Officer, People Operations

Monrovia, Liberia 

Bridge Liberia

In 2016, Liberia’s President and its Ministry of Education announced Partnership Schools for Liberia (PSL), an innovative public private partnership designed to transform the primary public education system. Eight education providers - with proven track records in delivering high-quality education - were paired with public primary schools across Liberia; while teachers remained on the Government payroll. After a change of  national Government, PSL became the Liberian Education Advancement Programme (LEAP). 

LEAP is now in its sixth year; supporting 312 schools overall across the country; within that we support 60,800 students. Our schools are based in some of the most remote counties, such as Maryland in the south-east.

Government teachers have been re-trained, supported and equipped to succeed in the classroom. Four Independent Studies and Randomised Control Trials have  shown the efficacy of the programme. For us there was a statistically significant improvement in learning outcomes.  In a gold standard RCT, students supported in our programme were found to benefit by an equivalent of 2.5 years more of learning in just 3 years.

LEAP was designed to be self-sustaining once the Ministry of Education raises its education budget to $100 a child per year; until that moment it remains reliant on philanthropic support.

Today, we work across the country, in all of Liberia’s 15 counties, to ensure that all children have access to a high quality education and that Sustainable Development Goal 4 focussed on Quality Education becomes a reality for all children in Liberia. 

You will join a group of dynamic and passionate Liberians taking concrete action to help address the education crisis in Liberia and ensure a better future for the children of Liberia.

People

Our people are at the core of what we do, and supporting a diverse workforce that spans many industries, and many cultures, while at the same time keeping everyone aligned to our mission and mandate takes focus and determination. We work at massive scale. We are responsible for ensuring we support each team member to succeed, aligned to business goals and constraints. We are responsible for our human capital, including but not limited to all aspects of people operations including payroll, compensation and benefits; administration of all offices and support functions; and employee engagement. We are data-driven, and leverage technology to make both informed and efficient decisions and work processes. We are the champions of our values. We value continuous learning and extensive collaboration, and have a strong focus on performance. We are evidence-based, outcomes driven and lead through service.

People Operations

People Operations manages each employee's life cycle with us, with a focus on contracting, benefits, compensation, payroll, and date-driven performance management. We are the first point of contact on most issues for our team members, ensuring our policies support and encourage a strong and effective team. Working across hundreds to thousands of employees, we work at scale, with large amounts of data, leveraging technology to improve employee systems and support.

About the Role

The People Operations Team is responsible for all the touchpoints of managing the employee lifecycle, including but not limited to offer letters, contracts, benefits, performance management tools, and employee off-boarding with both local laws and company policies. People Operations uses data from employee lifecycle management to improve employee management and effectiveness, ensuring all components of the People Group are using data to drive decision-making. Effective programming within People Operations ensures that employees are seamlessly supported through their employment touchpoints, and that core employment structures and compensation strategies are used effectively to attract and retain high performing employees within the constraints of business operations. 

The Officer, People Operations is responsible for supporting specific administrative, operational and quantitative tasks that contribute to attaining the above objectives of the People Operations Team. This role will report to the Manager, People Operations.

What You Will Do

• Separations Process: lead and "quarterback" separations processes, including department, asset, and financial handovers - involves IT, Admin, and Payroll Accountant
• Onboarding Process: lead and "quarterback" teams from IT, Admin, etc. in ensuring that staff are successfully on boarded
• Payroll Verification: work with Payroll Accountant to ensure that all contractors and employees are properly represented with the right deductions/additions, if any. Generate monthly report for managers on headcount
• Staff Benefits: supporting staff with questions about health coverage, managing additions to coverage, dealing with other health coverage issues
• Asset Management: ensure that all staff have the assets they need; deal with asset recovery processes and exchanges/one-off needs. Heavy interfacing with IT and Admin
• Leave Management: assist employees with leave, generate monthly report for managers on leave balances
• Disciplinary Procedures: work with the Manager, People Operations and  Director, People as needed on managing these procedures
• Staff Documentation: ensuring that offer letters, contracts, probation confirmations, and change of status documents are appropriately handled

What You Should Have

• Bachelors degree from a reputable university.
• Minimum 2 years of full-time work experience after graduation from your undergraduate degree.
• Strong adherence to systems and processes.
• Experience working with a culturally and socioeconomically diverse workforce.
• Excellent email, Excel /spreadsheet, MS Word/word processing skills ; technologically competent/quick learner.
• Work experience in fast-growth, rapid-scale contexts, particularly with large numbers of field staff.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
• High energy and enthusiasm level; willingness to do whatever necessary to get the job done.
• Experience in a challenging, dynamic and complex business environment.

You’re also

• A detailed doer – You have a track record of getting things done. You’re organized and responsive. You take ownership of every idea you touch and execute it to a fine level of detail, setting targets, engaging others, and doing whatever it takes to get the job done. You can multi-task dozens of such projects at once and never lose sight of the details. Likely, you have some experience in a start-up or other rapid-growth company.
• A creative problem-solver – Growing any business from scratch comes with massive and constant challenges. On top of that, we work in often fragile, sometimes volatile low-resource communities and with complex government systems. You need to be flexible and ready to get everything done effectively, quickly, and affordably with the materials at hand. 
• A relentless advocate – The children we serve and teachers we empower never leave your mind. You know them, get them, have shared a meal with them (or would be happy to in the future). You would never shrink back from shaking a parent’s hand or picking up a crying child, no matter what the person was wearing or looked like. Every decision you make considers their benefit, experience, and value.
• A malleable learner – You believe you can always do better. You welcome constructive criticism and provide it freely to others. You know you only get better tomorrow when others point out where you’ve missed things or failed today.
• A data-driven decision-maker – When making decisions, you don’t rely on your intuition alone. You collect data, you analyze it and make decisions with clear justifications.
• A curious investigator – You ask why a lot. You don’t just take what you see and accept it. You wonder why it is that way, and are aware that the world we see is created by human choices and actions – and it could be different. You wonder, and see the world as wonderful even when you want to change a part of it that is unjust.