People and Culture Manager – Oxfam in North Africa (NAF)

Oxfam’s vision is a just world without poverty: a world in which people can influence decisions that affect their lives, enjoy their rights, and assume their responsibilities as full citizens of a world in which all human beings are valued and treated equally.

Oxfam’s programs in the North Africa sub-region have a one-program approach, working in humanitarian response, development and influencing, with the ambition of increasing the role of civil society in influencing & advocacy and knowledge-for-impact both within and beyond the countries where Oxfam works.

Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behavior at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

Internal Job Grade:

C1

Type of Contract:

NATIONAL CONTRACT. Full time per National Staff Terms and Conditions / Règlement Intérieur

Annual Salary & Benefits:

According to Oxfam salary scale and HR policy & conditions in Tunisia or Morocco

Starting Date:

Soonest possible

Reporting to:

North of Africa sub-region Director

Staff reporting to this position:

HR Coordinator (Tunisia)

HR Officer (Morocco)

Senior HR Officer (Algeria)

Job purpose

The people and culture unit is fundamental to the transformative change that we seek within the NAF Cluster. The People and Culture Manager will be a strategic and experienced hands-on leader that will facilitate and ensure the development of a highly effective and strategic People function to ensure the organization has the right structure, culture and talent needed to deliver on its objectives across the sub-region.

This person will be the trusted partner of the NAF Director and the NAF SMT on all people related matters. They will manage, support and enable the HR Coordinator and Officers in the countries to drive consistency in people process and practices and create people’s solutions for Oxfam in line with Oxfam’s strategic vision.

This position has three broad goal areas:

1. To proactively provide strategic, analytical inputs and advice to the NAF Director and Senior Management Team, as well as to the HR Coordinator and Officers in order to achieve the NAF sub-regional strategy and Oxfam’s mission.
2. To promote and develop a joint culture across the NAF cluster by encouraging continuous exchange of practices, learnings and ways of working.
3. To lead the HR Coordinator and Officers to ensure they have the capacity to guide managers on staffing issues in line with Oxfam policies and procedures and facilitate effective implementation to support delivery.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

1. Provision of Strategic People’s Leadership to the NAF Director and the NAF Senior Management Team (SMT), as well as guidance, coaching and capacity building to the country HR Coordinator and Officers

• As a trusted People & Culture Partner to the SMT, influence senior management thinking and behaviors on the people aspects of the sub-regional strategy, Cluster Operating Plan (COP), transformation and change processes and ensure that sound HR management and support is central to this.
• Provide strategic and practical leadership on translating Oxfam core values and feminist principles into policy and practices concerning employee relations.
• Provide strategic and practical leadership and guidance on promoting and maintaining a safe work environment with special attention to safeguarding, staff-wellbeing and staff health and safety.
• Provide support and advice to People and Culture plans defined and implemented within the sub-region, in order to achieve a common People’s framework.
• Ensure consistency with the global People and Culture strategies adapting for the sub-region where necessary and drawing and building on developed best practice where this exists.
• Support the recruitment and capacity building of HR staff across the sub-region in collaboration with and in close relationship with affiliates’ HR capacity or the Transforming Business Support unit (TBS).
• Analyze trends, identify challenges on People and Culture matters across offices in NAF and provide solutions to the leadership team and HR country officers.
• Provide guidance on staff capacity building and in formulating the annual People and Cultureplans.
• Develop, advise on and implement the human resource strategy necessary to support effective people management across NAF. S/he will ensure human resource management contributes to and is aligned to the NAF strategic goals and lead the sub-region’s commitment to learning, development and knowledge management.
• Work closely with the sub-regional leadership and the HR Coordinator and Officers to attract, recruit and retain talented people and to identify and develop high potential staff.
• Influence and contribute to the harmonization with the 3 EAs of HR policy, procedures, standards, tools, and resources, in line with global requirements and regional/country specifics.
• Ensure effective adaptation at all levels and compliance with the local labor regulations and donor requirements.

1. Learning, Culture and Organizational Development
   • Ensure that NAF teams are supported in understanding and accessing resources and knowledge to create and implement organizational and professional development plans and goals at sub-regional and country level.
   • Organize and develop joint initiatives across the NAF countries to promote a common culture of diversity and inclusion that will increase the feeling of belonging and membership to the cluster that will implement a one-strategy.

• Ensure all the NAF offices have the focal points with proper comprehension of responsibilities on safeguarding as well as needed trainings are organised in this area.
• Conduct talent mapping by identifying talent in countries, coordinate resources, fill the gaps and develop capacities in line with organizational requirements in order to optimize talent.
• Embed a culture of performance management across the sub-region (including country offices), where staff are held accountable, given feedback and recognised, using the Let’s Talk performance management tool across the NAF sub-region.
• Support managers in the development and coaching of staff to optimise their potential in pursuit of Oxfam’s objectives.
• Stay abreast of changing organizational and external situational circumstances, which may impact the wider organization and proactively develop suggestions for addressing them and/or incorporating relevant information into Oxfam’s ideas and approaches.
• Support change processes in NAF, together with relevant colleagues in MENA region, TBS, EAs, CO’s and NAF SMT to operationalize them and make them effective according to Oxfam values and ways of working.
• Contribute to the development and dissemination of feminist principles and approaches within the NAF cluster as part of the sub-regional leadership team.

1. General Awareness and Coordination

• Support the design and implementation of any required People’s new systems, processes and policies, working in coordination with the functional teams in the sub-region (countries and affiliates) and at global levels (MENA region and TBS).
• Establish connections and networks with peer INGOs in the NAF sub-region to keep abreast of best practices and possible initiatives.
• As a member of the MENA People & Culture team, represents the sub-region needs, challenges and context.

Technical Skills, Experience & Knowledge

• Degree in Human Resources or related field (where appropriate in the local context) and or proven solid experience in management of people and structures.
• At least 12 years of professional Management experience at senior level positions with expertise in providing a superior, proactive, business focused service, preferably in similar organizations (non-profit sector).
• At least 8 years of human resources and organisation’ development experience especially culture, capacity building and skills transfer, development and knowledge management. Experience in creating a learning and sharing environment.
• Proven experience and background on Safeguarding, management, monitoring and capacity building.
• Substantial knowledge and experience of organizational development,
• Extensive working knowledge and experience of (sub-region and countries) labor law and its application.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, able to work as part of a dispersed, multi-disciplined, multi-cultural team.
• Commitment to Oxfam’s overall aims and policies and experience of promoting gender equity and diversity and the interests of marginalized people in all aspects of Oxfam’s work.
• Good command of Arabic, English and French.
• Cultural knowledge of contexts in the sub-region
• Proved capacity and negotiation skills
• Knowledge and experience of NAF in terms of its political, economic and social trends plus a good understanding of the key development and humanitarian issues of the Sahrawi refugee population in Algeria (Desirable).