People Director – Avaaz Foundation

About Avaaz

Avaaz is an international campaigning and advocacy organization that provides its global membership of over 60 million people with opportunities to change the world. This includes protecting our planet from climate change and other threats, and fighting to stop disinformation from undermining our democracies.

People Director Position Overview and Context

Avaaz is searching for an experienced and mission-driven People Director to join its multicultural, international team. This Director role will lead a  new People team to develop and manage our efforts to support a thriving staff team, an inclusive organizational culture, and equitable practices across all of our contact with potential and current staff.  This role will have core responsibilities in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), employment contract compliance, compensation and benefits, complaints and grievances, policies, staff development and performance assessments, and related HR functions. The position calls for a senior-level professional with deep experience in international settings, a proven commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and an interest in experimentation and iteration.

Avaaz’s team is based across six continents, in dozens of countries, and speaks dozens of languages. One of our  challenges (and opportunities) is to provide equitable experiences for all team members, while abiding by local laws, and with reference to local norms. The task is vast and exciting, with a requirement for visionary leadership and exceptional implementation across all areas of People.

Avaaz is currently undergoing an organizational change process, and many of the initial responsibilities of the People Director will be nested within that process. But the successful candidate will have an interest in all stages of People, from creating policies and the systems to support them, to implementing those in tandem with other aspects of organizational change, to maintaining and refining them over time in response to new organizational priorities or changes in relevant law. Avaaz is deeply committed to the overall sustainability, health, and resilience of our team, and the People Director will do all of the above while keeping that commitment at the forefront.

The People Director will lead the People Team and serve on the Executive Team. This position will report to the Acting CEO through the organisational change process.

 

Core Responsibilities

This People Director at Avaaz will be responsible for leading and overseeing the following areas of work, with the support of 3-4 additional staff.

 

Strategy and Organizational Design

• Serve on the Executive Team , providing expert advice and input on a broad range of organizational issues and helping the whole team to be our best
• Help steward any necessary organizational change processes related to culture and HR policy
• Help evolve our organizational design to maximize our ability to create positive change in the world
• Lead other aspects of People and HR functions as needed

 

Ensure Compliance

• Ensure that all Avaaz employment decisions, contracts, and policies comply with relevant laws and reflect Avaaz’s values

 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• Design, test, and implement systems that ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion across the entire organization
• Support Avaaz in the ongoing diversification our team
• Spearhead new initiatives for team support and equity

 

Ensuring Equitable Global Compensation and Benefits

• Create and implement compensation and benefits structures that are equitable across the various locations where we have team members
• Develop People policies that provide a high level of support to team members, that comply with relevant laws, and which are equitable across the various locations where our team members live

 

Promoting Leadership and Professional Growth

• Implement and iterate performance assessment processes, including making decisions on roles, career pathways, and promotions
• Vision and implement plans to ensure leadership growth and development for staff in pursuit of our mission

 

Management

• Manage estimated 3-5 direct reports
• Manage various projects and lead teams to success

 

Supporting Staff to Navigate Challenges

• Coach and support staff to navigate interpersonal challenges
• Design and manage any complaint or grievance reporting and oversee any required investigations
• Manage terminations and exits

 

Recruitment and Onboarding

• Ensure recruitment processes are compliant and follow best practices from an HR and DEI standpoint
• Support recruitment and onboarding as necessary

 

You should apply for this role if you have most of the following…

Preferred Experience and Knowledge

• 3+ years experience in a leadership role in People or Human Resources, ideally with an international team
• Expertise in employment compliance
• Experience leading DEI processes
• Experience in global compensation and benefits management

 

Preferred Aptitudes and Interests

• Passion and commitment to transformational campaigning, global citizen empowerment, and social change
• A growth mindset and a desire to challenge yourself
• Good strategic, creative, and innovative thinking
• Sensitivity, emotional maturity, and strong interpersonal skills
• An ability to work across a diverse team
• High professionalism, self-motivation, efficiency, and results-oriented delivery on short timelines
• Strong teamwork skills, comfort in a highly collaborative team culture with a hierarchical team structure
• Ability to support staff in crisis situations including warzones
• Strong project and staff management skills
• Ability to adjust quickly to changing conditions and requirements
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English; additional languages are an asset.

 

Location

This position is remote and would ideally be based in EMEA or Americas time zones. Avaaz is a virtual organization, with most of our work done over email, telephone, and Skype. Our staff members are based all over the world and ordinarily meet at team retreats twice per year (with the next in person retreat dates to be determined based on COVID-19 and the ability to travel safely).

 

Compensation and Benefits

Salary varies with location and experience, and is highly competitive with leading international nongovernmental organizations. Specific benefits also range with location, but all include 5 weeks paid vacation per year, 10 paid holidays, phone and home internet reimbursement, out-of-home office/co-working reimbursement, and professional development funds.

Avaaz is a global organization and salaries vary according to local cost of living. The full-package salary for this position ranges from $83,290 – 151,989 USD equivalent, depending on local cost of living and experience. An accurate range in local currency will be provided to candidates.

We may offer below the listed salary for high potential candidates with less experience, or above it for candidates with significantly more experience.

 

Avaaz’s commitment to equity and inclusion

As a global organization with millions of members around the world, it’s important to us that our team reflects the diversity needed to lead a movement of people from across the planet, rising to meet some of the most complex challenges humanity has ever faced. We believe we can only succeed by building a diverse team full of fresh perspectives and original ideas, and we are committed to creating a working environment in which everyone has an equal opportunity to fulfill their potential.

Our team includes native and non-native English speakers, the self-taught and university educated, people with all sorts of professional backgrounds. If doing the job you just read about would make you excited to come to work every day, if you’re talented, hard-working and committed to making a difference – we want you to apply.

Avaaz does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, ancestry, citizenship, colour, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, national origin, political affiliation, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you have suggestions for us on how to put these values into practice in our hiring process, we’d value your input. Please write to us at [email protected] with the subject line ‘Hiring Feedback’.

We’ll provide reasonable accommodations for qualified applicants with disabilities to participate in the application process, so please let us know if you have such a request when you apply.