The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.
IRC is seeking a Senior Vice President (SVP), People & Culture to develop and execute the organization’s strategic plan to further create a best practices People & Culture unit aligned with IRC’s vision, mission, and goals. IRC continues to pioneer operational and programmatic excellence in the humanitarian sector, and this exciting and rewarding role will serve as a catalyst and influencer in the advancement of the wellbeing and productivity of IRC’s global workforce. Acting as an effective business partner, the SVP, People & Culture will be highly engaged with the CEO, senior leadership team, and Board of Directors and will provide strategic and operational solutions to the company. The ideal candidate is a highly empathetic, entrepreneurial, and emotionally intelligent executive with expertise as a people systems builder that can influence cultural progress and will be able to navigate the complexities and nuances of IRC’s purpose and diverse contexts in which we work. This global leadership position will role model our Values, directly influence the employee experience and drive significant cultural advancements.
The SVP, People & Culture will be responsible for maximizing the continuation of a global transformation of IRC’s global workforce culture by harnessing the full depth and breadth of the Human Resources, GEDI (Gender, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion) and Learning & Development teams by capitalizing on the entire matrixed structure across our field programs. This includes involvement on mandates that span the entire employee lifecycle with a particular emphasis on Duty of Care & Wellbeing, Leadership Development, Inclusion, Workforce Planning and Workplace Safeguarding. Building organizational capability is a strategic imperative for the organization, requiring a targeted use of talent management as an instrument of business transformation to develop a higher-performance culture and to facilitate the delivery of outcomes to meet strategic objectives. Ultimate success will be measured not by counting department programs or service delivery metrics, but long-term sustainable organizational change and workforce impact that relies more on innovative ideas and deft execution. In a limited resource environment this leader will use thoughtful, planful and practical means to focus and finish key People & Culture commitments.
The primary focus of the role is at the strategic level. This will require the application of business acumen, strong leadership, professional knowledge, and personal judgement to a variety of dynamic and complex demands. Twenty percent of the role is dedicated to leading the IRC globally in partnership with other members of IRC’s Leadership Board.
The SVP, People & Culture will support all levels of IRC in the achievement of the organization’s Strategy100 People goal. This will include translation of people strategies into tangible and practical methods that can be communicated throughout the organization as part of an ongoing expectation setting, change management and performance management process. The SVP, People & Culture will lead the creation of scalable global organizational strategies and processes that build & foster the organization’s vision of a high-performance, diverse global team of employees and leaders that embody a resilient, courageous, collaborative, and compassionate workforce. The SVP, People & Culture will be a proactive, resourceful, and pragmatic leader with a strong desire to drive high performance and transformation. This leader will provide sound advice, counsel direction and decisions to ensure mindset, competencies and required skills are aligned to the current and future growth strategies.
Key Accountabilities
Leadership
• Serve as a proactive, and influential strategic partner and advisor to the CEO, the Leadership Board, and the Board of Directors.
• Review and establish priorities, plans and delivery for all elements of a multi-year global People strategy.
• Serve as chief steward and advocate of IRC’s Strategy100 People Goal as a key outcome of the organization’s strategy and enabler of client outcomes.
• Build cohesive business cases for change through high order collaboration and the influencing of outcomes.
• Lead the People and Culture function to partner with the business to deliver direct business support outcomes, ensuring the pro-active and effective operation of sub-functions within the broader team, aligned to IRC’s values and leadership principles.
• Lead the capability development of the People and Culture team to create a performance oriented, outcomes focused, and customer centric culture.
• Role model good leadership practices aligned to IRC’s Leadership Standards, including impacting critical decisions, unifying functions, developing direct reports, and creating an inclusive environment.
Human Resources and Learning & Development
• Support and maintain an HR aligned team which is positioned to deliver a pro-active service to the business
• Drive and influence innovation, championing key business transformation projects, which continually moves the organization forward and support the achievement of its strategic objectives.
• Develop/manage workforce plans to ensure resources are properly aligned to meet objectives and emerging challenges.
• Support succession planning processes and all related talent development initiatives.
• Challenge, test and deliver innovative service delivery models that adapt and change with internal and external demands.
• Develop and execute a tangible IRC People Brand to maximize employee attraction and retention
Gender Equality, Diversity, Inclusion (GEDI)
• Champion IRC’s guiding principles: client-centered, intersectionality, decoloniality, accountability and engagement
• Partner with the Chief GEDI Officer to execute the GEDI Action Plan
• Continuously evaluate all employee policies, practices, and programs, ensuring fair, equitable and inclusive outcomes.
Wellbeing & Safeguarding
• Be the strategic leader and champion of workplace psychosocial health, safety, and well-being for employees. Build a strong culture where health, safety and wellbeing are fully integrated in all areas of the business.
• Partner with the Director of Safeguarding and programming leadership to drive delivery of IRC’s Safeguarding Strategy, ensuring that global Workplace practices are best in class and taken up across all parts of IRC.
Candidate Qualifications
• Senior leadership experience as a trusted advisor and business partner to the President/CEO and C-Suite leaders
• Experience leading complex organization-wide transformations across large, global organizations (operating model design, culture change, employee experience)
• Breadth and depth of experience in Human Capital / People Management to ensure effectiveness, high return on People & Culture investments and strong alignment with business strategies
• Influenced organization design and development
• International track record, can effectively and effortlessly relate to multi-cultural teams and client experiences
• Drive, energy, and passion for the “human” in Human Resources / People & Culture
• Possesses and continuously demonstrates excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to collaborate at all levels of an organization, and influence business peers and executive teams
• Proactive, self-starter with a hands-on approach; ability to balance both the strategic and operational needs of the role
• Proven leader with successful track record of leading the people agenda and complex change efforts either from a business or HR function
• Deep understanding and experience in driving transformative change, from a culture and business perspective. Project management expertise is key
• This position is an onsite New York City position with the occasional opportunity for remote working.
Key Candidate Competencies
Influencing Collaboratively
• Successful track record of building credible relationships through proven powerful communication and persuasion skills across complex global organizations.
• Ability to quickly build trust, create open channels of communication, and achieve collective buy-in is critical. Strong EQ/interpersonal skills and be effective across all stakeholders including the Board, peers, and the full range of employees within the organization.
Shaping Strategy
• Creative and capable, and broad thinking about business – not just People & Culture issues – ability to think about the organization on a global, macro level.
• Capable of partnering with senior executives in a data-driven and insightful manner regarding people and organizational challenges.
Developing Talent
• An expert on the principles and methods of managing and developing talent – prior experience building teams and will actively engage the team to develop plans and resolve issues through collaborative problem solving.
• A natural leader across the organization and will have demonstrated a track record of successfully envisioning and implementing leadership development initiatives that address challenges arising out of a complex organization.
Delivering Results
• Must possess the ability, determination, and tenacity to successfully move multiple initiatives and get things done within a large organization, being hands-on and able to get into the details, as necessary. The successful candidate must be decisive and action-oriented, with a demonstrated record of getting things done in an organization where partnering and collaboration are valued skills.
Compensation:
Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.
US Benefits:
We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days depending on role and tenure, medical insurance starting at $143 per month, dental starting at $6.50 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with immediately vested matching, disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.
Standard of Professional Conduct: The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.
Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.
How to apply
https://careers.rescue.org/us/en/job/req57151/Senior-Vice-President-People-Culture