• This is a senior leadership role within WaterAid UK, reporting to the Global Executive Director of People. The post holder is a member of WaterAid UK’s leadership team who, together with the Executive Directors’ team, are responsible for ensuring the delivery of WaterAid UK’s contribution to the global strategy. The post holder is also a member of the Global People Executive, working in partnership with the Global People Team and other member People Leads to develop global people strategies.
• The WaterAid UK People Director will provide leadership to the WaterAid UK People Team, supporting the delivery of highly effective local people services and ensuring the delivery of WaterAid’s global people strategy within WaterAid UK. An Executive Support Manager, Head of People International, Head of People UK, Talent Acquisition Lead, Internal Communications & Engagement Partner, Global Reward & Mobility Lead, and Global Safety & Security Lead all report directly into the role.

Accountabilities

• Provide leadership in enabling WaterAid UK to be a great place to work in all its countries of operation, employing highly engaged and skilled people who are supported, through good leadership and management, to achieve impact, deliver to high standards and thrive in their work.
• Champion WaterAid’s values and lead WaterAid UK’s diversity, equity, and empowerment agenda.
• Be an inspiring leader for the WaterAid UK People Team, role modelling our values and providing direction, support, mentoring and coaching. Accountable for translating global people strategies, standards, and approaches into key initiatives for WaterAid UK and for effective delivery to ensure the highest quality of talent acquisition, engagement and retention.
• Accountable for developing strategies to specifically enable the delivery of WaterAid UK’s priorities. Lead a team of people business partners who provide support to WaterAid UK Executive Directors, the WaterAid UK leadership team and managers across the organisation.
• Work alongside the WaterAid UK Executive Directors to develop strategies and approaches. Recent examples include reviewing and agreeing high level actions from the Global Employee Engagement Survey; designing and setting up a senior leadership team across WaterAid UK; strengthening WaterAid UK’s approach to ensure a high performance culture; and agreeing principles for hybrid working in the UK.
• Develop and monitor people performance indicators and measures for success against plans. Support leaders to embed safeguarding and security commitments within WaterAid UK country contexts.
• Continuously review the effectiveness and efficiency of the WaterAid UK organisation, identifying opportunities to optimise structures, capabilities, and ways of working.
• Provide leadership, support and coaching to build confident and equipped local people teams in the countries where WaterAid UK works, recognizing and understanding the different operating environments, challenges and opportunities.
• Ensure WaterAid UK has appropriate people technology systems and processes. Be a key member of WaterAid UK’s planning team, ensuring WaterAid UK’s strategies and plans are proactively resourced with the people we need, with the right skills, in the right locations.
• Build an external network with relevant communities of practice and experts.

Requirements

Person specification

Essential skills and behaviours

• A commitment to WaterAid’s values of respect, accountability, courage, collaboration, integrity and innovation and a working style that reflects these.
• Significant senior experience of strategic business partnering and people strategy development and delivery in an international and multicultural environment.
• A track record of having created great workplaces with high performance cultures, high engagement levels and compelling employer brands.
• Experience of creating safe and inclusive environments where diversity thrives.
• An inspiring and empowering leader, with experience of building, leading, managing and motivating diverse teams.
• Sensitive to the different cultural, legal and market influences on people management practices within the contexts in which WaterAid works.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills and a high level of emotional intelligence.
• Sound judgment. Able to influence senior managers and be seen as a credible source of advice.
• A deliverer and effective decision maker. Flexible, resourceful, innovative and able to navigate complexity.
• A team player, able to build collaborative relationships.
• Experience of leading and advising on organisational design and change management. Good coaching and mentoring skills and an approach that builds capacity rather than dependency.
• Experience of embedding data-led approaches supported by effective systems. Willing and able to travel internationally.

Desirable skills

• Ability to speak languages spoken in countries where WaterAid works, particularly French.
• Experience of working in the international development sector and of living or working in one of the countries where WaterAid has programmes.