Regional HR Director, Africa and Europe in London

International Justice Mission (IJM) is the global leader in protecting vulnerable people from violence around the world. Our team of over 1,200 professionals are at work worldwide in over 30 offices. Together we are on a mission to rescue millions, protect half a billion, and make justice unstoppable.

For over 25 years, IJM has pioneered the work to protect vulnerable people from violence. 9 out of 9 times in the last decade, IJM's Justice System Strengthening Projects have reduced slavery and violence between 50 and 85% for very large populations of people in poverty. As we grow to expand our impact to protect 500 million people from violence, we are seeking a Regional HR Director.

The Regional HR Director plays a pivotal role in enhancing organizational effectiveness by partnering closely with regional and global leaders to align HR strategies with IJM's mission and priorities. This role is strategic and innovative, supporting business growth and talent acquisition and development in complex, matrixed environments, and embedding a culture of agility, data-driven decision-making, and strategic partnership. The Regional HR Director collaborates closely with regional leadership, including the Regional President and management teams, as well as Global People Support (GPS), to ensure adherence to global standards and effective regional alignment.

In addition, the Regional HR Director incorporates regional and local adaptation to address specific labor laws, cultural contexts, and emerging business needs. Working in a matrixed environment, this role fosters collaboration with Country Directors and local HR teams.

This position is based in London, UK, and reports to the Regional Vice President of Strategy and Operations for Africa and Europe and is only available for candidates with the right to work in the UK.

• Strategy & Knowledge Development & Implementation
  • Actively participate in regional leadership team strategic planning, contributing HR insights that drive organizational objectives.
  • Develop and monitor regional HR policies, ensuring compliance with enterprise standards and labor laws through regular auditing and timely corrective actions.
  • Lead regional implementation of global HR systems, tools and processes (salary annual reviews, annual performance reviews, employee engagement, etc.) facilitating continuous compliance reviews and identifying future needs to enhance effectiveness.
  • Develop and maintain partnerships with external HR vendors and service providers to support regional HR operations.
  • Mentor and coach regional and country HR leaders and teams to enhance HR capacity and effectiveness.
• Networking & Partnership
  • Build and sustain strategic HR partnerships with regional leadership, line managers, and cross-functional teams.
  • Champion spiritual formation initiatives and nurture an inclusive and motivating work environment aligned with IJM's values.
  • Regularly engage with employees, interns, and fellows to encourage their development, well-being, and engagement.
• Policies and Procedures
  • Proactively review and recommend improvements to HR policies, procedures, compensation, benefits, and practices to enhance compliance, contextualization, socialization and awareness, engagement, and alignment with global standards.
  • Collaborate with GPS to align regional HR best practices within the global framework.
  • Apply deep knowledge of employment law and risk management.
• Communication and Employee Relations
  • Provide expert guidance on regional complex employee relations issues, equipping managers to navigate sensitive matters successfully.
  • Ensure that communications and change management initiatives maintain a people-centric focus, effectively supporting the needs of leadership and teams.
  • Lead compliant employee relations practices through transparent and fair policies, processes and procedures that mitigate risk and enhance employee experience and trust.
  • Have a deep understanding of disciplinary, capability, misconduct, investigation policies, procedures and lead teams in fair and effective delivery.
• Recruitment and Reward
  • Lead the HR team to deliver the talent pipeline in collaboration with country leaders and aligned to the regional budget, recruitment and equal opportunity policies and engagement with technical platform solutions e.g. Workday recruitment module ATS.
  • Champion safe recruitment practices that mitigate risk to the organization and its stakeholders and ensure background checks are legal and complete.
  • Understand deeply and lead on the hiring and contracting models relevant to the region including local and expatriate employment, employers of record, procurement of consultants and partner with legal to ensure compliance with legal.
  • Ensure the program countries in region align to the global pay and global mobility policies, job evaluation frameworks and job titling conventions to ensure internal standardization and pay equity.
  • Act as HR partner to global functions hiring in region to ensure hosted employment in region is understood by all stakeholders and managed well for the best employee experience.
  • Lead the annual pay review process ensuring that the country leaders and HR receive the training and support they need.
  • Lead and deliver the recruitment, contracting, payroll and reward for the regional support team.
• Training and Development
  • Lead the regional performance management process, ensuring timely communication and training for managers and staff.
  • Lead regional employee engagement aligned with the global process and hold ownership and accountability for monitoring regional action plans.
  • Identify and recommend relevant training and development opportunities supporting employee growth and organizational needs.
  • Monitor, assess, and report on workforce retention, promotion, and succession planning efforts in partnership with GPS.
  • Plan resource needs and assist in developing recruitment and onboarding programs aligned with IJM values and global strategies; identify and address retention risks.
  • Lead the region to comply with technical platform solutions e.g. LMS.
• Documentation, Reporting & Data Management
  • Develop and present regional People KPIs to leadership, leveraging data analytics to drive informed HR and business decisions.
  • Analyze workforce metrics to support talent strategy design and communicate findings effectively to key stakeholders.
  • Collaborate with finance and legal teams to develop and monitor HR budgets and compliance adherence.
• Compliance
  • Ensure employment statutory compliance in each country in their Region.
  • Collaborate with budget managers on HR-related budget planning and expense monitoring.
  • Collaborate closely with GPS to maintain excellence in HR service delivery.
  • Manage employee separation processes including exit packages, interviews and asset recovery.
• General Tasks
  • Engage fully in IJM's community of spiritual formation, upholding organizational values in all professional activities and behaviors.

• Masters qualification in a relevant field: Chartered Member CIPD Level 7 qualification or equivalent outside the UK.
• Minimum 10 years of progressively responsible HRBP experience, ideally within complex, matrixed, and global organizations with experience of INGO environments.
• Demonstrated experience with HR systems such as Workday and championing the benefits.
• Experience in business operations, financial literacy, and data-driven HR management.
• Strengthening and training managers in performance management, employee relations policies, processes and practice and supporting high employee engagement.
• Talent attraction and reward experience aligned to company strategy and values.
• Proven ability to partner at senior leadership levels.
• Experience working with culturally diverse and geographically dispersed teams.
• Experience in line and team management and deep understanding of employee engagement and performance.

• Eager commitment to IJM's Core Values: Christian, Professional and Bridge-Building.
• Mature Christian faith; can assent to the Apostles' Creed.
• Modelling the IJM values of professional, bridge-building and Christian.
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills combined with operational execution capabilities and willingness and ability to address gaps.
• Excellent interpersonal, training, coaching, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Proficiency in HR analytics and evidence-based decision making.
• Compliant and best practice policy-drafting, contextualization and implementation and applied risk management based on deep understanding of employment and other applicable related laws and regulations.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and lead change with resilience and creativity.
• Demonstrated business acumen and understanding of organizational financials.
• Self-awareness and willing to learn and grow; curious, agile, customer-oriented, empathetic.
• Willingness and availability to travel in region and abroad as determined necessary.
• Existing right to work in one of the hiring locations specified with the ability to maintain without sponsorship.

Upload Resume, Cover Letter & Statement of Faith in one PDF document.

A statement of faith should describe your Christian faith and how you see it as relevant to your involvement with IJM. The statement can either be incorporated into the cover letter or submitted as a separate document and should include, at a minimum, a description of your spiritual disciplines (prayer, study, etc.) and your current fellowship or place of worship.

IJM holds strict safeguarding principles and a zero tolerance to violations of the Safeguarding Policy, Protection against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment Policy, and Code of Ethics. Candidate selection is based on technical competence, recruitment, selection and hiring criteria subject to assessing the candidate's value congruence and thorough background, police clearance, and reference check processes.

At IJM, we're committed to building a diverse workforce through fair and equitable employment practices. IJM encourages people of any race, color, age, sex, marital status or political ideology to apply for employment.

IJM requires a background check, police clearance and thorough review of references with an employment offer and/or employment contract.