Country People Manager

Job ID 1595

Human Resources Dhaka, Bangladesh   Heifer Bangladesh Country Officer, Dhaka


Description

Heifer International is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with some form of specially-abled.
FUNCTION:
The Country People Manager will be responsible for achieving HR excellence in HR operational service and building and maintaining business partnership with other functions. The country people manger will be an important member of the country Senior Management Team. The Country People Manager will promote an optimum “employee experience” by providing high-quality support to Heifer staff and managers. At the same time, he/she will work with the global and regional teams to contextualize global programs and initiatives to maintain an organizational culture and direction in how Heifer manages its people. The Country People Manager will ensure compliance to applicable labor laws, relevant donor regulations, and Heifer’s People-related policies and procedures along with all required systematic processes and data compliance. The Country People Manager will also contribute to the service delivery of the Regional and Global People Team.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND DELIVERABLES: (including approximate percentage effort)
People strategy (20%)
  • Develop and regularly monitor overall HR strategies, systems, tactics, and procedures to respond to country needs while aligning with regional and global People strategy and objectives.
  • Strive to achieve global, regional, and country People objectives relevant to the country in close collaboration with country, regional, and global key stakeholders.
  • Provide day-to-day guidance and supportive advice to all employees including management team HR policies, procedures, and best practices.
  • Support leadership in succession planning and talent pipeline development to ensure responsibility continuity. 
Recruitment/Talent Acquisition (20%)
  • Work with the Country Director and country proposal development team to assess talent needs for new project proposal and recruitment in proposal stage.
  • Develop staffing and recruitment plan based on the staff movement and staff demand to ensure that each team is staffed appropriately, according to need and funding availability, in an efficient, transparent, and timely manner.
  • Manage the full recruitment cycle with high quality including posting, shortlisting, interviews, checking references, background screening, contracting, and onboarding while staying in compliance with Heifer’s Recruitment Policy, best practices, and local regulation.
  • Ensure pre-employment requirements are fully fulfilled, and all newly joined employees are undergone through proper orientation and induction following Heifer’s standard process and procedure.
Compensation and Benefits (10%)
  • In close collaboration with Finance, ensure all staff complete timesheets correctly and timely at weekly and bi-monthly basis following Heifer’s Timesheet policy as part of the payroll package process.
  • Ensure payroll information is updated accurately and timely into system, and payroll-related documents including employment agreement, merit increase, promotion, dependance declaration, provident fund and gratuity fund accounts maintain, bank account, etc. are checked and ready for each payroll cycle.
  • Support Country Director in periodic salary review and analysis, and review and revision of new salary structure, as appropriate.
  • Participate in compensation reviews and benchmarking, working closely with the Regional and Global People Team.
  • Drive internal equity through following the applicable compensation policies and advising management on compensation levels based on internal equity and external competitiveness analyses.
  • Maintain and work within regional and global team pay plan and benefits programs.
Employee Engagement and Compliance (30%)
  • Ensure legal compliance throughout human resource management processes and guidelines.
  • Ensure compliance with local labor laws, regulations, and employment competitive practices in the country.
  • Ensure the timely processing of employment agreements, agreement amendment, staff transfers, job promotions, merit increases, and other change of status/personnel changes.
  • Prepare timely and high-quality reports on major personnel changes, department objectives, and global KPIs.
  • Represent the country office to complete timely internal HR audits in consultation with Country Director and Senior Management Team.
  • Work closely with the Regional and Global People team to regularly track the employee engagement performance and facilitate key stakeholders in driving interventions for improvement.
  • Manage HR reporting and analytics, providing insights and recommendations to drive continuous improvement and ensure HR metrics are aligned with organizational objectives.
  • Bridge management and employee relations by addressing demands, grievances, or other issues.
  • Lead initiatives that strengthen organizational culture, employee well-being, and values alignment within the country office. 
  • Identify and mitigate HR-related risks, ensuring proactive management of employee relations, compliance, and workplace safety issues. 
  • Serve as a focal point for safeguarding and ethical compliance, promoting a safe and respectful workplace in alignment with Heifer’s safeguarding policies. 
  • Leverage HR analytics to monitor workforce trends, turnover, diversity metrics, and engagement scores to inform strategic decision-making. 
  •  Lead local HR digital initiatives, improving efficiency through automation, self-service tools, and integration with global systems. 
Learning, Career Growth & Performance Management (15%)
  • Ensure all employees are aware of all HR policies and procedures by conducting sessions for new joiners and organizing for refresher training sessions for all the staff from time to time.
  • Identify in-country training needs and plan, manage and coordinate the delivery of learning solutions, ensuring the completion of training plans including the organization’s mandatory trainings.
  • Promote ongoing learning culture at the workplace and support the employees to find needed courses internally or externally.
  • Provide training, support and advice on performance management and staff development plans and ensure periodic reviews are conducted regularly following the internal policy and procedure.
  • Oversee and manage a performance appraisal system that drives high performance.
  • Integrate organizational development principles into learning strategies to reinforce culture, innovation, and leadership growth. 
May perform other job-related duties as assigned (5%) 

 QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS:

  • A college degree in Human Resources, Business or a related field; continued HR education/ certification is a major plus.
  • Proven at least ten (10) years HR working experience including five (5) years of work experience as a manager and managing People (HR) departments.
  • Previous experience with an International NGO is highly plus.
  • Comfortable learning new technologies and HR systems and previous experience with HRIS.
  • Experience in implementing strategies, meeting objectives, and working within a matrix structure.
  • Excellent influence skills, active listening, negotiation and presentation skills.
  • Competence to build and effectively manage interpersonal relationships at all levels of the organization.
  • In-depth knowledge of the country’s labor law.

ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES: 

  • Ability to manage complexities and cultivate innovation.
  • Action oriented and plans and aligns work processes to drive excellence.
  • Ability to manage the culture and environment of the organization relative to country, regional and HQ levels.
  • Ability to adapt and be flexible to act in a changing and complex environment, with a multitasking mindset.
  • Deep understanding of INGO or global context.
   Location: Heifer International Bangladesh Country Office, Dhaka
      Application Deadline: November 23, 2025