ABOUT VVOB

VVOB is an international NGO with programmes and projects in 10 countries worldwide. Our head office is based in Brussels, Belgium.

When you join VVOB, you become a key player in VVOB’s mission to ensure quality education as a key enabler for achieving the sustainable development goals. We implement our programmes and projects with one shared passion: to ensure the improvement of quality education. Our teams of national and international experts achieve this by providing technical assistance to government and other education actors. In doing so, worldwide, we ensure capacity building of these important actors.

Do you share our ambition to ensure that learners around the world can enjoy their fundamental human right to quality education, without exception? Are you also convinced that quality education guarantees equal opportunities for everyone and is the key to a better world?

We are looking for a Human Resource Advisor who will operate from our office in Lusaka, Zambia. Do you want to take on this challenge? Then continue reading!

Hello! We’re excited to see you found your way to this job opening. That must mean you share our ambition to ensure learners around the world enjoy their fundamental human right to quality education, without exception. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

But first things first. Allow us to introduce ourselves, drawing on the great mystery behind our name. Since our establishment in 1982, ‘VVOB’ has evolved from a complex (Dutch) acronym to a stand-alone concept meaning education for development:

·      VVOB stands for ‘commitment’ – to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

·      VVOB stands for ‘integrity’ and ‘mutual respect’ – in working with our partner organisations across 10 countries in 3 continents.

·      VVOB stands for ‘quality’ and ‘innovation’ – of everything we do in our effort to improve education worldwide.

Do you still feel like you’re in the right place? Great, because we’re hiring a Human Resource Advisor to support our VVOB country team in Zambia.

VVOB in Zambia

In Zambia, VVOB is working in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MoE). We are building capacity on Early Childhood Education (ECE) and in the sub sector of Primary Education in the remedial education methodology Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) which is popularly known as Catch Up.

Our key focus points in ECE are ‘Learning through Play’ and ‘Emergent Literacy’ while in Primary it is foundational literacy and numeracy. Our work spans a number of provinces across the country. Our remedial evidence based TaRL approach helps learners in Grades 3, 4 and 5 to develop basic reading and numeracy skills. TaRL now reaches more than 4,000 primary and community schools and close to 700.000 learners spread over 8 provinces.

Responsibilities of the Human Resource Advisor

The Human Resource Advisor is, in consultation with the operations manager, responsible for planning, implementing and monitoring all HR operations in the country. (S)he ensures the VVOB country programmes attract and retain high quality, high performing, highly motivated and well supported personnel. (S)he is reports to the operations manager and is thus a part of the operations team in Zambia.

You will: 

• Advise and support management and employees and coordinate all HR related matters to attract and retain high performing and motivated personnel. In order to do this, you manage processes such as recruitment, onboarding, workforce planning, contract management, employee engagement and the exit flow.
• You provide authoritative advice/guidance in developing, implementing, and monitoring local VVOB HR policies, procedures, and practices. Amongst others, you manage the compensation and benefits processes and keep the local HR handbook up to date in line with the global HR policy and local legislation.
• As a coach, you provoke and support learning in the VVOB Zambia team. You develop and monitor the professional development plans, addressing VVOB global, team and individual learning needs.
• You keep abreast with policy trends, new developments and latest research and thinking in Human Resource Management by external and internal networking and share new insights with partners and VVOB Colleagues.
• You act as a contact and resource person for all HR related matters

If you’re our HR Advisor, your workweek at the office will include the following highlights:

• Together with the Operations Manager, you log in to a Teams meeting to touch base with VVOB’s head office in Brussels (Belgium) to discuss the updates based on a legal review you organised, on the Zambia HR handbook you are drafting. You want to verify if the updates are fully in line with the VVOB global HR policy.
• You prepare and report on employee needs for all staff across all projects in collaboration with project coordinators.
• Lunch! A perfect time to nurture informal relationships with the other team members in Zambia and hear how everyone is doing.
• You prepare the recruitments for all current vacant positions. You create the vacancies, post and share these via the common channels, organize the testing and interviewing and keep the candidates informed of all the different steps in the process.
• In the recurring team meeting of the operations team, you share with your manager and team members the status on the current relevant operations and HR topics.

Who are you?

This is a national position, open to Zambian Nationals.

Your expertise and experience

• Master’s degree in Human Resource Management, Public Administration, Psychology  or other relevant field or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years’ experience as an HR Generalist, including recruitment, performance management, compensation, training and development and HR administration.
• Proven sense of professional discretion, integrity, and ability to manage situations diplomatically and to effective resolution.
• Excellent, interpersonal and negotiation skills and a demonstrated ability to promote harmonious/cohesive teamwork, in a cross-cultural context.
• Strong proficiency in MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is required.
• Fluent in English + based on Country needs.
• Must be a Member of the Zambia Institute of Human Resource Management with a valid practicing license.

Matching competences

VVOB core competences:

• Results orientation
• Continuous improvement
• Cooperation

Function specific competencies:

• Communication skills
• Development oriented
• Reliability
• 360° empathy
• Problem analysis and judgement

What we’re offering:

• A full-time contract with the possibility to extend depending on funding
  25% gratuity at year’s end
• In-patient and out-patient medical package for you and your legal dependents (as proven by marriage certificate and birth certificate(s))
• Education allowance for your legal children
• Transport allowance and housing allowance in line with the Zambian employment legislation
• Supportive environnement, enabling continuous professional development