Regional Human Resource Officer – AFRICA
Description
Location: Any country in West & Central Africa where Mercy Corps operates (preferably Senegal or Niger)
Position Status: Regular, Full time (National contract)
Salary Level: Local Salary Scale
Risk Level: ☐x Level 3 ☐Level 2 ☐Level 1
Level 1: Likely to have no contact with participants or sensitive data.
Level 2: Some contact with participants; unplanned non-direct contact with children.
Level 3: Frequent contact with participants, direct contact with children, access to sensitive data, and/or high level of accountability.
ABOUT MERCY CORPS:
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 30 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.
PROGRAM/ DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:
The People Team ensures that Mercy Corps attracts, develops, and retains the best global talent who will enable it to be a world-class, cutting edge, humanitarian organization, creating transformational change in the world. Our aim is to drive strategic thinking and planning at all levels of the organization; create a talent management framework that supports team members achieve their highest potential and drive people practice that promote the organizational culture. To achieve this, we align conversations on developing team members and leaders; enhance team member experience with HR services, keep the organization focused on what has the greatest impact; leverage our comparative advantages in the crowded and competitive international relief and development landscape; and assure we are constantly learning from our work and the external environment
Africa region is made up of the East & Southern Africa (ESA) and West & Central Africa (WCA).
GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:
The Regional HR Officer – Africa plays a pivotal role in strengthening Mercy Corps’ People function across the Africa region. Serving as a highly mobile and adaptable HR resource. The position holder ensures continuity, quality, and compliance with HR service delivery in diverse and often complex operating environments. S/he provides reinforcement to country HR teams, support leadership in addressing operational HR challenges that impact team member experience, organizational effectiveness, and risk management.
Operating across Africa, in particular West and Central Africa (WCA), the Regional HR Officer – Africa brings practical expertise, strong problem-solving skills, and contextual awareness to help country offices navigate HR operational gaps, talent needs, compliance requirements, and change processes. The postholder contributes to building resilient HR systems, uplifting HR capacity, and improving the consistency and quality of HR practices, especially in offices facing staffing shortages, restructures, scale-ups, or crisis response.
This position collaborates with Regional HRBPs and the Centers of Expertise (COEs); Talent Management & Acquisition, Compensation & Benefits, People System and Analytics Team (PSAT), Emergency Response and Employee Relations to ensure the “people needs” of Mercy Corps team members align with and are accounted for within the organization’s strategic initiatives.
ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:
Regional HR Support & Service Delivery
Coordinate and support end-to-end employee lifecycle processes, including onboarding, contract changes, mobility, and offboarding, ensuring compliance with internal policies and local regulations.
Work under the supervision of the Regional HR Director, supporting in addressing inquiries and questions from country program HR teams.
Monitor and track Expat movements in the region in collaboration with Regional Security Team and country leadership team.
Contribute to agency level after action reviews to help promote organizational learning.
Ensure accurate and timely maintenance of HR systems and records to support data integrity and reporting.
Analyze HR trends and recurring issues to inform process improvements and strengthen service delivery across the region.
Facilitate HR data tracking, reporting, and analysis to inform regional decision-making.
Contribute to the effective delivery of HR processes by executing assigned operational tasks in a timely, accurate, and compliant manner.
Facilitate the rollout and adoption of global and regional HR initiatives, systems, and tools by translating guidance into practical implementation steps, troubleshooting challenges, and documenting insights and lessons learned for Regional HR and Senior HRBP follow-up.
Strengthen and standardize HR systems by establishing or improving workflows, SOPs, onboarding and exit routines, HR calendars, documentation practices, and personnel filing systems to ensure accuracy, consistency, and audit readiness.
Strengthen duty-of-care practices by advising country teams on essential HR processes linked to wellbeing, safe working arrangements, and manager responsibilities during crises or high-stress periods.
HR Systems & HCM Data Integrity Support
- Support country HR teams in maintaining high-quality, accurate, and complete HR data in HCM by validating records, identifying gaps, and guiding data corrections.
- Act as a liaison for routine system questions between field HR, Regional HR and PSAT.
- Conduct periodic data quality checks and guide teams on corrective steps.
- Support system rollouts, updates, and HCM training initiatives.
- Support country HR teams on proper use of HCM workflows, documentation requirements and data accuracy expectations.
Support to Regional HR priorities and agenda
- Provide field HR operational observations to inform regional planning and decision-making.
- Support implementation of regional HR initiatives such as salary scale reviews, benefits mapping, workforce planning, and handbook revision.
- Participate in regional HR coordination and technical workstreams as assigned.
- Assist with data collection and reporting for regional HR KPIs and reports as well as audit preparation.
Safeguarding Responsibilities
- Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
- Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
- Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.
ACCOUNTABILITY:
Reports Directly To: Regional HR Director, Africa
Works Directly With: Global and Regional People Team, Regional and Country Teams
Supervisory Responsibility: None.
Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management, Organizational Psychology, Business Administration, Business Leadership or related field preferred.
- Master’s degree in related field would be an added advantage
- Minimum of 3 years of progressive experience in Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, Personnel Management, or related field.
- Experience in international or multi-country HR roles in INGO sector, preferably in West & Central Africa.
- Experience supporting emergency HR response, restructures, or transitions is an asset.
- Multilingual (English and French required) Arabic is as a competitive advantage.
- Experience in local legal employment framework especially in West and Central Africa Countries.
- Ability to maintain operational consistency with other team members and actively keep management informed.
- Demonstrated history of providing excellent customer service and a high level of attention to detail.
- Ability to follow procedures, complete tasks with high
- Quality outputs, meeting deadlines and working well under pressure and cooperatively with team members.
- A historically demonstrated ability to maintain confidential information.
- Must have strong analytical, problem-solving skills, effective organizational and interpersonal skills; strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Understanding HR processes, Metrics & Data Analytics to share trends with non-HR professionals.
Success Factors
The successful candidate will be a systems thinker and builder who thrives in complexity. They will be a credible strategic officer at the regional level, able to translate vision and strategic needs into agile and fit-for-purpose, guidance, and tools at the regional level. They will bring humility, curiosity, and a commitment to equity and co-creation, fostering learning across diverse teams and at different levels of the organization. A natural facilitator, and relationship-builder, they will be politically astute, comfortable at navigating ambiguity, excel at enabling others to lead and manage change and will model adaptive leadership, learning, emotional intelligence, creativity and compassion.
Living Conditions/ Environmental Conditions
The position is home-based / local office in West and Central African country, where Mercy Corps is registered/operates. Occasional travel, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited may be required.
Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.
Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development.
Team Engagement and Effectiveness
Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work. We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.
Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ([email protected]).