Human Resources Business Partner Europe – UK

Location: Edinburgh or London, UK
Salary: range starting for this role will be 44,320 GBP – Offer will be commensurate on experience

**Candidates must have the independent right to work in UK at the time of appointment

About Mercy Corps**

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.

The Program

In this role you will be part of the Mercy Corps Europe people team whilst also enjoying benefits of being part of the Global people team. This team of people specialists work together ensuring Mercy Corps attracts, develops, and retains the best global talent to 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; driving talent management to support team members achieve their highest potential, delivering great practices that promote the organizational culture. To achieve this, we align conversations on developing all colleagues; enhance everyone’s 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.

The Position

This role sits in our Europe people team and reports to the HR Director in Europe. The responsibility of this role is to act as a Business Partner to all colleagues based in UK and across our European location, ensuring a positive, equitable and consistent employment experience for all.

You will act as a strategic, thought leader, working in partnership with our European leadership teams helping to guide, advise, mentor and coach them with their employee and team related questions. You will be accountable for strategic and operational matters which arise as a result of business priorities. You will collaborate with your peers across the European and global people teams to deliver great service to all.

You will be asked to promote our Mercy Corps values and behaviours and role model these with all those you connect with in your role. There will be many opportunities for you to lead and manage projects which prioritise the well-being of our people. We want you to be a problem solver, who can respond quickly to challenges in the workplace and the wider external regulatory environment; anticipate potential barriers and find opportunities to overcome these which meet the needs of the business.

You will be our champion of global people initiatives across Europe promoting consistency of systems and processes in support of our people. We are looking you to be innovative, be curious and challenge our current ways of working to continuously improve the way we work.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY & PLANNING

• Advocate for proactive people focused policies and initiatives that align with Mercy Corps’ strategic priorities and promote positive organisational culture.
• Remain current in your knowledge on trends in global human resource management, particularly in the international humanitarian aid sector.
• Collaborate closely with members of the people team and peers across Mercy Corps to ensure a ‘one Mercy Corps’ approach to how we work.
• Provide input to people team Centres of Expertise and Operations on systemic challenges and work with others to find solutions.
• Anticipate and adapt to changing people’s needs and actively participate in transformation across business to meet these needs.
• Be an external networker, participate in HR forums, networks and discussions; enjoy developing and learning through these networks, and bring new thinking into the organization whilst also positioning Mercy Corps externally in the HR space.

HUMAN RESOURCE ADVISORY

• Drive the process to identify HR initiatives and solve people management issues in a manner that complements Mercy Corps culture and programming priorities.
• Develop meaningful relationships with the European Senior Leadership Team (ESLT); partner to review strategic objectives, identify opportunities and challenges, collaboratively solve problems, while demonstrating confidence in their role as a leader and advocate on HR issues.
• Maintain in-depth knowledge of legal requirements related to day-to-day management of team members, reducing legal risks, and ensuring regulatory compliance. Partner with the legal department as needed/required.
• Contribute to developing global, regional, and departmental data which forms part of quarterly and annual reporting with trends, metrics and KPIs.
• Be the first point-of-contact for performance management questions and participate in the development and cascade of global performance management policy, process, templates, and guidelines.
• Support managers to be good managers according to Mercy Corps requirements: develop, coach and mentor to increase management effectiveness. Support managers where performance may not be meeting Mercy Corps’ standards.
• Work closely with management and team members to improve work relationships, build morale, and increase productivity and retention.
• Regularly support managers to undertake ‘stay’ interviews with their team members, conduct and capture trends from exit interviews for team members completing service with Mercy Corps. Share the trends quarterly with the ESLT.
• Provide guidance and input on business unit restructuring, transfers, hiring and succession planning.
• Support the Total Rewards team advising managers, Senior Leaders, and Global People Team with compensation issues to ensure fair and equitable application of compensation policy as well as assisting team members with pay related issues as needed.
• Support deployment of “All Voices” survey and develop action plans in conjunction with leadership.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

EUROPEAN HR MANAGEMENT

• Keep up to date and ensure compliance with all statutory requirements in Mercy Corps’ European jurisdictions.
• Collaborate with the HR People Operations team to ensure support to team members in Europe incorporates necessary local regulations and context.
• Work with the HR Director of Europe people team, maintain all Europe-specific processes and policies.
• Collaborate with US-based colleagues to ensure a consistent benefit and compensation approach to support international team members hired from across both locations.
• Coordinate the administration of the European benefits portfolio.
• Coordinate with finance to ensure payroll is processed for each European jurisdiction in a timely manner.
• Ensure all staff in all European jurisdictions have access to the Mercy Corps benefits as well as meeting legal compliance requirements for all employees in their jurisdictions.
• Ensure Mercy Corps remains a living wage employer in the UK and our pay scales/ salaries reflect this commitment on an annual basis.
• Support the bi-annual commitment to benchmark pay bands and salaries to ensure staff salaries and benefits remain competitive with the market, and bring in new innovations around benefits to remain a leading employer of people in Europe.
• Develop, coach and mentor junior HR team members across Europe.

Supervisory Responsibility

None.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: You will report into the HR Director, people team in Europe

Works Directly With: You will work collaboratively with the global HR people team; Finance & Compliance; Corporate Accounting; regional and country- level leadership; other internal stakeholders.

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.

Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills

• You must have a minimum of five years of experience working in Human Resources, including Talent Acquisition, Benefits and Compensation.
• BA/BS in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field, preferred.
• You must be fluent in English language, other specific languages (French, German, Dutch) desired but not essential.
• Be a recognised top performer with energy, intelligence, strong analytical skills and highly evolved interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated history of providing excellent customer service and a high level of attention to detail.
• Working knowledge of HR practices in the UK and wider European context
• Demonstrated experience working to solve emergency and crisis situations, as they relate to Human Resource best practices and People related coordination.
• A historically demonstrated ability to maintain confidential information.
• Must have strong analytical, mathematical, and problem-solving skills, effective organizational and interpersonal skills, strong written and verbal communication.
• Be able to interrogate data and use data sources to support evidence-based people decision making.
• Demonstrated ability to manage workload in a remote work arrangement. Able to maintain operational consistency with other team members and actively keep management informed.
• Proven experience and intermediate skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook, as well as the ability to navigate the Internet/intranet.

Success Factors

You should apply for this role if you are a curious learner, self-directed, innovative and action orientated. We need you to be able to work independently, manage your deliverables as priorities in the business change. You will be empowered to speak up and share when you need additional support. You will thrive in a fast-paced environment prone to rapid change and be willing to increase your responsibility over time. The most successful Mercy Corps team members have a positive approach, a strong commitment to teamwork and personal accountability and the ability to be flexible and ensure that effective communication is a priority in all situations.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position can be based from either our London or Edinburgh office. The role may require some travel to support local People matters, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited.

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

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

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.