Director, People & Culture

MEDA•Waterloo, ON

9d•Hybrid

About The Position

Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) invites applications for a Director, People & Culture, based in Waterloo, Canada. This is a key leadership and hands-on role that provides strategic and day-to-day HR/People & Culture advisory and technical support to the North America and Latin America teams. The Director, People & Culture also provides P&C leadership on strategic projects aimed at improving MEDA’s culture, employee experience, and P&C operations, collaborating with other members of the P&C team. Additionally, this role is responsible for leading the organization’s Talent Acquisition function on a global basis. MEDA's mission is to create business solutions to poverty, built on a foundation of Mennonite business roots and faith-based values, within the global context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They believe business solutions are effective interventions to address poverty, and through a market-systems approach and strategic partnerships, MEDA enables access to finance and provides business and technical expertise to build transformative agri-food market systems that create decent jobs, allowing traditionally excluded groups to become active participants in a sustainable economy.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration or related field
10-12 years of progressive Human Resources experience, including solid business partnering experience, ideally in a global organization
Strong knowledge and proven experience in setting up, implementing and managing a global talent acquisition strategy in a multinational organization
Intermediate experience with MS Office programs, including Excel and PPT
Proven ability to conduct effective presentations and training
Experience leading a project from inception to completion
Proven leadership experience including the ability to lead through others
Strong business acumen including experience and familiarity with a variety of business principles, environments and requirements in a corporate environment and the demonstrated ability to understand organizational objectives and link the to day-to-day actions.
Fluency in English and Spanish, both written and spoken, is a preference

Nice To Haves

CHRP or CHRL Designation
Ability to organize and prioritize several tasks at once efficiently and effectively
Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills
Strong written and verbal skills with the ability to communicate effectively and efficiently
Demonstrated experience dealing successfully with confidential and sensitive issues
Politically astute and culturally sensitive
Ability to communicate in a friendly and informative manner with people from a wide variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds and lifestyles
Willingness and flexibility to deal directly with colleagues working in other parts of the world from a scheduling perspective
Solid negotiation, conflict resolution, and people management skills
Excellent teamwork and team building skills and the ability to gain the confidence and trust of leaders and employees
Appreciation and support of MEDA’s faith statement, values and goals
Ability and willingness for occasional travel to developing countries

Responsibilities

Provide advice and guidance to senior leadership in meeting their business goals from a P&C perspective
Establish and manage relationships with corporate and regional leaders and Country Manager(s) within the region to support MEDA’s overall business and P&C strategy/objectives
Provide guidance to people leaders on a range of P&C matters including employee relations issues, performance management, employee engagement, turnover, etc.
Lead end to end recruitment, manage employee onboarding and offboarding processes, including documentation, orientation, and exit interviews
Collaborate with P&C team members to foster positive employee relations and maintain a productive work environment
Support and implement ongoing global employee engagement initiatives, such as employee surveys and other mechanisms to “listen” to staff and identify improvement areas for the business
In consultation with people leaders, escalate complex issues to the VP, P&C
Partner across the P&C team and with clients to apply effective performance management, learning and compensation practices to impact engagement, and ensure Country P&C Manager(s) are trained and encouraged to drive these initiatives locally
Oversee the day to day running of our Waterloo office which we co- share with another organization.
Manage and lead P&C resources, providing guidance, coaching and feedback to optimize performance
Provide leadership, guidance and direction to Country Manager(s) around P&C programs, policies, and practices, ensuring compliance with organization, country, donor and legal requirements as applicable
Stay up to date on changes in employment laws, within assigned region(s)
Collaborate with other Directors, P&C and VP, P&C on files or projects as required
Oversee the Talent Management (Recruitment and Selection) program globally on behalf of P&C as the Practice Lead, taking a strategic view and ensuring program goals and results support overall business objectives
Evolve the Talent Acquisition function in line with MEDA’s strategic direction and business priorities and ensure an excellent candidate and employee experience
Continually assess the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection processes, research best practices, obtain feedback from new hires and hiring managers, and leverage data to refine and improve the processes over time. Initiative and lead development of and updates to recruiting processes, procedures, and systems
Develop and facilitate training for hiring managers on the recruiting process and provide periodic training to management staff, building the skills and commitment of hiring managers to follow best practices in all stages of the talent acquisition life cycle
Develop creative ideas and innovative recruiting techniques to source qualified professionals and a diverse talent pool and share with P&C colleagues, serving as thought leader
Develop/improve recruitment templates and forms and maintain employee contract templates for North America & Latin America
Ensure compliance with P&C policies, procedures, and legal regulations
Implementation and communication of P&C policies and programs including updates to the employee handbook
Stay updated on employment laws and regulations to provide accurate information and support to employees
Respond to line manager and employee inquiries and provide guidance on P&C policies, procedures, and programs
Collaborate with P&C Leadership and P&C team members to prioritize, develop and deliver services and products that add value to MEDA departments, regions and country offices, in support of MEDA's strategy
Contribute to P&C budgeting process
Supports the VP, P&C in the design and delivery of strategic projects intended to enhance the culture/employee experience or to improve P&C operations.
Contribute to and potentially oversee portions of annual processes such as strategic and business planning
Review the effectiveness of and evolve the P&C Service Delivery Model in collaboration with P&C Leadership
Represent the VP at the Executive Leadership Team as required