Director of People and Culture March 2022
Letter from the CEO Thank you for your interest in United World Schools (UWS). I joined UWS in November 2021. It is an impressive organisation, focused on improving life opportunities for some of the world’s poorest children in remote and marginalized communities. We do this through providing primary education, ensuring that children can read, write and count in their national language. UWS currently delivers programmes in Cambodia, Nepal, Myanmar and Madagascar and has over 1,200 staff worldwide, including over 1,000 teaching staff and 200 employees in our central team. Over the past decade UWS has reached nearly 50,000 children in 270 schools and is poised for significant growth over the next few years. As the new global CEO, I am excited about the opportunities to increase our impact and reach. As we are looking to grow, it is vital that we attract and have the right people on board for the journey. My immediate focus is on building the team and developing our systems and capacity to deliver at scale. The Director of People & Culture is a newly created role, which will play a vital part in shaping our future organisation and its workforce, as we embark on our next phase of growth. A member of the Executive Leadership Team, this is a global role with oversight and engagement across all country offices. I am looking for an individual who is solution-focused, a genuine collaborator, who is driven by a passion and energy
to deliver at pace. Someone who is a strategic thinker, proactive, skilled in engaging with people across different levels of the organisation and with excellent communication skills. International experience and the ability to establish a cohesive culture across geographies, will be critical to succeeding in this role.
Thank you,
Dhivya O’Connor Chief Executive Officer United World Schools
If this sounds like you, we would be delighted to hear from you.
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About United World Schools Every child deserves the chance to go to school. Children from remote, impoverished communities across the world want the same opportunity. They are determined to break out of poverty and they know that education is the key to a brighter future. Education transforms lives. United World Schools (UWS) works in hard-to-reach areas to give every child access to quality, inclusive education. We partner with local communities and supporters around the world to teach the unreached. Our mission is to improve, through education, life opportunities for some of the world’s poorest children living in remote and marginalised communities. Watch Kanchi’s story to see how education makes a difference.
What United World Schools Does •
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Builds and runs schools for children in remote and marginalised regions of the Global South, where no other education provision exists Provides inclusive education to children, overcoming barriers including gender, disability, poverty, ethnicity and language. Builds sustainable and meaningful relationships with communities. Adopts a participatory approach to developing and operating primary schools with local communities, to deliver quality education in hard-to-reach areas. Creates a school environment that supports all students’ learning, developing foundational skills including reading, writing and counting. Trains local teachers to teach in a language children can understand. Fosters generational, long-term change.
We work in partnership with communities and governments as part of our sustainable approach. We develop schools over 5-7 years and then transition them to community and government ownership, empowering communities in governance, leadership and school management.
UWS USA In March 2021, the founding Board of Directors of “United World Schools USA” convened to begin engaging funders and policy makers across the United States in the goal of ensuring every out-of-school child across the world has access to quality education and classrooms. With a growing US staff and a current Board of 10 prominent Directors, the 501(c)(3) entity is poised to help United World Schools change the landscape of global education. UWS USA aims to unite the United States’ corporate, philanthropic, foundation, and government funding communities to make a significant contribution to UWS’ global income generation. UWS USA works closely with the UWS Global Board and Executives, while maintaining operational autonomy as required by US law.
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The Role Role: Director of People and Culture Location: Hybrid / flexible working based in London, or UK-based with regular travel to London office Salary: £65,000 - £70,000 per annum Direct Reports: Senior Manager, People and Culture
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Job Summary The Director of People and Culture leads and executes activities to maximize the strategic use of Human Resources and oversees functions such as employee relations, employee experience, policies and compliance, talent acquisition, on-boarding, training and development, performance management, reward and recognition, benefits and wellness, in order to create a purposeful, inclusive, high-performance culture at United World Schools. Working as part of the London-based central team, this is a new global role with oversight and engagement across all country offices. The individual will be the executive lead on the UWS UK Board’s Remuneration & Nominations Committee; provide support with Trustee recruitment and hold relationships with recruiters and other agencies. A key part of the role will be developing and leading the roll-out of our People Plan, embedding across all country teams consistent policies (which are locally appropriate) and best practices for the recruitment, management and development of our people. This includes developing a cohesive Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy that is integrated with the People Plan, seeking to bring the best out of our multi-cultural workforce. International travel will be a requirement of the role, to visit our programmes and engage with the country teams.
Talent Attract, reward and retain the best talent, globally.
Leadership Nurture a leadership and growth culture.
Engagement Engage and motivate a global team.
UWS People Plan 2023 Vision Strategic Aims
Global team, diverse culture Prioritise equality, diversity and inclusion.
Sustainability and ambition Support high performance and flexible working.
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Responsibilities •
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To fully develop the UWS People Plan and lead its roll-out across the global organisation, with clear actions and deliverables across the 5 identified People Pillars: • Talent – To attract, reward and retain the best talent globally • Engagement – Engaging and motivating a global team • Sustainability and ambition – Supporting high performance and flexible working • Inclusion – Prioritising Equity, Diversity and Inclusion across a global team and a diverse, multi-ethnic workforce • Leadership – Nurturing leadership talent and embedding a growth culture To review, develop and implement robust people management systems and enabling processes that are consistent across all country teams and appropriate to local contexts To ensure all processes are reflective of, and serve to enable demonstration of the organisation’s values locally and globally To develop and implement a pay reward and recognition structure, which is performance driven and linked to Objectives Key Results, giving all central staff opportunities for performance related pay awards and bonuses. All roles to be supported by a competency framework, providing transparency and clarity over expectations for every role and every level within the organisation. To create structures that support succession planning and career pathways for staff, in line with active talent management, including creation of Learning and Development frameworks
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To review and develop a comprehensive benefits package (as appropriate to local markets), benchmarked to a competitive industry standard, that supports a happy and engaged workforce and promotes healthy work-life harmony. Oversight of all organisational and people related policies and procedures, ensuring these are regularly reviewed and fit for purpose. Oversight of all people and HR systems e.g. BreatheHR
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Oversight and responsibility for risk management of all people related issues and staff safeguarding To drive engagement with the Board Remuneration & Nominations Committee as required on all people practices. To provide robust support to the CEO and the wider Executive team as appropriate on all people matters.
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Benefits Leave: 25 days annual leave plus 8 statutory bank holidays per calendar year. In addition, 7 Well-being / Volunteering Days are offered to staff across the calendar year. The UK office is also closed for 3 days between Christmas and New Year. Pension: 4% employer contribution
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Candidate profile You are a Leader. A self-aware and open leader, you are driven by the opportunity to develop, mentor and empower team members. You meet people where they are and proactively foster a culture that welcomes, honours, and encourages diversity of thought. You have the confidence and experience to create a vision and enable your team to execute on it.
You are a Collaborator. As someone who can influence without authority, you earn respect and build goodwill through your actions and role-modelling. You collaborate with leaders across the organisation to create a sphere of influence that ensures the HR function is integrated and streamlined across country offices, in a cohesive and consistent way.
You are a Self-Starter.
You are a Strategic Thinker. You are able to see the big picture and understand what is needed as UWS continues its journey to scale, including expanding into new geographies. In a growth context, you understand how to strategically manage, lead, and scale HR
You are results-orientated and can act / execute with pace, whilst bringing people with you. Intellectually curious, you proactively seek out knowledge and insight in your specialist field, to improve and enhance the organisation and support the delivery of our mission. processes and policies, fostering engagement and innovation. You are skilled at shifting from reactive to proactive. You make decisions based on data, input and insight from the broader organisation, and pro-actively advise the rest of the Executive / Global Leadership Team.
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Person specification Experience and skills •
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Comprehensive HR experience, including a complete understanding of and hands-on exposure to the full mix of HR functions Experience operating at Executive or Senior Leadership levels within a similar sized organisation – ideally with an international, non-profit organisation Credibility and ability to act as a trusted advisor on people issues and organisational strategy; with the ability to link human resources as a driver and influencer of business performance. Experience of leading culture change with demonstrated ability to develop a high-performance culture Experience of managing people across multiple countries / continents, with competency and capacity building in a matrix structure Strong project management skills with demonstrated ability to manage short term deliverables concurrent with longer-term strategic objectives. Strong consultative style with proven experience supporting employees across multiple countries Strong communication and collaboration skills Skilled at negotiation and influencing Adept at maximising and optimising systems and processes, creating structures that enable people to deliver at their best Ability to develop and embed practices that celebrate cultural diversity and EDI Experience of working in different countries, with an understanding of the application of local employment laws and frameworks in different international jurisdictions
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Proactive and results-oriented High empathy and EQ Strategic thinker Collaborative / Team player Attention to detail Ability to inspire, coach and influence Director of People and Culture - 9
How to Apply Timeline Closing Date: First stage interviews: Final interviews:
Midnight on 18 April 2022 late April 2022 mid May 2022
Selection process All candidates will receive an update regarding their application after the closing date. We advise candidates to add the role email to their safe senders list and regularly check their spam folder.
Equality Statement United World Schools is an equal opportunities employer and actively promotes diversity and strongly encourages applications from within Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities and under-represented groups. UWS is committed to the safeguarding of children and ensuring we recruit safely is central to this commitment. The successful candidate will be required to undertake a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check as a condition of employment.
Queries All correspondence, at this stage, should be via Oxford HR. To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button on the job advert page, complete our online application form, and submit your CV and cover letter in two different documents, which should be prepared before applying as they will be considered in the application process.
The cover letter should be no more than two pages long and explain why you are interested in this post and how your skills and experience make you a good fit. The document should be saved in MS Word in the following format: Your First NameYour Last Name-Document Name-Date (mmyy) e.g., Pat-JonesCV-032022-UWS or Pat-Jones-CoverLetter-032022-UWS.
If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information, or would like to have an informal discussion, please email at uws-people-and-culture@ oxfordhr.co.uk in the first instance.
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About Oxford HR Oxford HR operates globally - mainly within the international development and charity sectors. We carry out retained executive search mandates at board and senior management levels. We also offer human resource and organisational development consultancy. Oxford HR has many years of experience in search as well as an extensive network of international development, social sector, corporate, public sector, and academic contacts from across the world. We carry out comprehensive and often international searches designed to meet the specific needs of our client.
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OXFORD
LONDON
AMSTERDAM
NAIROBI
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Workify Africa,
Oxford
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Nairobi,
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+254 (0) 797 233 217
www.oxfordhr.co.uk | Company No. 6456325
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