About the Position 

Our people are everything to us at Namati. The reason we exist – and can have an impact in the world - is our team of grassroots justice advocates and the staff members that support them across the globe. Our people team helps build a more durable Namati by bringing both structure and humanity to the experience of working here, and by ensuring legal compliance and adherence to our cultural principles in our day-to-day operations. 

Namati is seeking a Director of People with experience managing global HR and a track record of building and leading strong teams. This is a new,  entrepreneurial role that combines high-level strategy, thought partnership, and management across the global People function. 

The Director of People will work in close partnership with organizational leadership (you’ll report to the COO), as well as with all our teams, bringing expertise to bear in overseeing the big-picture employee lifecycle while ensuring core HR functions – like total rewards, compliance, and employee relations – are handled with clarity and care in all corners of the world. The role will shape the way our organization supports, protects, and grows our people. 

This role is for someone who roots their work in the ethos that HR and people practices have a unique and powerful role in shaping the human experience at work, and who uses that as an orienting principle to build inclusive HR functions that drive results and create a strong, nurturing organizational culture. As a global HR leader, we’re looking for someone who is skilled at facilitating breakthrough conversations in sensitive personnel matters, while maintaining confidentiality and communicating across cultures.  Our ideal candidate is someone who deftly manages complex people processes by listening first, connecting dots, and moving with confidence and clarity – trying to make things clearer, not more complicated. 

This role will lead a team of five that covers the full people and HR function in specialized roles. As a team leader, you’ll earn trust by being thoughtful and helpful: asking questions, prioritizing team training and professional growth, and pitching in directly where you’re needed. We’re looking for a leader who won’t shy away from the unglamorous parts of building a global People domain. 

Responsibilities: 

Leadership and Strategy

• Partner with the COO to develop and execute a global people strategy aligned with our mission, values, and strategic priorities.  
• Oversee Namati’s global approach to equitably developing our practices  -- across talent acquisition, onboarding, performance management, professional development & growth, and succession planning -- aligned with organizational goals and people strategy.
• Partner with senior leadership to ensure that change management processes are thoughtfully designed and executed across the organization.
• Foster collaboration and strategic alignment across people, operations, finance, and leadership to strengthen the employee experience. 

Global HR Oversight 

• Work with country team leaders, HR, and operations staff to ensure that HR systems and processes are built-out, legally compliant, and locally contextualized while aligning with our global systems, policies, values, and culture.
• Ensure our HR policies fully support our values, are appropriate in our operational context, reflect best practices, and are in line with legal requirements and risk management, everywhere we operate. Guide and supervise change management of new organization-wide policies and guidelines.  
• Partner with senior leadership to manage sensitive employee relations matters that are legally compliant, locally contextualized, and uphold our policies and values.
• Provide oversight of safeguarding across Namati. Ensure safeguarding policies are effectively implemented, handling all matters confidentially and in accordance with our values. Maintain clear, visible, and accessible reporting channels. 
• Establish and lead a People data and analytics strategy, including development of HR KPIs and reporting frameworks that enable leadership decision-making, organizational insight, and continuous improvement. 
• Lead Namati’s total rewards strategy across multiple labor markets, including compensation, benefits, and recognition programs aligned with organizational values and market trends.  

Team and People Management 

• Lead strategic planning processes for the global people domain -- annual goal-setting, budgeting, and creating team work plans. Ensure our HR and people practices on-the-ground are aligned with our larger organizational strategy. Ensure the team is well-equipped to execute this strategy.
• Ensure the global people domain has robust communications and resources to help Namatians understand the policies, decisions, and actions that impact their lives at work. 
• Lead and support the global people team through effective management and mentorship. Ensure team members have clear objectives, ambitious workplans, and opportunities for growth. Maintain appropriate staffing and role clarity, and foster accountability so all team members understand their responsibilities and can contribute excellently to the team’s goals.

Experience and Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of progressive global HR experience, with at least 4 years of experience managing or leading teams, across multiple countries or regions.
• Professional Certification: HR certifications such as SHRM, SPHR, CIPD, or equivalent.  
• Experience working in an international NGO is required; it is strongly preferred that you have worked in one or more matrixed organizations. 
• Proven success in implementing and managing comprehensive HR functions across multiple countries or regions.
• Capacity to make sound, principled, and courageous decisions in complex situations.
• Experience in setting a strategic vision and people strategy that aligns with organizational goals.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills, with the ability to meet deadlines and perform under pressure.
• Proven people management skills, with the ability to build and motivate effective teams across multiple geographic locations.
• Strong, accessible writer and communicator, able to convey important and sometimes complicated policy requirements in ways that facilitate understanding and compliance. 
• Ability to engage effectively at all levels of the organization, fostering inclusion and respect across roles, grades, gender, and backgrounds.
• Strong ability to influence and collaborate with diverse stakeholders, including those without direct line authority. 

Location and Travel

We’re looking for a successful candidate to be based in Nairobi, Kenya, or the Washington, DC metro area. Candidates in either location will be expected to follow a hybrid office policy, which calls for staff to report to the office two days per week between Tuesday and Thursday.

This role will require some travel, including internationally (likely two trips/year). Travel requirements may change over time based on evolving priorities. The successful candidate will be expected to sometimes work non-standard hours to accommodate the various time zones of Namati’s teams. 

Compensation Package

Namati's staff position bands range from 1 (entry level/assistant) to 9 (managing director). This position will be at band 8.

We base our compensation on the markets where our staff operate. We work to communicate transparently with candidates (including talking about compensation very early in the process; for this position, we will send the prospective offer range for the candidate’s location when reaching out to request a screening interview). Throughout the hiring process we will seek to understand your specific skills, experience, and abilities as they will fit into our team and our job levels. We will finalize pay and responsibilities based on the qualifications, experience, and country location of the person joining. 

We also offer excellent benefits: while the exact terms vary somewhat based on location, they always include health coverage, generous paid time off, retirement or old-age plan contributions, sick leave, and parental leave. All staff also have access to funds for professional development opportunities.

About Namati

Since 2011, Namati has worked to build a movement of grassroots justice advocates worldwide. We’ve grown tremendously, from a small founding group of big-hearted change-makers to a global staff of 170+ people across more than 10 time zones in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The Grassroots Justice Network, which we co-founded and convene to this day, has grown from 30 people in one room to the world’s largest community of justice advocates, with over 17,000 members across 189 countries. 

Since our founding, we have supported local communities to take on thousands of justice issues, directly improving the lives of over 5 million people, protecting over 3 million acres of forests and grasslands, and strengthening rights for over 155 million people. Together with communities, partners, and Network members, we’ve envisioned - and won- transformative changes, like the Customary Land Rights and National Land Commission Acts of Sierra Leone, and the world’s first Legal Empowerment Fund.