Country HR Manager job at Wildlife Conservation Society

Job Purpose:

The Country HR Manager is responsible for aligning people, capabilities, and culture with organizational goals to drive impact within the country's program. As the most senior HR leads in WCS’s country program, they ensure the delivery of day-to-day people’s processes to ensure effective, efficient, and compliant HR operations that support the workforce and WCS mission delivery.

Major Responsibilities:

• Serve as the primary HR business partner to country leadership, aligning the country program’s HR strategy with organizational objectives
• Translate and implement the Global HR strategy locally, reflecting local culture and market realities
• Lead all core HR operations in-country, including employee relations, recruitment, performance management, compensation, and benefits
• Drive workforce planning and talent strategy, advising leadership on organisational structure, position design, and succession planning
• Oversee recruitment and onboarding to ensure timely hiring of high-quality talent aligned with organizational needs
• Partner with leaders on performance management, development, and engagement initiatives
• Manage country-level compensation and benefits programs in alignment with global job architecture, ensuring competitiveness and internal equity
• Use people data and insights to advise leadership and inform decision-making
• Lead, coach, and develop the local HR team, fostering high standards of professionalism and service
• Lead and resolve complex employee relations issues, investigations, and disciplinary actions with sound judgment
• Support leaders in building an inclusive, high-performing culture
• Ensure a positive and consistent employee experience across the full lifecycle
• Implementing and maintaining WCS’s HR technologies in the country program, collaborating closely with the Global HR and Systems and Operations Center of Excellence (CoE)
• Serve as a credible, trusted advisor to leaders and employees
• Maintain an external network of HR professionals in country to share best practices
• Take on special HR projects, as requested

Minimum Requirements and Job Skills:

• A bachelor’s degree in human resources, business, or equivalent. A master’s degree is a plus
• At least 8 years of progressive HR experience, including at least 5 years’ experience in an HR management role
• Experience managing HR activities through the employee lifecycle from recruitment to separation
• Demonstrated success implementing HR processes and initiatives, adding value toward achieving organizational priorities
• Resourceful and proactive in prioritizing issues, creating, and executing on innovative solutions
• Demonstrated success in building and maintaining trusted relationships with management and employees
• Strong collaborator with effective interpersonal and analytical skills
• Excellent planning, negotiation, influencing, detail oriented and communication skills
• Proficiency in spoken and written English
• Fluency in local language(s)

Additional requirements:

• Approximately 30% travel to field locations in the country

WCS is an equal opportunity employer, and the organization complies with all employment and labor laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in hiring and ensures that candidates from all backgrounds are fairly and consistently considered during the recruitment process. We are dedicated to hiring and engaging a diverse workforce. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment and looking for future team members who share that same value. The organization provides equal employment opportunities for all qualified candidates. The organization does not discriminate for employment based on gender, race/ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship status, caste, genetic information or any other covered status or characteristic protected by laws and regulations/and similar categories.

• Serve as the primary HR business partner to country leadership, aligning the country program’s HR strategy with organizational objectives
• Translate and implement the Global HR strategy locally, reflecting local culture and market realities
• Lead all core HR operations in-country, including employee relations, recruitment, performance management, compensation, and benefits
• Drive workforce planning and talent strategy, advising leadership on organisational structure, position design, and succession planning
• Oversee recruitment and onboarding to ensure timely hiring of high-quality talent aligned with organizational needs
• Partner with leaders on performance management, development, and engagement initiatives
• Manage country-level compensation and benefits programs in alignment with global job architecture, ensuring competitiveness and internal equity
• Use people data and insights to advise leadership and inform decision-making
• Lead, coach, and develop the local HR team, fostering high standards of professionalism and service
• Lead and resolve complex employee relations issues, investigations, and disciplinary actions with sound judgment
• Support leaders in building an inclusive, high-performing culture
• Ensure a positive and consistent employee experience across the full lifecycle
• Implementing and maintaining WCS’s HR technologies in the country program, collaborating closely with the Global HR and Systems and Operations Center of Excellence (CoE)
• Serve as a credible, trusted advisor to leaders and employees
• Maintain an external network of HR professionals in country to share best practices
• Take on special HR projects, as requested

• Strong collaborator with effective interpersonal and analytical skills
• Excellent planning, negotiation, influencing, detail oriented and communication skills
• Proficiency in spoken and written English
• Fluency in local language(s)

• A bachelor’s degree in human resources, business, or equivalent. A master’s degree is a plus
• At least 8 years of progressive HR experience, including at least 5 years’ experience in an HR management role
• Experience managing HR activities through the employee lifecycle from recruitment to separation
• Demonstrated success implementing HR processes and initiatives, adding value toward achieving organizational priorities
• Resourceful and proactive in prioritizing issues, creating, and executing on innovative solutions
• Demonstrated success in building and maintaining trusted relationships with management and employees