People and Culture Manager, Kenya at Trees for the Future

THE ROLE 

• Based in Kisumu, the People and Culture (P&C) Manager promotes a farmer-focused and equitable work environment for all Kenya staff and manages the full employment life cycle for all staff. As a key partner to the Country Director, the P&C Manager advises on strategic People topics, ensures compliance with all Kenya employment requirements, and assists in inspiring and motivating an engaged, committed, and successful team.
• The P&C Manager works closely with the Global People and Culture team to design and execute key aspects of People and Culture processes in compliance with global policies, systems, and practices. The individual will join the Kenya country team but will also become part of a network of People and Culture professionals across TREES countries of operation. Facilitated by the Global People and Culture team, the in-country P&C function will be responsible for cascading global P&C workstreams down to the country teams and managing P&C matters through the central HRIS system (Rippling), to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of all People operations. The role reports to the Director of Finance and Operations.

Responsibilities
People and Culture Foundations

• Enforce and adapt the Kenya People/HR Manual, Code of Conduct, and other key policies per organizational and Kenya jurisdictional requirements.
• Lead onboarding and offboarding processes, ensuring teammates have the tools and support they need for strong starts and smooth departures. This also includes making improvements to maximize efficiency.
• Maintain country People analytics framework and work with Global HR to keep this updated and synchronized with the organizational framework. 

Engagement

• Promote regular communication on all organizational requirements and foster a positive environment for staff engagement and information exchange.
• Support managers with guidance, coaching and best practice to effectively engage and develop their team
• Organize staff recognition initiatives and/or events to bring the team together and foster culture building.
• Alongside country leadership, help develop and implement creative initiatives to enhance employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention. These include but are not limited to managing feedback channels/platforms, proper and timely communication and responsiveness to staff requests, among others.
• Organize employee recognition programs, team-building activities, and annual retreats, where applicable. 

Employee Relations and Welfare

• Address employee concerns and grievances in a discreet, constructive and effective manner, in collaboration with global P&C and the C.A.R.E Office. This includes but is not limited to investigating all grievances to foster a psychologically safe work environment to help employees fulfill their duties effectively.
• Ensure compliance with health, safety, and welfare regulations. This includes ensuring all staff, through their managers, are aware of related policies and processes.
• Manage the suggestion boxes and ensure they are checked twice a month then triage to the relevant teams. 

Workforce Planning and Performance Management

• With the Country Director, Global HR and in-country managers, analyze current and future talent needs to align them with an organization's strategy and business goals.
• Lead in-country recruitment, in collaboration with managers. For niche and senior roles, work with global P&C to run the searches.
• Roll out and implement the performance management framework to drive high performance and employee development.
• Lead the bi-annual performance review process ensuring timely and constructive feedback for all employees. 

Training and Development

• Identify organizational training and development needs through skills gap analysis and consultation with team leads.
• Help develop and roll out training programs, facilitated either internally or externally, to enhance employee skills and competencies. 

Compensation And Benefits

• In collaboration with the Global P&C team, maintain up-to-date competency and compensation frameworks.
• Work with in-country finance to prepare monthly payroll and ensure timely sharing of monthly pay slips and payroll input. This includes timely communication on any changes eg taxes, levies etc.
• Support finance team with benefits administration such as medical insurance. 

Who You Are

• An enthusiastic advocate for TREES’ mission and values. You are inspired to empower and support a team working to grow vibrant regional economies, thriving food systems, and a healthier planet. You thrive on a close-knit team that values shared integrity, inclusive collaboration, sustainable resilience, and continuous learning.
• You are passionate about people-centric HR processes, ensuring that projects drive real impact for communities and the environment.
• You are guided by strong professional ethics. You uphold confidentiality, integrity, accountability, and honesty in all interactions. You foster an open-door culture where staff feel safe, respected, and encouraged to share openly.
• A systems and operations expert. You have deep expertise in HRIS platforms (Rippling or similar enterprise platforms highly preferred), global payroll, compliance, and operational process improvement.
• You have a passion for supporting teams. You strive to make every interaction with staff a positive one. You approach every aspect of work, big and small, with a critical lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion and have a passion for creating a work environment where all teammates feel valued and supported.
• A detail-oriented executor with a systems mindset. You understand what details matter, and you get them right. You look for ways to make People systems simple, efficient, and user-friendly. You can turn a vision into tactical next steps.
• Well-versed in People and Culture foundations, adept at adopting and adapting policies as per organizational and Kenya jurisdictional requirements. Compliance is your bread and butter.
• Experienced in comprehensive staff management, including recruiting, onboarding, performance management, and time reporting.
• Proficient in leading recruitment processes, overseeing orientation and onboarding, and ensuring accurate HRIS maintenance for employee data. 

ROLE REQUIRMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience/education; a master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum 7 years of progressively responsible HR management experience in similarly sized operation.
• Experience running country People and Culture operations, with a proper track record of ushering a team into modern people management.
• Professional certifications such as SHRM, HRCI, or equivalent are strongly preferred.
• Strong belief in the TREES mission and culture and a commitment to supporting the important mission.
• IT Proficiency, with strong skills in Microsoft Office, especially Excel and the capacity to learn and utilize the global HRIS system.
• Strong communication skills, both written and spoken.
• Commitment to equal-opportunity employment.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work cooperatively and diplomatically with a culturally diverse domestic and international team.
• Fluency in spoken and written English and Kiswahili. Knowledge of the local language(s) is a huge plus.