Global Director, People Capability & Culture (PCC) in City of London

Women for Women International (WfWI) works in some of the most dangerous places to be a woman. We serve women survivors of war in conflict and post-conflict areas around the world in eight countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Palestine and South Sudan. Our core belief is that stronger women build stronger nations, and with access to knowledge, resources, and a support network, a woman can rebuild her life and improve her community.

In our 30-year history, WfWI has reached over half a million women using a proven holistic model that targets the most marginalized women with a package of social and economic knowledge, skills, and resources. In addition to the 12-month Stronger Women, Stronger Nations training program, WfWI provides a range of complementary and innovative programming, including engaging men as allies in women’s empowerment, supporting graduates in their development of cooperatives and associations that continue long after graduation, addressing financial inclusion through new technologies, training women graduates as Change Agents, and maintaining a robust monitoring system to track the outcomes of women from baseline to end line and post-graduation, as well as targeted research. This feeds into an organizational priority on evidence-based programming and policy and advocacy work at the community, regional, national, and international levels. When women have the right tools, they realize the power within themselves to transform their lives, their families, their communities, and finally, their entire nations.

Candidates must be located in WfWI countries: Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, the UK, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Germany and Palestine.

Purpose

The Global Director, People Capability and Culture, leads a proactive, trusted People Capability and Culture (PCC) function in the Global Support Center (GSC) that supports the organization’s diverse staff and leadership to drive a high-performing and values and mission-driven culture. The Global Director PCC is accountable across all WfWI entities. (S)he builds a learning culture, holds the trust and confidence of staff in the PCC function, and keeps policies, processes and tools simple and usable. The Global Director PCC strengthens cohesion across and within teams, builds and supports capable managers so delivery is consistent, compliant, fair and values-led. The Global Director PCC is a champion of diversity, equity and inclusion. This role stewards a single, well-governed PCC knowledge hub so everyone knows what to use, where to find it, and which version is current. This role is a member of the Global Leadership Team (GLT) and is called upon to join the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) when relevant issues are tabled. A key member of the Operations Leadership Team, the Global Director PCC develops the PCC strategy, plans effectively, and ensures that all operational functions and global leadership are aligned with organizational PCC policies, procedures, and a commitment to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture.

Key Responsibilities

• Engagement – Set the global PCC strategy and annual plans that support a high-performing, mission-driven organization and a culture reflecting the organization’s values to achieve excellence in program delivery, fundraising goals, and financial sustainability.
• Develop, update and manage the Global Support Centre People budget.
• Own global PCC policies and standards with country addenda.
• Sponsor learning and accountability elements of the culture, including Skills Assessment, Managers and Leadership Academy, simple toolkits, and routines that help managers lead well and staff learn, grow and hold one another accountable.
• Partner with ELT, GLT, Country Directors, Finance, Safeguarding, and Legal to integrate people, risk and cost decisions.
• Embed fairness and equity principles across cycles, transparent criteria, documented exceptions, and routine equity checks.

Leadership and Representation – Be the visible PCC lead with ELT GLT, Country Directors, Boards and external partners. Support the CEO and COO and the Director of Governance and Executive Operations to prepare for governance committees. Model WfWI values and build trust with Country Offices and the Global Support Center. Cultivate a strong unified leadership culture that supports a diverse, equitable and inclusive global organization. Ensure a cohesive global PCC team that is motivated, technically proficient, and trusted. Communicate simply, with one-page guides, flows and FAQs. Maintain an external benchmarking network to stay current on best practice.

Delivery – Build a learning culture and lead the Skills Assessment and Manager & Leadership Academy with practical toolkits and coaching. Turn survey insights into concrete management habits and coaching. Embed DEIB into hiring, development and progression.

People Operations and Policy – Own the Global Employee Handbook and country addenda with attestation and version control. Develop and execute people-centered organizational development strategies, processes and tools that support a high-performing, diverse, equitable and inclusive organization. Standardize core processes (recruiting, onboarding, performance management, Employee Relations, exits, and data changes). Partner with Internal Communications for clear, findable guidance.

Employee Relations, Compliance and Risk – Oversee timely, fair ER cases across jurisdictions with proper documentation and audit trails. Ensure legal compliance on contracts, working time, leave, benefits, data privacy and records retention. Lead labor-relations engagement where applicable.

Compensation, Benefits And Workforce Costing – Apply the global compensation approach consistently, use market data for offers, adjustments and promotions within bands. Partner with Finance on annual COLA, merit and market adjustments, forecasting and headcount governance. Oversee benefits strategy across entities with a fairness and equity lens.

Talent Acquisition and Mobility – Run a transparent global recruitment framework, time-to-hire targets, and internal mobility pathways. Manage executive and scarce-skills searches with clear briefs and vendor oversight. Design, execute, and maintain a progressive, flexible, inclusive, and responsible talent management strategy to attract, retain, support, and develop staff across levels and locations.

Workforce Planning and Organization Design – Lead position control and organisation structure accuracy across systems. Co-lead restructuring, spans and layers reviews, and change plans with all departments. Maintain succession plans for critical roles and a simple internal moves process.

HRIS, Knowledge & Document Management, Data and Analytics – Own people data quality in core systems and define the minimum data set, approvals and audits. Employ new technologies to support a global agile work environment with fit-for-purpose digital solutions. Steward the PCC Knowledge Hub as the single source of truth. Provide a quarterly PCC dashboard for leadership decision-making.

Wellbeing, Health & Safety – Lead a practical Staff Wellbeing Policy and Programme. Promote practical wellbeing and workload norms. Ensure required training coverage for safeguarding, conduct and compliance.

Governance, Budget and Vendors – Manage PCC budget and vendors. Prepare ELT and Board inputs on people risks, plans and costs.

Required Skills, Knowledge and Expertise – Master’s degree and/or relevant professional accreditation. A minimum of 10+ years of progressive PCC/HR leadership in multi-country contexts (INGO or similar), with a track record of delivering change. Senior PCC leadership in multi-country INGOs or similar, including leading change across entities and legal contexts. Demonstrated experience in culture building and reinforcing and change management. Strong record simplifying policy and processes, building manager capability and trust in HR. Deep Employee Relations and investigations experience, partnering with Legal and Safeguarding. Proven compensation, benefits and workforce cost management in resource-constrained settings. HRIS/ATS and analytics proficiency with measurable improvements in data quality and reporting. Excellent cross-cultural communication, coaching, and influencing skills in complex matrices.

Preferred Experience – Experience with works councils or unions in related contexts. Experience in at least some of the legal contexts of WfWI Country Offices. Experience integrating safeguarding, legal and PCC workflows.

Seniority level – Director

Employment type – Contract

Job function – Business Development and Sales

Industries – Non-profit Organizations