Head of Global Recruitment

Are you passionate about making the world a better place for people displaced by war and conflict? Are you an expert in talent acquisition strategies, recruitment best practices, and workforce planning? Do you have great people leadership skills and an analytical mind set? The Norwegian Refugee Council welcomes your interest in a new opportunity. We are looking for a Head of Global Recruitment who will oversee a team of Recruitment Advisors and HR Coordinators for NRC’s Global Recruitment Centre.

NRC launched its first Global Recruitment Centre in November 2020 in Nairobi. By establishing the Centre, NRC aims at driving efficiency and quality of recruitment in support of all its offices and operations in more than 30 countries. The Recruitment Centre covers a large functional scope comprising of five main areas: Attract, Search, Recruit, Vet, and Contract. It is led by the Head of the Centre and consist of a team of expert Recruiters and HR Coordinators.

The Head of Global Recruitment will support the Head of the Global Recruitment Centre in operationalizing the strategic direction for the Centre and managing the operational day-to-day activities. The role-holder will drive the NRC Talent acquisition strategy, including the execution of the long-term plans to ensure the recruitment of appropriate individuals with the relevant skills. The successful candidate will also manage the Contracting Team who manage international contracts and payroll.

Key Responsibilities

• Assisting in operationalising the strategy and plan aimed at attaining an organized and coordinated global approach to attracting; screening; accessing; and contracting talent into NRC.


• Being a Compensation and Benefits subject matter expert for the Centre to ensure for the effective international contract management.


• Implementing the Global Recruitment Centre's initiatives/tools/systems.


• Providing leadership for the evolution of talent acquisition technology, recruiting approaches, hiring tools, and partnership with HR and business functions.


• Implementing best practise recruitment, contracting, payroll, and on-boarding procedures.


• Analysing current talent acquisition processes, identifying process efficiencies and gaps, and determining go forward process plans (i.e. identifying and implementing “best practices” and workflows to streamline and standardize processes across NRC).


• Providing regular HR analysis and reports on recruitment metrics and workforce planning.


• Analysing current and future international talent acquisition needs, and developing plans to build the talent acquisition function, including the determination of model use.


• Working closely with Regional and Country Office Teams to proactively workforce plan to ensure for the timely kick- off of recruitments and contract extensions.


• Follow up on recruitment SLA's to ensure for talent acquisition effectiveness with a focus on compliance and continuous improvement.


• Rounding up successfully closed regional recruitment projects and compiling for billing purposes.


• Ensuring that the Global Recruitment Centre adheres to Employment standards, local labour laws, HR policies, and other NRC policies.


• Working with the Head of the Global Recruitment Centre to ensure all activities in the Centre are compliant with all legal and GDPR regulations. Ensuring safe and standardised filing of personnel documents and adherence to GDPR rules.


• Line managing a team of Recruitment Advisors and HR Coordinators. Managing their ongoing performance and development to ensure a high performing motivated team. Holding responsibility for their training and development.


• Deputising the Head of the Global Recruitment Centre.


• The full Job Description can be found on our website.

Required Competencies, Skills and Experience

• Master’s Degree in Human resources management or relevant field.


• Certification in psychometric tools, preferably tests from Cut-e, is an asset.


• At least five years of experience in recruitment.


• Experience working in compensation and benefits, managing the payroll and contracts for multinationals.


• Successful track record in developing effective strategies to recruit and hire employees through effective sourcing and evaluation processes.


• Experience working with Analytics and reporting platforms.


• Experience working with external vendors, to include ATS.


• Deep knowledge of global recruitment strategies and branding.


• Ability to design and manage processes with appropriate degrees of consistency for a global organization.


• Passion for driving process improvement.


• Tech savvy, comfortable communicating virtually and learning new office tools, keeping abreast of advances in technology and social media.


• Demonstrated project leadership, organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.


• Ability to manage and lead and capacity build team.


• Ability to work effectively in a global business with an understanding of cross-cultural differences.


• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with ability to professionally interact with a diverse blend of personality types at all levels of the organization.


• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the demonstrated ability to adapt to a changing environment.


• Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts.


• Fluency in English, both written and verbal. Other desirable linguistic skills: French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese.

What We Offer

• Duty station: Nairobi, Kenya


• Contract Duration: 12 months


• Salary/benefits: Grade 10 in NRC’s Salary Scale. NRC offers a competitive compensation and benefits package

How to apply

To view the full Job Description and apply for the opportunity, please click here.