Job: We’re hiring: Head of HR & Operations

Do you want to join a global team in solving one of the world’s most pressing problems? Maternity Foundation is an international non-profit that works to ensure safer childbirths for women and newborns through innovative programmes and digital solutions.

We are looking for a Head of HR & Operations to help lead and support our growing global team and expanding portfolio of work. As Head of HR & Operations you will work closely with the CEO and the rest of the leadership team to lead and implement HR, recruitment, organizational development, and operational processes.  The Head of HR & Operations will have a strong internal and operational focus. The incumbent will in many ways be the strong internal anchor focused on ensuring development, alignment and consistency across our three main locations in Copenhagen, India and Ethiopia.

Application deadline:

As soon as possible. Applications will be handled on an ongoing basis.

The position is expected to be full-time, but with the opportunity to negotiate more flexible terms and structure.  It will be based out of our Copenhagen office. As Head of HR & Operations, you will report to our CEO.

Key responsibilities

1) Human Resources & Recruitment

• Manage staffing, HR policies and processes.
• Develop and maintain organisational policies and procedures as needed, incl. Employee handbook.
• Oversee and support the country and regional directors in the development, updating of and compliance to HR guidelines, policies, and procedures.
• Manage contracts and personal records of all employees incl. long term consultants (6 month+) and interns.
• Manage payroll and holiday balance for employees.
• Support recruitment processes and contracts.
• Maintain and share templates and good practices to support leaders in recruiting and onboarding new colleagues, and in developing, retaining and offboarding employees.

2) Organisational Development

• Develop and lead organisational development strategies and processes.
• Identify and lead efforts to strengthen organisational culture.
• Develop, align and implement annual wheel to support cross-organizational collaboration, a positive work environment and employee retention. E.g. through monthly all-staff meetings, engagement surveys, culture day(s) and other initiatives as needed.
• Facilitate development of annual plans and quarterly reviews of must-win.

3) Cross-cutting managerial and administrative processes

• Coordinate internal meetings across different locations and within management.
• Support development, tracking and reporting on organisational Key Performance Indicators.
• Support financial reporting in collaboration with the Finance Manager.
• Support office management in Copenhagen.
• Facilitate other internal communication.

 Profile and skills

We envision you have:

• Relevant academic background in either business, public health, non-profit management or similar field with an advanced degree.
• Strong understanding and track record of successful HR/organisational management, highly proficient operational and strategic acumen.
• Outstanding leadership and organisational skills, with the ability to excel and thrive with both more strategic and complex tasks and the more administrative, hands-on tasks
• Self-driven, pro-active approach with the ability to work independently while being a team-player.
• Strong people skills, ideally with experience in working with multi-cultural, multi-country teams.
• Excellent communication, writing, and presentation skills.
• Fluency in English and Danish.

How to apply:

Please send your application to [email protected] 

We value equal opportunity and encourage candidates regardless of race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, disability, or age to apply.

About Maternity Foundation

Every other minute, a woman dies of causes related to pregnancy or childbirth. Every seventh second, a newborn suffers the same fate. Most deaths happen in poor and fragile settings, but the majority can be prevented if the women receive quality care from a skilled healthcare professional.

Maternity Foundation works to ensure safer births for women and newborns – everywhere. We build midwifery knowledge and skills among healthcare professionals in low-resource areas by providing innovative learning programmes and life-saving and cost-effective digital health solutions, including the Safe Delivery App. 

Maternity Foundation has Danish roots but is a global organisation within maternal and newborn health, digital solutions, and learning programmes. We work in both humanitarian and developmental settings.

In 2005, we started out as a smaller Danish NGO working in western Ethiopia. Today, we have offices in Ethiopia, India, and Denmark and engagements in multiple countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa, and Asia. We have plans to expand our work into Latin America and the Caribbean in the coming years.

To date, we have reached 435,000+ healthcare workers across 70 countries.

We work with partners such as UNFPA, UNICEF, Ministries of Health, Plan International, Red Cross and Save the Children. Our work is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Merck/MSD for Mothers, Novo Nordisk Foundation, World Diabetes Foundation, and Ole Kirk’s Fond among others. HM Queen Mary of Denmark has been our patron since 2009.

Together, we work from a shared vision that it should not cost life to give life.