved
• Consults stakeholders, analyses the environment, challenges results and evolutions of the domain of the circle
• Challenges the status quo and make sure that anything that is related to the domain of the circle or hub is questioned with the sole purpose of making sure that the administration circle and OCB as a whole are more successful at achieving its goals
• Gets external information on new techniques, technologies, insights concerning the domain and make this information available to the contributors of the domain

REQUIREMENTS

Education

• Master’s Degree in Human Resources or equivalent

Experience

• More than 5 years of experience as Head of Administration or equivalent function
• Knowledge of HR admin policies & processes, including payroll
• Relevant experience in managing large & diverse teams

Competences

• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision
• Strong staff management skills and ability to manage a team with diverse profiles (junior & senior staff members)
• Excellent critical thinking and problem-solving capacity
• Excellent planning and organizational skills
• Knowledge of Belgian employment law is an asset
• Good inter-personal and communication skills
• Pragmatic, rigorous & diplomatic
• Service oriented

Languages

• English & French essential. Dutch desirable

CONDITIONS

• Expected starting date: 1st of September 2022
• Location : Brussels (Belgium)
• Contract type: Open-ended contract
• Full-time
• Salary according to MSF-OCB HQ grid
• Meal vouchers – Hospital insurance (DKV) – Pension Plan – 100% reimbursement for public transportation costs – In-house canteen at fair prices
• Adhere to the MSF principles and to our managerial values: Respect, Transparency, Integrity, Accountability, Trust and Empowerment
• Adhere to the MSF Behavioral Commitments

Deadline for applications: 27/07/2022