International Rescue Committee UK
Director, UK People & Culture
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The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.
IRC UK
IRC UK is part of the IRC global network, which has its global headquarters in New York. Our team in the UK – approximately 220 colleagues – works to raise profile, deliver policy and practice change, and increase funding to help restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Since 2021, IRC UK has also provided integration services directly to refugees across the UK.
In Europe, the IRC currently operates in the UK, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Poland.
PURPOSE OF THE ROLE
The People and Culture (P&C) Director works in a highly matrixed environment with staff from several functions across the global organisation. The postholder manages the HR team in IRC UK and is accountable for effective HR service delivery, HR compliance and continuous improvement within the scope of the People & Culture department, localising the IRC’s global people strategy. This position plays a pivotal role in fostering a positive, inclusive and high-performing workplace culture that aligns with IRC’s values, through exceptional communication skills.
The role jointly reports into the UK Executive Director and Regional Director, P&C Europe – with additional reporting accountabilities to the UK Board’s People and Culture Committee. Working within global frameworks set by Global People & Culture, the role localises the implementation of People & Culture priorities and drives UK-specific change initiatives within IRC UK’s culture and regulatory environment.
As a member of the UK Senior Management Team (SMT), the role is jointly accountable for the delivery of IRC UK’s Strategic Plan, and has responsibility for the effective delivery of P&C priorities. The Director has a keen focus on building leadership competencies and organisational effectiveness.
Success in this role requires the ability to build strong relationships, influence decisions, and navigate multiple stakeholder perspectives to deliver effective people solutions within a matrix environment where accountability is shared.
Key Responsibilities
P&C Leadership (Advisory, Implementation, and Partnering) (25%)
- Assume collective accountability for the effective delivery of IRC UK’s Strategic Plan.
- Serve as an advisor and thought partner to the Executive Director and fellow SMT members on the UK application of IRC’s Global P&C strategy, and lead on strengthening IRC UK’s kind, inclusive and high-performing organisational culture.
- Support talent dialogues, performance conversations, and career development planning for IRC UK staff, embedding a culture of continuous learning.
- Partner with peers on workforce planning — including managing workforce adjustments such as staff reductions or scale-up, and organisational design work — in partnership with senior management, the Regional Director P&C Europe, and Global P&C Partners, ensuring compliance with local and global policy while minimising risk and supporting affected staff.
- Translate data and metrics into actionable items in line with IRC UK’s strategy.
- Lead, supervise, and develop the UK P&C team, accountable for team quality and effectiveness and for building a skilled, motivated team ready to advance.
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Manage HR Service Delivery and Core Operations (~40%)
- Manage end-to-end HR service delivery across the employee lifecycle; recruitment, onboarding, contracts, payroll coordination, benefits, performance and leave management, offboarding, and HR information systems, maintaining high-quality, context-specific P&C practices aligned with organisational standards.
- Provide leadership on UK employment law and regulation to the UK HR team, ensuring the HR team supports supervisors of UK staff in the management of their teams in a supportive and compliant way.
- Provide high quality HR partnership to the Refugee, Asylum and Integration (RAI) UK Director and team to support programme needs and donor requirements.
- Advise supervisors on appropriate disciplinary actions, coordinating with Global Employee Relations and Legal on complex or escalated disciplinary proceedings, to ensure fairness and compliance with employment law.
- Responsible for P&C reporting for the UK Board of Trustees and People & Culture Committee, and for the annual production of IRC UK's Gender Pay Gap and Ethnicity Pay Gap reports, in line with IRC's global P&C reporting standards and applicable UK statutory requirements.
- Support any organisational restructure requirements, including active management of any necessary staff consultation and resulting redundancy processes, by providing expert guidance to management and affected staff throughout the process.
- Track UK P&C objectives set by Global P&C and contribute HR input - organisational structure, position scoping, staffing analysis - to proposal design and grant review processes.
- Lead the delivery of regular staff engagement surveys, analysing data and proposing leadership actions in response.
Workplace Culture (~15%)
- Promote employee experience, engagement, and inclusion, and oversee the integration of IRC's Values (the ‘IRC Way’), People Manager Standards, and Employee Success Factors across the employee lifecycle.
- Implement safeguarding standards set by the global Safeguarding function across hiring and onboarding, and ensure the IRC Way and reporting channels are visible in all IRC UK locations.
- Serve as a local advocate for Employee Wellbeing, Employee Engagement, and Safeguarding priorities set by global functions, and role model safe, inclusive, and caring leadership standards.
- Operate and promote collaboration in a highly matrixed environment where several units intersect and work together to reach joint decisions.
- Accountable for the effective delivery of specific P&C-owned elements of IRC UK's Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) Strategy and Action Plan, as well as assuming joint accountability for the full GEDI Strategy and Action Plan as a key member of IRC UK SMT.
Trade Union Relationship (~20%)
- Working with the UK Executive Director, maintain the relationship with UK Trade Union (Unite) representatives, and negotiate and consult via the quarterly Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC), driving progress on policy and annual salary review negotiations.
- Develop and manage union engagement and communication plans that support open, honest, and productive dialogue across the office.
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KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
- Direct reporting line to UK Executive Director; indirect reporting to Regional Director, P&C Europe
- UK Board and P&C Committee
- UK SMT, with particularly close collaboration with Director, Strategy and Delivery, Financial Controller, and RAI UK Director
PERSON SPECIFICATION
- CIPD qualified with significant HR leadership experience across the full P&C spectrum, including complex UK processes such as restructures, TUPE, and employee relations.
- Strong interpersonal and analytical skills, with proven ability to operate effectively in a complex, global matrix organisation. Solution-oriented, positive, ‘can do’ attitude.
- Strong knowledge of UK employment law, with experience of advising and influencing senior leaders.
- Experience of working with Trade Unions, including leading on consultations and negotiations.
- People management experience.
- High level of confidentiality, tact, service orientation, and intercultural communication skills.
- Ability to manage competing priorities and complex, multi-stakeholder projects independently, with willingness to take on significant responsibility.
Criteria marked with ** are the minimum criteria in line with commitments under the Disability Confident Employer Scheme in the UK. UK-based candidates who state that they have a disability and meet these criteria will be invited to interview.
Compensation
(Pay Rate: £58,500-£69,400/yr). Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.
Standard Responsibilities
- Promote and actively participate in initiatives to build team engagement, inclusion, and cohesion in IRC UK. Foster ongoing learning, honest dialogue, and reflection to strengthen safeguarding and to promote IRC values and adherence to IRC policies.
Standard Job Requirements
The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way — Standards for Professional Conduct: Integrity, Service, Equality, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti-Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.
Related Standard Content
IRC strives to build a diverse and inclusive team at all levels who as individuals, and as a group, embody our culture statement creating a working environment characterized by critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity for us to achieve our aspirations as a team and deliver the best possible services to our clients.
UK: Narrowing the Gender Gap: The IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including flexible hours (when possible), enhanced maternity/adoption leave and pay and gender-sensitive security protocols.
Candidates must have the right to work in the UK.
Application Deadline
The application deadline is 4th September 2026 at 11.59pm BST
Equal Opportunities Employer
IRC UK strives to be an equal opportunities employer. IRC UK is committed to equality of opportunity and to non-discrimination for all job applicants and employees, and we seek
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