Senior Human Resources Officer

Senior Human Resources Officer – Hargeisa, Somaliland

Overview

Pharo Ventures is the commercial, for-profit arm of The Pharo Foundation and has been set up to harness the power of a vibrant private sector by investing in enterprises across various sectors within East Africa. The objective is to build and grow commercially and environmentally sustainable businesses, with a focus on maximizing the creation of economic value and jobs for local communities.

We have a vision of a vibrant, productive, and self-reliant Africa. Matching that vision is our ambition to create a portfolio of sustainable businesses across the region that provide superior products or services and increase the competitiveness of their sectors while creating thousands of new jobs. We believe we can achieve our vision and ambitions by investing in the human and physical capital of Africa.

Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Pharo Ventures has country offices in Somaliland (Hargeisa) and Ethiopia (Addis Ababa).

Opportunity

We are seeking an experienced and knowledgeable HR Officer to administer all facets of our HR management, compliance, and training for Pharo Ventures. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with the HR Manager, providing administration in creating and implementing HR policies, procedures, and initiatives across all ventures. S/he will play a pivotal role in building modern HR processes and policies, ensuring adherence to Somaliland labor laws requirements, delivering training programs, and fostering a culture of compliance and best practices.

This role demands exceptional interpersonal communication skills, a proactive approach to problem-solving, and a genuine passion for working with people. The ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment while helping employees navigate various challenges is essential.

If you thrive in a dynamic environment and are passionate about driving HR initiatives forward, we invite you to join our team and embark on a rewarding journey of driving HR excellence within a local and an international framework, where attention to detail and autonomy in prioritization are valued traits.

Key Relationships

Role: Senior Human Resources Officer

Reporting to: Human Resources Manager

Functional Relationships:

• Pharo Ventures Teams in Somaliland,
• Pharo Ventures Teams in Ethiopia and Kenya

Key Duties and Responsibilities

   HR Management

• Drive HR initiatives that will help infuse the vision, mission and values of the organisation and create a culture that derives from these principles.

• Develop and implement an employee centered approach that will enable Pharo Ventures to attract, develop and retain a strong brand with the aim of positioning the organisation as an employer of choice in Somaliland.

• Create HR policies, procedures and processes that establish the mechanisms for internal checks.
• Implement consistent HR policies, procedures and processes that deliver systems for internal checks to ensure that they are aligned and fully understood by employees.

• Lead and manage HR Assistants and HR Interns in HR Department.
• Execute employee engagement strategies to ensure employees are passionate, invested and motivated by their work.

• Develop employee engagement and retention strategies that promote employee satisfaction, and team harmony.

   Recruitment

• Collaborate with line managers in the development of staffing plans and recruitment plans, ensuring that each team is staffed appropriately according to the need and budget availability in an efficient and timely manner.

• Develop a competitive recruitment strategy to attract and retain the best talent, both local and diaspora in Somaliland, ensuring diversity in all new hires.

• Develop HR metrics that demonstrate how the organisation is performing against its hiring goals and ensure that the management team is kept regularly informed about appropriate recruitment plans.

   Training

• Identify the training needs of employees with line managers and ensure processes are in place to support and encourage appropriate personal and professional development of staff within the context of stated objectives.

• Collaborate with line managers in establishing the skills gaps within the relevant departments and facilitate the analysis of training needs and execution of mitigation initiatives.
• Manage training programs, ensuring that training records are documented appropriately and stored.

   Performance Management

• In collaboration with line managers, review, develop and implement efficient performance measurement processes.

• Ensure all employees have regular performance appraisals and work with line managers to ensure that the outcome of these processes is robust and well documented.
• Implement a performance driven culture that rewards exceptional performance.

• In collaboration with the Head of Pharo Ventures, communicate the positive benefits of performance management to employees, as well as provide consistent, data-driven updates to management.

• Design and implement staff professional development programs, working closely with line managers to ensure that the programmes equip employees with the right skills set.

   Compensation Management

• Ensure a competitive market related compensation and benefits framework is maintained; develop specific programmes to attract and retain high performing talent.
• Ensure periodic market salary reviews and analysis are conducted and make appropriate recommendations for annual reviews.
• Develop, review, and implement employee wellness programs in consultation with the Head of HR and the management team.

• HR related Bachelors’ degree or HR qualification and/or membership of a professional HR association- CIPD, CHRA, SHRM.

• A minimum of three (3) years professional experience preferably in international organisations.

• Prior experience in working with multinational organisations or subsidiaries is a distinct advantage but as a minimum, each candidate must be able to demonstrate strong HR knowledge in fast-growing organisations.

• Must be an excellent communicator in written and spoken English.

• Knowledge of Somaliland labor laws, standards, and legal requirements.

Personal Attributes

• Problem solving and creative thinking skills: the ability to get results in unstructured environments.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills with the ability to manage sensitive and confidential situations with tact.
• High level of professionalism, work ethic, integrity, and ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Self-assured, internally motivated, and passionate individual driven to make a difference.

• Must possess high levels of resilience, accountability, commitment, and determination.

• Excellent time manager who can balance multiple priorities.
• Possess a 'can-do’ attitude, positive, enthusiastic, and willing to learn.

Salary and Benefits

• Health Insurance coverage as per Pharo Ventures Somaliland policy.
• Competitive salary.

• This position is open to both male and female candidates. 
• The application deadline is March 30, 2024.

• Review of applications will begin as soon as they are received, and only complete applications will be reviewed. If an outstanding applicant is identified early in the search process, we reserve the right to appoint before the deadline on March 30, 2024. Due to the high volume of applications, we regret that we will only be able to contact shortlisted candidates.

   Application Requirements:

• A detailed CV.
• Cover letter (1000 words or less). In your cover letter, please indicate your motivation for the role and state where you heard about this position or saw it advertised (e.g. website, LinkedIn, etc.).
• An updated list of at least 3 references with their names, current email addresses, and phone numbers.