Sr. Director, Global People Operations

About CRS
Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works tosave, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Job Summary:
Our Global People Operations Team is currently looking for a Senior Director People Operations to provide leadership and oversight to the positive employee relations, safeguarding, HR capacity strengthening and policy and compliance functions in support of CRS’ Global People Services.
The Senior Director will be responsible for collaborating as a thought partner to launch the People Operations Center of Expertise. The individual in thi s role will lead the Global employee relations practice providing consultative employee relations support, HR safeguarding and HR capacity strengthening. This role will work closely with our People Support Team to drive a positive global employee experience for our operations in 60 countries and in the US. The individual will work closely with People Support regional and local HR and all levels of management to standardize and strengthen our global employee relations practices, including engaging and guiding urgent or complex employee relations, investigations, or compliance concerns. Confirms compliance and the ongoing assessments and audits of laws, policies, procedures, and programs under the direction of the VP People Operations. This will include research and review of legislative, regulatory, and/or donor requirements and make updates to agency and local policies and practices.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic guidance and coaching to guide regional People Support, local country program HR managers, and supervisors in understanding and implementing company policies and practices related to performance, discipline, safeguarding, positive employee relations and related topics.
• Coach and guide Leaders and HR professionals on the employee experience expectations as part of positive employee relations, compliance, employee engagement, performance management, and the training and development of employees.
• Partner with our learning professionals to develop and implement trainings to ensure our agency culture exemplifies “respect for human dignity”, embrace compliance as a means to improve employee relations and engagement, enhance team morale and improve agency performance in support of 2030 strategy.
• Partner with Director Employee Experience to effectively support the confidential employee relations and safeguarding processes through all employee relations actions including performance management and investigations. Oversee and ensure that where discipline and/or corrective actions are necessary that there is adherence to decision making process.
• Enable best practices and programs that foster positive employee relations for our global workforce by identifying, developing, and driving philosophies and programs to improve employee engagement in the workplace.
• Manage CRS Policy Program by developing, implementing, and updating global policies and procedures to identity and mitigate risks, to meet government, sector, donor and agency compliance requirements, policies, and standard processes.
• Develop, maintain, enhance, and administer effective compliance training programs through various delivery formats that focus on the elements of compliance and effective employee relations and seek to ensure that appropriate employees develop meaningful knowledge of the value and importance of compliance.
• Collaborate with agency leadership and other personnel to identify and provide ongoing risk assessment of existing and emerging business practices for potential areas of compliance vulnerability and develop/implement preventive action plans to help maintain compliance, and where necessary develop and implement corrective action plans for the resolution of issues.
• Partner with Regional People Support HR community of practice to manage and deliver standard programs and initiatives i.e., strengthened incident reporting system, performance management and employee experience programs.
• Work with Regional People Support and management to develop and implement training strategies to increase People Support capacity to meet employee needs, including PS capacity strengthening as well as supervisory training, interventions, and skill development.
• Initiate compliance audits and provide regular updates and reports to the senior management on the operation and progress of compliance efforts and initiatives, audit findings, investigation outcomes, and project status updates.
• Provide guidance, coaching and consultation to the People Operations and People Support teams and leaders on day-to-day people management matters and workplace disputes.
• Develop and pursue new goals and objectives for improvement in areas of compliance and improved employee engagement and training.
• Communicate with employees regarding employee relations concerns; provide guidance and recommendations for resolution of issues.
• Maintain a solid understanding and reporting of all active investigations to effectively address questions and concerns raised by VP People Operations, SG Steering Committee, and other key leaders.
• Work closely with People Operations and Ethics Unit in the development of employee relations and safeguarding investigation best practices and metrics.
• Work closely with VP HR Operations in areas of employment and labor law as required. Provide training, support, and guidance to managers as related to anticipated “hot spots” and monitor trends and outcomes.
• Counsel employees, managers, and HR professionals on concerns related to applicable US EEO laws including Title VII, the ADA, ADEA, FLSA, FMLA, State Leave, and other similar federal and state and local laws in 60 countries and in the US.
• Manage expatriate compensation administration including allowances, internal mobility and relocations.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• Minimum of ten years directly related experience in global, multi-state, multi-site organization(s), and proven history of management growth and director level team development
• Experience with global employee relations

Preferred Qualifications

• Degree in Human Resources or closely related field
• USAID, UN and experience with other donors strongly preferred
• Experience with employee relations in African nations preferred

Travel: At this time, travel when required. When feasible in the future, regular periodic travel to CRS headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. This position could be remote with sufficient overlapping work hours with headquarters.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong knowledge of US federal and state employment laws and global compliance requirements in the countries where we work
• FAR and AIDAR knowledge and experience strongly preferred
• Strong verbal and written communication skills; strong editor and proofreader
• Exceptional listening and complex issue evaluation skills, attention to detail
• Must be able to handle confidential matters with discretion
• Ethical, with a commitment to agency values
• Demonstrate the interpersonal skills and credibility to engage an effective internal consultant working as an GPS expert and will all levels of CRS leadership.
• Strong analytical skills, including demonstrated experience identifying and quantifying complex problems and providing effective resolutions.
• Ability to work well under pressure on multiple tasks concurrently and meet deadlines in a fast-paced work environment.
• Strong HR project management experience
• Ability to work in a dynamic, rapid-changing environment by prioritizing situations which require sense of urgency
• Comfort with ambiguity and ability to use sound judgement to drive complex issues to resolution and influence to achieve results
• Excellent interpersonal, problem-solving, and strong critical thinking and analytical skills
• Proficiency in MS Office (particularly Excel and Powerpoint).
• Ability to adapt quickly to changing priorities and projects.
• Ability to deliver on specific performance goals and effectively manage objectives.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Integrity

• Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Builds Relationships

• Develops Talent

• Strategic Mindset

• Accountability & Stewardship

Supervisory Responsibilities: Human Resources Business Partners, Director of Compliance, HR Capacity strengthening and HR Safeguarding

Key Working Relationships:

• Internal: Regional and Country Program People Services, Overseas Operations Risk and Compliance, Office of General Council, Human Resources Business Partners, Agency Leadership, Audit and Risk, Director HR Compliance Officer

• External: INGO Reward and DEI Forums, SHRM, Humentum

Work Conditions/Environment Conditions

• Normal conditions for an office environment

What we offer

CRS offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, life insurance, vision, generous retirement savings plan and the opportunity to work in a collaborative, mission-driven culture that is committed to improving the lives of the poor throughout the world.

****Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.*

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.< br />
CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.