Global Director of Human Resources

This is a senior enterprise-wide leadership role responsible for shaping and executing World Bicycle Relief's (WBR) global people strategy during a period of organizational transformation and scale. Reporting to the CEO, this role ensures that WBR has the right structures, talent, culture, and systems to deliver its mission globally and locally. This is a hands-on, execution-focused leadership role in which the successful candidate will be responsible for building, improving, and embedding the systems, processes, and capabilities that WBR needs to operate as a high-performing international organization.

Key Responsibilities

Global People Strategy & Organizational Effectiveness

• Develop and lead WBR's global people strategy aligned with organisational goals, growth plans, and values.
• Partner with the CEO and Executive Team to steward WBR's operating model, organisational design, and people-related decision-making frameworks.
• Lead organisational change initiatives to ensure clarity, engagement, and cultural alignment across a globally distributed workforce.

Talent, Leadership & Performance

• Set and govern global talent acquisition standards and workforce planning processes.
• Oversee executive and critical role hiring and succession planning.
• Strengthen leadership development, coaching, and performance management systems that reinforce accountability, learning, and collaboration.
• Build leadership capability across WBR’s country and affiliate teams through coaching and structured development programs.

Culture, Change & Employee Experience

• Steward WBR's values and culture, embedding them across hiring, onboarding, performance management, and leadership behaviors.
• Lead change management for major organisational initiatives, ensuring clarity, trust, and engagement across diverse geographies.
• Champion employee engagement, inclusion, wellbeing, and belonging across a global workforce.

HR Operations, Systems & Compliance

• Design and ensure consistent, compliant, and equitable HR policies across all countries and affiliates, adapted to local contexts.
• Oversee compensation, benefits, job evaluation, and salary structures in partnership with Finance and external advisors.
• Lead HR systems and data (HRIS, dashboards, and reporting) to support decision-making and proactive risk management.

Partnership & Governance

• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders and Boards on people, culture, risk, and organisational health.
• Collaborate closely with Finance, Legal, Operations, Impact & Learning, and other departments to align people practices with enterprise needs.
• Build strong relationships with regional and country HR leads, fostering capability, consistency, and shared accountability.

Team Management

• Provide matrixed leadership to the Global HR Team, setting clear direction, shared frameworks, and practical tools, while reinforcing accountability and decision-making at the country level.
• Build the capability of local HR teams through coaching, communities of practice, and consistent global standards that allow for appropriate local adaptation.

Candidate Profile

• 12+ years of progressive HR leadership in complex, multi-country organizations.
• A background rooted in multinational corporate or social enterprise rigor with genuine purpose-led intent.
• Experience in international development, global NGOs, or mission-driven organizations, or a genuine appetite to transition into a purpose-led context.
• Demonstrated experience leading organisational change, job architecture, and performance management in a global context.
• Strong grounding in employment law and HR best practices across multiple jurisdictions.
• Proven ability to operate in matrixed, distributed organizations across cultures and time zones.
• Experience leading HR within African labor and cultural contexts.