Human Resource Business Partner Ug

Who We Are! 

🌍 Africa has the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population. By 2035, the continent is poised to contribute more young people to the global workforce each year than the rest of the world combined. 

At Educate! we're obsessed with impact. We leverage iterative learning to build highly scalable youth employment solutions aimed at unlocking the potential of the world’s youngest continent. 

Educate! prepares youth in Africa to learn, earn and thrive in today’s economy by: 

1. Introducing an employment-focused school subject into secondary and 
2. Delivering livelihood boot camps for out-of-school youth, with a focus on marginalized rural girls and young women.

To date, more than 500,000 youth have been meaningfully impacted across Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania, and along the way, Educate! has become the largest youth employment and skills provider in East Africa.

Educate! is a team of over 300 largely African staff and 300 volunteer youth mentors. We prioritize building an engaging, fulfilling and growth oriented work environment. 50% of our top 30 leaders have been with us for over 5 years, 10+ alumni have started their own organizations, and 6 current or former team members were Acumen Fund East Africa fellows. 

We have been backed by top foundations such as Imaginable Futures, Livelihood Impact Fund,  Jack Dorsey’s #startsmall, CIFF and Echidna Giving. Educate! won a 2018 Klaus J. Jacobs Prize and a 2015 WISE Award, and has been highlighted by the World Bank’s S4YE's Impact Portfolio, an Al Jazeera documentary, BBC, The Brookings Institution as one of 14 case studies on scaling education, and the Gates Foundation as a Goalkeepers Accelerator. In 2022, we received a catalytic investment from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott to scale our systems change work.

Educate!'s long-term vision is to design solutions that measurably impact millions of youth across Africa each year.

Good to note: To Our Awesome Applicants! 🚀💫

We know that incredible candidates sometimes hesitate to apply if they don’t meet every requirement. If this role excites you, we encourage you to apply! 

We’re looking for passionate individuals who believe in our mission and can bring unique perspectives to our team—not just those who check every box. We value diversity and strongly encourage women and individuals from all backgrounds to apply.

What You Will Do

Strategic HR Business Partnering

• Collaborate with the Uganda leadership team to develop and implement HR strategies that support the country’s goals, objectives and key results.
• Provide advice and guidance on organizational design, ensuring that Uganda's structure supports growth, high-performance, and employee engagement.
• Lead HR initiatives that align with Educate!’s needs.

Relationship Building

• Provide strategic guidance and tactical support to leadership team members of various departments, working across the country office and field. 
• Build and maintain healthy relationships with key stakeholders within your group and the larger organization.
• Coach and develop Uganda leaders and managers to improve people practices, hold team members accountable, have courageous (difficult) conversations, and inspire and influence their teams.

Change Management 

• Lead and manage change processes efficiently in Uganda.
• Coach and support leadership in navigating people management matters, focusing on enhancing communication, performance management, and collaborative leadership.
• Foster a culture of feedback and continuous learning, supporting both leadership and staff in adopting new HR policies and practices that promote a positive work environment.

Employee Relations , Conflict and Risk Management 

• Act as the first point of contact for employee relations issues, providing guidance and resolving conflicts with fairness, objectivity, transparency, and confidentiality.
• Address grievances, complaints, and other employee concerns in a timely and effective manner, ensuring that employees feel heard and supported.
• Lead investigations related to workplace issues and work collaboratively with leaders and managers to address employee-related concerns. 
• Manage people related risks by ensuring that Educate!’s HR policies and practices are consistently applied in Uganda, with particular focus on compliance with labor laws and regulations.

Performance Management and Talent Development

• Work closely with the Uganda leadership team to drive high performance and employee engagement through robust performance management strategies.
• Coach and support managers in providing honest constructive feedback and addressing performance issues in a timely and professional manner.
• Guide leaders on efforts to establish clear growth processes, staff retention and succession strategies focusing on building a strong pipeline of internal talent and providing opportunities for growth within the organization.

Who You Are

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively in a multicultural environment.
• At least 5 years’ experience in the People function, including at least 3 years as an HRBP or supporting an HRBP unit is required.
• Extremely organized and able to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment while juggling multiple competing priorities and responsibilities.
• Proficient in coaching managers to effectively support their team members.
• Adaptive and able to quickly switch or completely change activities to meet the needs of the team.
• Experienced in change management and associated communications process.
• Possess a strong attention to detail.
• Demonstrates exceptional judgment in maintaining the confidentiality of employee and candidate information.
• Communicate clearly and confidently to manage stakeholder expectations and effectively guide them through organizational or team changes.
• Curious, eager to learn and improve, while implementing solutions wherever appropriate.
• Comfortable collaborating and building relationships at all organization levels, especially with country office leaders and managers. 
• Aligned with our Five Cultural Tenets (see What is Educate! About? below) and learn more by looking at Educate!’s culture deck here.

Terms

• We prefer candidates based in Uganda.
• We have a hybrid work philosophy! Teammates work from our offices twice per week and attend monthly team socials and culture-building events. 
• International and field travel will be required occasionally.

What We Offer 💼

• A vibrant, mission-driven environment with a supportive and fun team.
• Flexibility— Hybrid work environment to empower you in your mode of work. 
• Competitive salary based on experience.
• Healthcare coverage for you and your dependents, work laptop, Internet & call stipend
• Learning & growth opportunities

PLEASE NOTE THE ABOVE BENEFITS DO NOT APPLY TO TEMPORARY, CONTRACT OR INDEPENDENT CONSULTANTS. 

Application Process: Rolling basis, interviews happening soon!

Our Culture & Tenets(Values) 🌱

We’re ambitious. Are you? Educate! is growing fast, so new opportunities are opening up and expanding all the time. We’re inspired by people with drive, and we love to help them reach their full potential. We expect everyone at Educate! to contribute above and beyond their job description, grow their skills, and advance their careers, and we are committed to supporting our staff members on that journey of their careers, and we are committed to supporting our staff members on that journey. 

1. We put Youth First, Impact-Obsessed - We are purpose-driven, focused on impact, and prioritize what truly matters. We listen to youth, design our efforts around their needs, and ensure every dollar creates transformative experiences they value.
2. We Exceed Expectations - We take pride in going above and beyond to achieve the best results—proactively identifying problems and seeking solutions without waiting or stopping at what's requested.
3. We Are Always Learning - We are committed to seeking and applying new knowledge and ideas. We stay open-minded and continuously try new things, experiment, grow, and improve. We invest in learning for ourselves and our teams.
4. We are One Team, Many Views - We value all individuals, believe diverse ideas and open dialogue drive excellence, foster a supportive and respectful environment where everyone can freely express themselves. We work as one team and prioritize the organization's mission over personal or team interests.
5. We have the Startup Mindset - We innovate relentlessly to grow our impact, we never think “we have arrived” or “we’re done.”We constantly challenge the status quo, embrace change, and move quickly toward our vision. Unafraid of failure, we question anything that hinders progress.

Every person at Educate! — from interns to the executive director — is evaluated by how they live up to these five cultural tenets. They are at the core of how we achieve our mission and why we work as well as we do.  Educate is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all who interact in our community. In creating this environment, we encourage people from a variety of cultures, backgrounds and life experiences to join our diverse team. 

We’re committed to ensuring all candidates are screened for child and youth safety. As part of the process, you’ll need to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct. Educate! reserves the right to withdraw employment offers if any risks to youth are identified.