Human Resources Business Partner

Job Summary:

The Human Resources Business Partner adds value to the organization by ensuring HR day to day service delivery, coordination, facilitation, implementation and administration of HR processes throughout an employee’s life cycle for internal clients and employees.  The HR Business Partner also helps to develop and deliver enterprise-wide HR programs, processes and services that ensure fit, performance and retention of ACCION employees and meet the HR needs of management.  The HR Business Partner is part of a team of HR generalists and partners/resources to management located in Boston, Massachusetts; Bogotá, Colombia; and Washington, D.C. 

Key Areas of Responsibility:

1. Business Partnering and Communications:

• Ensures that management and internal clients’ day-to-day HR needs are met and that the right people are selected, retained, developed and perform to support strategic and departmental goals.  Understands business issues that underlay HR needs;• Advises management on a wide range of HR topics, legal considerations and best practices covering the employee life cycle; and• Ensures clear communications, understanding and compliance with all HR processes, procedures and policies. Partners with management, Director, Human Resources Business Partners and other support services to propose next level of sophistication in policies, processes and  procedures that support ACCION’s strategy and culture, its commitment to being an attractive employer of choice, its brand, legal requirements, and employee confidentiality.

2. Recruiting and Onboarding: 

• Initiates the recruiting requisition process and provides support to management, Recruiting/Staffing and Legal throughout the recruiting and contracting process that will lead to accurate, appropriate and timely candidate sourcing for all internal staff and resident advisors/international contractor positions;• Administers and works with internal clients to fulfill intern and administrative, accounting and similar level temporary employee requirements. Manages outsourcing relationships;• Ensures a smooth transition, adaptation and integration into and out of ACCION for employees.  Conducts new employee orientation and administers onboarding processes that ensure new employees, interns, resident advisors/international contractors under internal clients’ supervision receive introductory and non-technical training, understand policies, receive needed equipment and access to do their jobs, and that compensation/benefit data is collected and entered.  Follows up with them and supervisors to ensure adaptation and integration into ACCION; and• Articulates/tracks reason for, and cost of, turnover.  Conducts exit interviews and collects/maintains data.  Ensures changes effected and security of ACCION information (e.g., emails, distribution lists, employee cards, compensation, benefits) upon employee’s departures.  

3. Performance Review, Performance Management and Development:

• Drives the performance review, employee development planning and evaluation process for staff & resident advisors/international consultants associated with the finance/investment functions and supports those who are managed through the WDC office. Ensures that performance reviews and evaluations are in place, timely and in compliance.  Facilitates and administers the performance improvement process for at-risk employees and their managers; and• Coordinates with Learning and Development the development planning process and facilitates acquisition of learning and experience to support plans. 

4. Compensation, Benefits/HRIS Administration & Budget:

• Works with Compensation and Benefits administration to ensure flawless and timely benefits data entry, updates, record keeping (e.g., leave taken) and administration and provide information and assistance in conducting on-going compensation analysis and benchmarking;  • Supports Compensation & Benefits administration in their analysis and communication of trends to internal clients and helps HR broadly in ensuring that the relationships between selection, performance reviews and compensation/benefits structures are benchmarked and valid, reliable and fair; and• Supports Director, Human Resources Business Partners and business partners in planning for, budgeting and recommending changes to increase the efficacy of the Human Resources function and compensation/benefits structures.   5. Employee Relations:

• Works with Director, HR Business Partners and Legal to ensure that employee grievance and reporting processes are in place and handled appropriately. Reaches out to employees under his/her primary client to ensure and provide confidential and meaningful conduits for important employee feedback to be shared and acted upon;• Recommends ways to continuously improve ACCION employees’ experiences and advance employee welfare. Advocates and mediates on behalf of the function and staff for resources and support that is in ACCION’s best long term interest; and• Coaches employees on change initiatives and the impact of change on the business.

6. Teamwork:

• Models behavior that support ACCION’s financial goals, broaden and deepen its skills sets and offerings and endorse its culture and values;  • Actively participates on project and cross-office initiatives that will support ACCION’s strategy and maximize its collective knowledge and experience, particularly where HR generalist and employee relations knowledge is needed; and  • Works with Marketing and Branding to ensure that official communications reflect ACCION’s external and employee brands.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Bachelor degree with preference for Human Resources Management, Business, Psychology or Communication, or a closely related field.• Three-five years of experience in a human resources function with sound cross functional experience in employee relations, fair employment practices and compensation/benefits administration.• Knowledge and experience in international organizations with microfinance experience preferred. • Excellent interpersonal, communications, customer service, consulting and organization skills.  Strong problem solver. • High energy and maturity with ability to juggle multiple clients simultaneously for competing priorities.  Self starter with sense of humor, proactive, responsible, creative. • Proficiency in HR Office applications to include strong skills in Excel and Word.• English and either French or Portuguese preferred.

Remuneration: 

• Salary based on experience and within range of level 7 positions established by ACCION.• Generous benefits package, including healthcare & transportation reimbursement, annual stipend for professional development and contributions to retirement plan.

How to Apply: Please submit letter of interest and resume online at www.accion.org

Company Overview:

ACCION International is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to give people the financial tools they need – microenterprise loans, business training and other financial services - to work their way out of poverty with dignity and pride.  An innovator in creating financial access, ACCION has pioneered many of the best practices and emerging standards in the microfinance industry.  It has built institutional capacity and financial strength among its partners, enabling them to deliver commercially viable, market-driven financial services to poor households on a broad scale.  ACCION has received a number of awards for its accomplishments, including Fast Company’s Social Capitalist award for 5 years and a 4 star classification by Charity Navigator, America’s premier independent charity evaluator. A nonprofit with a for-profit investment arm, ACCION is financially and organizationally complex.  It has numerous subsidiaries and offices and manages a number of wholly-owned mission related equity and debt funds in addition to its own non-mission related investments.

ACCION’s culture is both results driven and supportive.  Teamwork and collaboration are integral to how people do their work.  People drawn to the organization are mission-driven, passionate, entrepreneurial, innovative, hardworking, dedicated, responsible and flexible.

ACCION is in the process of scaling up and out to take advantage of the opportunities provided by positive changes in its financial resources. As it grows, it seeks to keep the best of its culture while broadening and deepening its skill set and offerings.   The increasing number, diversity and complexity of ACCION programs and locations has led ACCION to redefine and broaden its HR generalist role to meet ACCION’s growing HR needs for the future.