Manager, Human Resources and Administration

International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 192-member National Societies. The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.” The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.

IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

IFRC is led by its Secretary General, and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are organized into three main Divisions: (i) National Society Development and Operations Coordination; (ii) Global Relations, Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalization; and (iii) Management Policy, Strategy and Corporate Services.

IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas. IFRC also has country cluster delegation and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat.

In late 2021, a new Country Cluster Delegation was established in Sarajevo to implement in practice IFRC’s vision of the Agenda for Renewal in the covered 8 countries. The Central & South-Eastern Europe (CSEE) Country Cluster works with the National Societies of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia.

Several cluster-wide programs are implemented in these countries, including Covid19-focused, support for migrants, and several aspects of disaster preparedness and response management systems. The countries are also affected by the situation in Ukraine. IFRC has launched a major Emergency Appeal for Ukraine and Impacted Countries that is coordinated at the European regional level, with numerous country level operations ongoing. All 8 countries covered by the CSEE cluster office are impacted, yet at very different scales, by the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and resulting outflow of refugees. IFRC supports these countries from its cluster delegation in Sarajevo. Given the scale of operations in Romania and Bulgaria, IFRC is currently present in Romania with 7 staff members and with an Operations Manager in Bulgaria.

Job Purpose

The Human Resources and Administration Manager is responsible for ensuring effective HR and admin support and advice to the managers and staff at the Central & South-Eastern Europe (CSEE) Country Cluster Delegation office, based in Sarajevo, as well as in countries within the cluster, in line with the Federation standards and guidelines.

The position holder is responsible for addressing staffing needs in the CSEE Cluster Office, supporting on the HR planning, leading and coordinating all steps of the recruitment process, facilitating the onboarding, administering employment contracts for internationally deployed IFRC staff, Staff-on-Loan, locally recruited staff, as well as managing monthly payroll for National Staff.

The incumbent will oversee the implementation of the performance management system, national staff conditions and benefits, Staff Health and Staff Care Program. The position holder will always ensure compliance with labor laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as adherence to IFRC policies and procedures, and will highlight relevant risks and suggest possible solutions. He/she/they will also advise on national recruitment and other staff related issues in IFRC offices in the countries within the cluster.

The position is responsible for providing high quality support to the Country Cluster Delegation in various administrative issues to ensure the smooth day-to-day operation, handling both internal and external partners. This responsibility includes managing the implementation of all aspects of policy approved staff welfare matters, as well as office safety and staff security. As such, the incumbent serves as the security focal point for the Delegation office in Sarajevo.

The Human Resources and Administration Manager is part of the CSEE cluster office’s Corporate Services Unit, which comprises by 1 Finance & Administration Manager, 1 Administration Officer, 1 Driver, while the recruitment of one additional finance delegate is in progress. Currently, IFRC’s total number of employees (national and international) throughout the country cluster is 14 but this figure will double before the end of the year. The position of Human Resources and Administration Manager for the cluster is an essential position for the success of IFRC’s mission and vision.

The position holder reports to the cluster’s Finance & Administration Manager and functionally to the Regional Human Resources Unit at IFRC’s Regional Office for Europe & Central Asia which is based in Budapest, Hungary.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Recruitment, Selection and Placement

  • Ensure effective and timely recruitment for National Staff, International Staff, Staff on Loan and Consultants to address the human resources needs in the CSEE Delegation.
  • Coordinate, manage and implement all recruitment related activities; job advertisement, CV screening, written exercise, interviews and assessment, reference check, selection, job offer.
  • Liaise with National Societies for contracting and funding of Staff on Loan candidates as appropriate.
  • Organize, in collaboration with other departments, the induction and on-boarding of incoming staff, prepare the briefing schedule and provide relevant HR briefing.
  • Assist and advise on recruitment, selection, and placement in IFRC offices in countries within the cluster.

Compensation and Benefits for National Staff – Payroll Management

  • In collaboration with the HR team of the Regional Office for Europe and consultation with the Head of Delegation, develop and maintain a comprehensive remuneration and benefits package for National Staff in the Cluster Delegation and in any Country Office within the cluster; analyze trends and review the remuneration package on an annual basis to ensure alignment with the market and propose adjustments as needed.
  • Manage and administer the social security, pension, and medical insurance schemes, if and as applicable.
  • Prepare and submit monthly payroll for approval; collect all necessary documentation and submit payment authorization for validation; follow up the payment of monthly salaries, taxes and social security contributions by the Finance Department.

Performance Management – Learning and Development

  • Monitor the implementation of the IFRC performance management system; guide managers and staff to follow the whole range of performance management activities (e.g. set goals / objectives, end of year performance review) and advocate for highest standards of performance management.
  • Support and train managers and staff on how to use the performance management tools.
  • Provide guidance and support to managers and staff in cases of poor performance and disciplinary situations.
  • Assess and identify training and learning needs in consultation with the line managers; support the Head of Delegation in the organization of training initiatives for staff.

Policy Implementation and Risk Management

  • Ensure compliance with labor laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • Conclude National Staff Regulations (“Rulebook”) for the CSEE Delegation ensuring that are in line with the Global Staff Regulations and relevant Labor laws; draft / adjust HR policies as needed.
  • Support adherence to the IFRC fundamental principles and policies: Code of Conduct, PSEA, Anti-harassment Guidelines, Child Safeguarding, etc.
  • Collaborate with the contracted legal firm in Sarajevo and with IFRC legal staff as needed to respond to HR legal issues.
  • Highlight possible HR related risks, e.g. COVID-19 related risks; advise on corrective measures, establish relevant controls and identify potential solutions.

HR Administration

  • Administer recruitment to employment offer process; support line managers in drafting job descriptions and submit new staff/position requests in the HR system; classify positions as per the set salary scale and perform salary calculations; send out the job offer and draft the employment contracts for international and national staff. For national staff positions in other countries in the cluster, provide advise and support to the Head of Office on these matters.
  • Prepare consultancy agreements for consultants and acceptance letters for staff seconded from National Societies to the Federation.
  • Follow up on staff contracts (starting date, end date) and prepare contract extensions or contract amendments as needed.
  • Coordinate and facilitate the exit and end of contract process for exiting staff; debriefings, exit interview, end of term performance reviews, etc.
  • Register new staff in the D365 HR system and update employment and contracting details as needed.
  • Monitor leave balances and work with line managers and staff on the leave planning in order to ensure that all staff use their annual leave entitlement within the indicated timeframe, while there are no disruptions in the operations.
  • Support and train staff on the use of HR systems (D365 HR, Learning Platform, etc.).
  • Maintain complete and updated filing system for HR files.

Employee Relations, Lateral Relationships and Staff well-being

  • Establish and maintain strong and effective professional relationships with national and international staff in country, HR and other unit colleagues in the Regional Office for Europe and in Geneva, counterparts in the Host National Society and Partner National Societies, as well as with external stakeholders and service providers.
  • Monitor staff / management issues and support / advise management and staff as appropriate to improve the working relations and nurture a conducive and positive working environment.
  • Mediate conflict, grievance and harassment cases according to set procedures.
  • Monitor, advise and act on disciplinary matters in accordance with established policies and procedures.
  • Raise awareness and promote staff wellbeing, in collaboration with the Head of Delegation, and with the Administration Officer, organize team building activities.
  • Facilitate the enforcement of workplace policies and practices, including office safety and security measures.
  • Ensure a working environment which encourages managers and staff to perform well and to observe high standards of conduct.

National Society Development

  • Provide the National Society with Human Resources technical support and advise when requested.
  • Support the National Society with Learning developments tools and raise awareness on the IFRC Learning Platform.

Duties applicable to all staff

  • Actively work towards the achievement of the Federation Secretariat’s goals
  • Abide by and work in accordance with the Red Cross and Red Crescent principles
  • Perform any other work-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the line manager

Ideal Profile

Education

Required:

  • University degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Social Sciences or relevant field

Experience

Required:

  • Minimum 5 years of relevant professional experience, with significant, broad based experience in Human Resources domain
  • At least 3 years previous experience in a Human Resources role in Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Demonstrated HR professional experience in an international matrix organization in the humanitarian sector (movement, iNGO, NGO)
  • Experience in facilitating and supporting management and staff in HR related matters and handing employee relations
  • Experience in payroll

Preferred:

  • Experience working in a Red Cross or Red Crescent National Society and/or IFRC and/or ICRC

Knowledge, Skills and Language

Required:

  • Very good knowledge of the Labor Laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Familiar with key HR policies and HR best practices
  • People oriented with ethical mindset; Act with integrity, professionalism and confidentiality
  • Proactively proposing steps of improvement and independently driving tasks forward to completion. Strong follow-through on commitments is an essential requirement
  • Very good coordination and organizational skills with exceptional attention to detail
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills
  • Open to learning and committed to acting on learning and sharing experiences
  • Able to work under stressful conditions and meet tight deadlines
  • Demonstrated capacity to work in a cross-functional and multi-cultural environment
  • Knowledge of HR systems – Very good knowledge of Microsoft Office tools (Excel, Word, Outlook), ERP systems, databases, SharePoint or similar applications
  • Fluently spoken and written English
  • Fluently spoken and written local language (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian)

Preferred:

  • Skills in conflict resolution and advising management and staff on complex issues
  • Good command of another IFRC official language (French, Spanish or Arabic)

Competencies and Values

Values: Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability

Core competencies: Communication; Collaboration and teamwork; Judgement and decision making; National society and customer relations; Creativity and innovation; Building trust;

How to apply

Interested candidates may apply via the following link by the 14th of September, 2022, 11:59 CEST:

https://www.ifrc.org/jobs/details.html?jobId=105126&jobTitle=Manager%2C%20Human%20Resources%20and%20Administration

Type of contract: Fixed term contract for 12 months

Kindly note that this is a national staff position. Eligibility to work in Bosnia and Herzegovina is required.


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