Location: Home-based, no travel expected
Type of contract: Consultancy
Languages required: English
Experience required: 7+ years
Consultancy start target date: 01/02/2022
Duration of Contract: part-time (max 10 days per month/total 45 days) until mid-June 2022
Application deadline: 23/01/2022
About ACT Alliance
ACT Alliance is the largest coalition of Protestant and Orthodox churches and church-related organisations engaged in humanitarian, development and advocacy work in the world, consisting of more than 135 members working together in over 120 countries to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalised people regardless of their religion, politics, gender, sexual orientation, race or nationality in keeping with the highest international codes and standards. For more details about the general work of ACT, please refer to http://www.actalliance.org/
Terms of reference
ACT Alliance would like to engage a consultant to lead the review of certain HR Policies for its secretariat, as described within the Terms of Reference below.
Application process
Only registered consultants or companies shall be considered. Individuals with a Swiss work permit may be employed on a short-term employment contract if not registered as a consultant. Qualified and interested parties should send their application to: recruitment@actalliance.org by 24.00 CET 23/01/2022
In your tender/application, please include:
- Expression of Interest, including pertinent experience, methodology, time estimation and time plan
- CV of the consultant to perform the work
- Justification of consultant or company registration.
- Samples of/or links to previous consultancy work completed.
- List of 3 professional reference persons
- Financial offer: gross daily rate for the consultancy in USD, EURO or CHF – including administrative overheads, taxes and charges. (Agreed travel costs, if any, to be reimbursed at cost on basis of receipt.)
Please note that only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. Shortlisting will be made based on the consultant’s experience, quality of the application and cost.
Terms of Reference
HR Consultant – Global Compensation and Benefits Project
Background
The ACT Alliance Secretariat currently has 31 staff and seconded personnel located primarily in Geneva (Switzerland), Nairobi (Kenya), Bangkok (Thailand), Toronto (Canada) and Amman (Jordan) as well as in the US, UK, Ireland, El Salvador, Colombia and Belgium. The ACT Secretariat has legal presence in Switzerland, Thailand and Jordan with staff working elsewhere hosted by member organizations through Memorandums of Understanding. At present, the ACT Alliance does not have a global compensation and benefits policy nor staff rules and regulations adapted to its decentralised structure.
Scope of Consultancy
In the first half of 2022, ACT Alliance intends to undertake a review of its HR policies related to compensation and benefits in order to ensure transparent and equitable staff remuneration and working conditions across the diverse geographic locations where our staff are based. We are seeking to hire a consultant who will coordinate this process, in close collaboration with key ACT Alliance staff and using data from external C&B/salary surveys. The primary outcomes will be to establish a salary and benefits package for international staff and to establish local salary scales for our offices in Thailand and Jordan as well as a revised salary scale for our head-quarters in Geneva (where a third of our staff are contracted). A further outcome will be to revise and simplify our Staff Rules and Regulations adapted to the diverse employment locations and considering NGO sector standards and trends including new working modalities resultant of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Approach and methodology
After initial discussions with the consultancy manager, to refine the workplan, the consultant will coordinate the various processes necessary to undertake salary benchmarking using data from a specialised company (to be selected). The consultant will be given access to all relevant internal documents and data and will coordinate the process of benchmarking via the external service provider.
In parallel the consultant will lead consultations with staff and key stakeholders to ensure an inclusive process in particular with regards to job levelling, (re)defining organisational culture and working modalities. Once sufficient inputs and data have been gathered, the consultant will begin drafting revised Staff Rules and Regulations, C&B packages and salary scales for internal discussion. The final versions of these deliverables will be presented to the ACT Alliance core management team for approval before being implemented. Implementation target is July 2021.
The consultant will report to, and work closely with, the Director of Operations. Additional support may be provided by the HR officer and some selected members of the ACT Alliance Staff Representative Group, which is strongly supportive of this initiative. S/he will be expected to consult with staff and key external stakeholders (including relevant legal services and ACT member organisations).
Deliverables
- Revision of job descriptions with job levelling and structure suggestions
- International compensation and benefits package
- Revised salary scales for Geneva and regional offices
- Benchmarking for individual local staff, in other countries.
- Revised Staff Rules and Regulations adapted to international staff and decentralised structure
Suggested timeline
- February 01: Target start date
- Feb-March: Data gathering and analysis
- April: Drafting of documents
- End of April: Submit draft versions of deliverables for internal discussion and review
- Early June: Final versions of deliverable to be submitted for management approval
Required Skills and Experience
- 7+ years of HR experience in International Organisations/NGOs, with particular expertise in international Compensation and Benefits
- Demonstrated experience in project management or consultancy contracts of similar nature
- Good knowledge and understanding of latest trends in international HR matters
- Knowledge of Swiss employment law required; knowledge of employment of other countries in which ACT has registered entities would be an asset (Thailand, Jordan)
- An advanced degree or equivalent in Human Resources, Business Administration or related fields
- Strong interpersonal skills and ability to quickly establish effective working relationships in a remote and multi-cultural environment
- A proactive approach with a problem-solving attitude
- Effective facilitation skills during discussions and meetings
- Fluency in written and spoken English with ability to write high quality, clear and concise reports
- Experience working with or knowledge of ACT Alliance, its member organisations or other faith-based actors would be an asset but is not essential
