Global Senior Associate, People and Culture

Global Senior Associate, People and Culture

Nairobi, Kenya

Overview

Pharo Foundation (“the Foundation”) is a pioneering, mission-driven organisation working to build a vibrant, productive, and self-reliant Africa. Founded and fully funded by Pharo Management, an emerging markets hedge fund, the Foundation represents a new model of philanthropic capitalism: a private endowment using its own capital to design, fund, and operate development programmes with private-sector discipline and long-term commitment.

Over the next decade, the Foundation’s ambition is to deliver lasting impact across three interdependent missions:
• Empowering the next generation through affordable, high-quality education.
• Solving water scarcity by building and operating sustainable water infrastructure.
• Driving economic productivity by unlocking jobs, investment, and innovation through both non-profit and for-profit ventures.

The Foundation operates in Ethiopia, Somaliland, Kenya, and Rwanda, employing more than 750 people. It combines a not-for-profit engine: Pharo Development, with a for-profit engine, Pharo Ventures, which builds and operates sustainable businesses to create jobs and advance economic self-reliance.

Opportunity

This role will play a pivotal role in growing our teams from our headquarters in Nairobi. This position cuts across the organisation with a focus on bringing in the absolute best people at our organisation in terms of talent acquisition and developing our people through talent development initiatives.

Key responsibilities include building talent and leadership pipelines, strengthening learning and development (L&D) processes, compliance, planning, and enhancing employee experience and culture to cultivate a high-caliber, diverse team enriched with varied experiences and backgrounds.

Key relationships

Role: Global Senior Associate, People and Culture

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Reporting to: Global Director, People and Culture

Functional relationship: People and Culture Teams (all countries), Senior Leadership Team and Line Managers.

Key Responsibilities

Talent Management
• Design and implement a talent development approach that strengthens leadership capability and builds a healthy pipeline across levels and functions, aligned to Pharo’s growth plans.
• Lead the development and coordination of leadership programmes partnering with internal stakeholders and external providers as needed.
• Support succession planning efforts by working with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and country teams to identify critical roles, talent risks, and development actions; maintain basic succession data and follow-up rhythms.
• Lead end-to-end recruitment for designated roles across Pharo entities and geographies, ensuring timely and high-quality hiring decisions aligned with business needs.
• Anticipate hiring needs and work with the SLT to build hiring plans.
• Further craft the organisation’s employer brand and value proposition for candidates and create content and/or events to position us as an employer of choice.
• Strategically source potential hires from different backgrounds, helping Pharo build a diverse, competitive team across all its offices.
• Identify, lead, implement & manage optimal learning & development solutions for Pharo’s internal & external learning programs.
• Build and manage an annual training calendar that reflects organisational priorities, country needs, and delivery capacity, ensuring timely communication and coordinated execution.
• Support training budget planning and management (forecasting, tracking spends, vendor support where applicable) and improve cost-effectiveness over time.

Performance Management
• Support the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of Pharo’s performance management approach across countries, ensuring it is clear, fair, and consistently applied.
• Coordinate performance cycles end-to-end, including timelines, guidance materials, manager communications, and completion tracking.
• Build manager capability on performance practices (setting measurable goals, coaching for performance, feedback conversations), in partnership with the Global Director, People and Culture and relevant stakeholders.
• Partner with stakeholders to link performance management outputs to development actions (training, coaching, mentorship, succession planning, and career progression), ensuring follow-through on agreed plans.

Employee Experience and Culture
• Partner with People and Culture colleagues and leaders to strengthen the end-to-end employee experience, using data and feedback to identify friction points and implement improvements.
• Support culture-building initiatives across geographies that reinforce Pharo’s mission and ways of working.
• Own and continuously improve a consistent onboarding approach across countries.
• Coordinate onboarding logistics with country People and Culture teams and hiring managers (contracts readiness, systems access, induction plans, compliance documentation).
• Implement structured feedback loops (new hire and manager) and translate insights into onboarding experience improvements.

Policy Compliance and HR Governance
• Support the development, rollout, and understanding of core HR policies and People and Culture ways of working across countries, ensuring staff and managers can apply policies consistently.
• Provide practical guidance to stakeholders on policy interpretation and process adherence, escalating complex matters to the Global Director, P&C as needed.
• Coordinate periodic HR audits and compliance checks (e.g., completeness of personnel files, onboarding documentation, contract and policy sign-offs, statutory documentation tracking where applicable).
• Document findings, agree corrective actions with relevant owners, and follow through to closure while maintaining strong records and audit trails.
• Establish simple audit-ready routines (checklists, calendars, templates) that can be used consistently across countries.

HR Operational Excellence
• Improve and standardize core People and Culture processes (templates, SOPs, service levels, workflows) across countries, with a focus on efficiency, consistency, and staff experience.
• Maintain high-quality People and Culture documentation and data hygiene, ensuring records are complete, secure, and easy to retrieve when needed.
• Use metrics and stakeholder feedback to identify bottlenecks and propose practical improvements to tools, processes, and coordination rhythms.

HR Systems Management
• Support effective use and continuous improvement of people systems used.
• Provide support to People and Culture leaders and teams for adequate use of the HR systems.

Qualifications & Experience
• A Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources or advanced training in complementary fields like learning and development, organizational management, psychology, or sociology.
• At least Seven (7) years of experience in HR, learning and development, organizational psychology, or a related domain.

Desired Skills
• Demonstrated ability to engage and motivate individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
• Proven track record in crafting, refining, and delivering training materials with a focus on individual growth.
• Utilization of data-driven insights and cutting-edge research to shape people-centric strategies.
• Exceptional organizational acumen and adeptness in project management and planning.
• Meticulous attention to detail and accuracy.
• Effective time management skills, including the ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines.
• Proficiency in communication, interpersonal relations, customer service, and presentation delivery.

Application Procedure
• Applicants are required to attach a detailed CV and a cover letter.

We will review applications on a rolling basis, and in the event that an exceptional candidate is identified early in the process, Pharo Foundation reserves the right to make an appointment before the advertised deadline. We therefore encourage interested applicants to apply as early as possible.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted due to the high volume of applications received.

Pharo Foundation is an equal opportunity employer committed to promoting diversity, inclusion, and gender equality in all its practices. We encourage applications from qualified individuals regardless of race, gender, religion, or background