Head of People Team

Avaaz is one of the world’s largest online campaigning movements, with nearly 70 million people from every country in the world. 

Our movement launched in 2007 with an ambitious but simple mission: using the connectivity of the internet to empower people of all nations to act together to close the gap between the world we have and the world most people everywhere want.

Our model enables people to channel their individual voices and resources into a powerful collective force at tipping point moments to impact the pressing global challenges of our time, from climate and ecological crises to human rights abuses and the dismantling of democracy. The organisation is deeply mission focused, and has achieved a broad range of victories over the last 15 years that you can read about here. 

At this pivotal point in human history, Avaaz is delivering an ambitious 2030 strategic plan to seize key victories in the crucial next decade -  to secure ecological survival, defend democracy and human rights, and build healthy and resilient cultures.

The Avaaz team of around 100 staff is spread across 6 continents, campaigns in 21 languages, and is 100% funded through small donations from individual Avaaz members, with an annual revenue of $25-30m. 

Avaaz is seeking a dynamic and mission-driven Head of People to lead its multicultural, international and fully remote People Team. As a senior member of the organization, this role will shape and foster Avaaz's staff and policies to effectively deliver on the organization's mission. Reporting to the COO, the Head of People will collaborate closely with senior leadership, Department Heads, and the People Team staff to cultivate a thriving and transformative culture that supports the organization's growth. 

The Head of People at Avaaz will be responsible for leading and overseeing the following areas of work, with the support of the People Team staff:

• STRATEGIC HR LEADERSHIP - Lead strategic HR for the organization, including overseeing our human-centered HR practices, compensation and benefits, contracts and compliance, performance assessments, leave policies and other related HR functions.  
• CULTURE DEVELOPMENT -  Embed, model, and support the ongoing evolution of Avaaz culture and culture principles to  support and develop a transformational team capable of delivering our mission.
• HR COMPLIANCE - Establish organizational compliance policies and practices that effectively support the organization’s mission, and manage risk across a multinational organisation. 
• TEAM & ORG LEADERSHIP - Provide effective and empowering leadership for the People Team (currently a team of 4) and across the organization, and promote a culture of high performance, continuous improvement, and innovation.
• PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT - Monitor and evaluate staff performance and innovate performance management to meet mission goals.
• SENSITIVE ISSUES MANAGEMENT - Develop and lead the management of disciplinary issues, with a focus on strategic, creative and mission-focused solutions. 
• DEIA LEADERSHIP - Ensure DEIA best practices and perspectives for a multinational cross-cultural team are sewn into all areas of HR policies and practices, as well as organizational development.
• HIRING & RECRUITMENT MANAGEMENT - Lead our strategic talent planning, including oversight of recruitment and retention. 

You should apply for this role if reading the description above excites you, and you have the knowledge, skills and experience to have an impact.

Some of the experience and skills to consider for this role: 

• 5-7+ years experience in a leadership role in People or Human Resources, ideally with an international team, or commensurate experience in culture development and organizational management.
• Expertise in international HR compliance. 
• Expertise in managing sensitive HR issues, cultural design, staff management, and development.
• Experience leading DEIA processes, global compensation and benefits management.
• Proficiency in HRIS and HR analytics for informed decision-making.

• Passion and commitment to transformational campaigning, global citizen empowerment, and social change.
• Developmental orientation towards staff investment, growth and learning.
• High standard of professionalism, self-motivation, efficiency, and results-oriented delivery on short timelines.
• Strong problem-solving and project management abilities with strategic, creative, and innovative thinking.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, and the ability to work collaboratively with diverse and hierarchical teams.
• A growth orientation with a willingness to challenge oneself and drive innovation.
• Comfort and resilience toward risk and ambiguity, ability to adjust quickly to changing conditions and requirements.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English; additional languages are an asset.
• Organizational culture best practices, org management research, training and user-centered design.

We are reviewing applications on a rolling basis, and encourage all candidates to submit applications as soon as possible. 

This position is remote and would ideally be based in the Middle Eastern, African, European or Americas time zones. Avaaz is a virtual organization, with most of our work done over email, telephone, and Slack. Our staff members are based all over the world and ordinarily meet at team retreats 1-2 times per year. 

• Salary varies with location and experience, and is highly competitive with leading international nongovernmental organizations. The full-package of compensation for this position ranges from 80,127 - 141,527 EUR, depending on local cost of living and experience. An accurate range in local currency will be provided to candidates. 
• 5 weeks paid vacation per year
• 10 paid holidays per year
• $3,000 USD for training and development per year
• $1,500 USD for language development per year
• Reimbursement for out-of-home workspace rental

As a global organization with millions of members around the world, it’s important to us that our team reflects the diversity needed to lead a movement of people from across the planet, rising to meet some of the most complex challenges humanity has ever faced. We believe we can only succeed by building a diverse team full of fresh perspectives and original ideas, and we are committed to creating a working environment in which everyone has an equal opportunity to fulfill their potential.

Our team includes speakers of English as a first or second language, the self-taught and university educated, people with all sorts of professional backgrounds. If doing the job you just read about would make you excited to come to work every day, if you’re talented, hard-working and committed to making a difference - we want you to apply.

Avaaz does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, ancestry, citizenship, colour, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, national origin, political affiliation, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law. 

If you have suggestions for us on how to put these values into practice in our hiring process, we’d value your input. Please write to us at recruitment@avaaz.org with the subject line ‘Hiring Feedback’.

We’ll provide reasonable accommodations for qualified applicants with disabilities or special needs to participate in the application process, so please let us know if you have such a request when you apply.