Head of Career Development Unit

Are you a highly skilled talent management leader with international experience and a global mind-set? Do you want to shape the future of talent management at the world's leading humanitarian organization and truly make a difference?

Then this is your opportunity to join a team of highly motivated professionals in building a world class global talent management organization at the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Purpose of the post

The Head of Career Development Unit reports to the Head of Global Talent Management Division and is responsible for the design and implementation of innovative and effective global strategies, actions and tools to drive talent development, engagement and retention of ICRC staff. It is part of the newly established Global Talent Management Division- which encompasses units for Talent Acquisition & Sourcing, Workforce Planning and Career Development as well as advisors for Gender & Diversity, National Societies and Talent Pool Coordination- and is charged with establishing global talent management strategies, processes and practices at ICRC.

This role plays a critical role in the systematic development of our global workforce by establishing enablers for building a strong ICRC leadership bench and a global talent pipeline while maximizing all employees' potential to contribute and grow professionally. Leading the work on Performance Management, Succession Planning, Career Development, International Assignment Planning and Employee Engagement, this role takes an integrated approach to ensuring ICRC staff and leaders have the necessary competencies, skills and development opportunities to deliver on our mandate.

Key to success lies in the establishment of strategies, processes and tools for talent development, combined with building strong partnerships with managers and HR staff worldwide. As part of the integrated talent management function, it draws upon synergies and opportunities within the Global Talent Management Division and operates on both on the organizational level to build career development capacity in the HR community and with managers as well as with staff directly.

Main duties and responsibilities

Lead the Career Development Unit: 

• Lead the Career Development team, overseeing the delivery of results and ensuring engagement and excellence of the team members.
• Provide subject matter expertise in talent management and be recognized as a subject matter expert globally for Career Development, providing thought leadership to the development of world-class talent management practices.
• Leading the areas of work in Performance Management, Succession Planning, Career Development, International Assignment Planning and Employee Engagement, ensuring synergies and consistency in alignment with the ICRC Talent Management Strategy.
• Define and introduce KPIs for talent development purposes to measure organizational progress vs. objectives.

Develop & Implement a global ICRC Integrated Career Development Approach and Tools:

• ŸGain an excellent understanding of the ICRC Strategic priorities and global workforce talent development requirements.
• Ÿ Design and implement a global ICRC Integrated Career Development Approach, which reflects ICRC organizational needs, examines skills and competency gaps and development needs, considering internal and external factors and strategic partnerships.
• Ÿ Design and implement an integrated Career Management Model based on the ICRC Competency Framework, fully aligned with Performance Management, Succession Planning, Career Development and International Assignment Planning objectives and core processes.
• Ÿ Design innovative and effective tools for individual career planning and customised targeted development planning, enabling global reach and applicability for all staff- mobile and resident.
• Ÿ Coordinate effectively with HR Partners, Managers and technical Pools (Metiers) to ascertain institutional needs/requirements, and define talent development needs based on workforce segmentation and inventory of the skills, competencies, and experiences necessary for success.

Performance Management & Competency Management

• Ÿ Oversee and enable the finalization of design of the new global Performance Management System.
• Ÿ Oversee the global roll out and implementation of a new global Performance Management System, ensuring key enablers are in place for managers and staff to embrace new system.
• Ÿ Lead the work to establish and implement global performance standards and processes to enable great people decisions.
• Ÿ Oversee and support the finalization of design and implementation of the ICRC Key Competency Framework.
• Ÿ Oversee and support the design and implementation of a new Technical Competency Framework.

Succession Planning & International Assignment Planning:

• Oversee and support the full implementation of the International Assignment Planning process to ensure a fully transparent and high quality process.
• Ÿ Lead the work to design state-of-the-art tools to support for staff preparing to apply for positions in the International Assignment Planning Process (Compendium), such as strengths analysis, competency mapping and career planning, etc.
• Ÿ Lead the work to design a suite of development interventions offering alternative options following unsuccessful participation in the International Assignment Planning Process (Compendium) for staff in between assignments.
• Ÿ Lead the work to design and implement state-of-the-art processes and tools for succession planning and strategic talent reviews including potential assessments and strategic processes for high potential development, in alignment the overall Talent Management Strategy.

Institutional Career Development Capacity Building:

• Work with clients such as the HR community to integrate career development practices, tools and concepts across ICRC, introducing best practices and building skillsets.
• Design career development tools for staff to enable and empower them to assume responsibility for their own career.
• Design career development tools to enable managers and HR to hold effective and pragmatic career and development conversations with staff.
• Leverage change management and project management skills to effectively design and implement career development best practices within ICRC; build and maintain credibility throughout HR as a trusted partner and team player.
• Develop Career Development scenarios, collaborating with HR Partners, Talent Acquisition & Sourcing, Succession Planning and Learning and Development to identify talent gaps and develop strategies to address organizational needs.

Education, experience and skills required

• University degree or equivalent within a quantitative discipline in Human Resources, Management, Business or related discipline.
• Approximately 7 to 10 years of international experience in HR role(s) focusing on talent management, with experience implementing performance management systems, succession planning processes and/or career management processes.
• Demonstrated expertise and ability to understand organizational talent management needs and translate them into strategic people development practices and tools.
• Experience in designing and implementing career management tools and processes
• Management experience in an international organization with a global presence an advantage.
• Demonstrated people management experience, with ability to influence and engage stakeholders.
• Fluency in English or French with working knowledge of the other.

Desired profile

• You are passionate about talent management and see capacity building and team excellence as key levers to embedding sustainable talent management practices organization wide.
• You have a global mindset and are a strategic thinker who sees the big picture, balances short and long term objectives and actively translates them into pragmatic talent management solutions
• You enjoy implementing new initiatives and driving change by developing strong cross-functional partnerships in a fast paced global environment.
• You are a self-starter who is comfortable leading in ambiguity and managing dynamically changing, competing priorities and deadlines.
• You put clients in focus and have an affinity for transcending the impact of your work throughout the organization in partnerships with others.