THE OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Director, People & Culture (P&C), Business Partner (Programs), the Head, People & Culture Business Partner will oversee the full People & Culture partnership agenda for Senegal and Pan-African Programs (PANA). The role will design and deliver P&C strategies and initiatives aligned with Foundation objectives and the distinct priorities of both portfolios.

The role serves as a trusted advisor to the Senegal Country Program leadership and PANA leadership, enabling delivery of their strategic plans. The incumbent provides hands-on P&C support to employees across Senegal and PANA, strengthens oneness across locations and functions, and oversees the complete employee experience, including employee relations and engagement. The role is the primary P&C contact for the two portfolios and is supported by the Enabling Functions Business Partnering team and relevant P&C Centres of Excellence.

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE

Business partnership and strategy

• Serve as the P&C Business Partner to Senegal Country Program and PANA leadership, advancing both portfolios from a People & Culture perspective.
• Partner with stakeholders across Senegal and PANA to assess organizational gaps and determine the operating capacity and capability required to deliver strategy.
• Develop and maintain Senegal and PANA people roadmaps, P&C strategies, and delivery plans that reflect country, regional, and pan-African priorities.
• Lead implementation of P&C programs, processes, and plans across Senegal and PANA, ensuring consistent standards with appropriate contextual adaptation.
• Partner with Senegal and PANA leadership to prepare people budgets aligned with portfolio strategies and support delivery within approved employment budgets.
• Contribute to the P&C function strategy with the Director, People & Culture, Business Partner (Programs), and the broader P&C team, bringing insights from both country and pan-African programmatic work.

Talent acquisition, planning and succession

• Partner with P&C Centres of Excellence (CoEs), Talent Acquisition, and Foundation leaders to design and implement resourcing strategies, plans, and processes for Senegal and PANA.
• Lead talent management for both portfolios, including talent reviews, succession planning, scenario planning, critical-role planning, and agreed functional talent interventions.
• Lead workforce planning, role insights, and talent insights across Senegal and PANA.
• Own sourcing and recruitment up to Lead level for roles within scope, including job briefs, shortlist reviews, interviews, and recruitment feedback to hiring managers, in line with agreed accountabilities.
• Partner with recruiters to facilitate manager Talent Acquisition training for leaders supporting Senegal and PANA.
• Ensure career plans exist for employees across both portfolios, identify succession gaps, and define actions to close them.
• Own critical-role succession plans for the priority roles agreed for Senegal and PANA.

Organization design, workforce and change

• Partner with Foundation leaders and P&C CoEs to deliver organization design and operating models that enable the strategies of Senegal and PANA.
• Facilitate organization design and redesign, including accountabilities, responsibilities, job descriptions, RACI, process reviews, and oneness initiatives.
• Provide country, regional, and pan-African input on workforce supply, trends, risks, and capability needs.
• Ensure adherence to approved workforce and headcount plans for Senegal and PANA.
• Own and manage job evaluation requests and maintain organizational structures for both portfolios.
• Partner with the business and P&C CoEs to support end-to-end transformation, assess change impacts, conduct research, and build change and communication plans.
• Lead execution of change initiatives across both portfolios, ensuring stakeholder alignment and adoption.

Culture, engagement and employee experience

• Develop initiatives that help leaders, managers, and employees live the Foundation values and sustain an engaged workforce across Senegal and PANA.
• Build trusted relationships with leaders and employees across both portfolios to strengthen engagement, collaboration, and oneness.
• In collaboration with the Senegal Country Director, PANA leadership, the Culture CoE, and relevant engagement governance, own and manage engagement plans and activities for both portfolios.
• Drive portfolio action plans based on employee engagement survey insights and monitor progress.
• Provide a coherent employee experience across Senegal and PANA while responding to local and program-specific needs.

Performance, capability and careers

• Lead performance and productivity initiatives aligned with the priorities of Senegal and PANA, strengthening a culture of high performance.
• Build people-leader capability through coaching, counselling, training, and practical support to manage high and low performance appropriately.
• Provide training and communication on the performance management cycle to all employees and leaders within scope.
• Coordinate performance processes, compliance, communications, deadlines, and first-level calibration across both portfolios.
• Provide performance coaching and support performance improvement, confirmation, recognition, and performance improvement plan processes in line with policy.
• Manage onboarding goal setting and probation confirmation for Lead-and-below roles within scope, including unsuccessful probation outcomes.
• Drive implementation of career-development recommendations and assess goals to ensure employees have clear, relevant, and measurable objectives.
• Assess learning needs across Senegal and PANA, support evaluation of learning effectiveness, and coordinate coaches and mentors.
• Deliver portfolio-specific learning requirements in close collaboration with Learning partners and vendors.

Reward, policy, data and reporting

• Manage the pay review process for employees across Senegal and PANA, coordinating line-manager input and required approvals.
• Prepare compensation recommendations for promotions, lateral moves, acting or responsibility allowances, and new roles within delegated authority, escalating exceptions to Total Rewards.
• Provide people-leader training on reward principles and processes.
• Provide input into the design of P&C policies, procedures, processes, and systems, reflecting insights from Senegal and PANA.
• Monitor the effectiveness of P&C programs across both portfolios and recommend evidence-based enhancements.
• Analyze and interpret P&C reports, metrics, and workforce insights, and provide recommendations to Senegal and PANA leadership.
• Implement and maintain dashboards and reports for both portfolios and ensure timely, accurate communication of relevant insights.

Employee relations, compliance and risk

• Maintain current knowledge of applicable employment legislation and standards for Senegal and the relevant jurisdictions or operating contexts of PANA employees, ensuring regulatory and internal policy compliance.
• Partner with Legal, Employee Relations, and other specialists where PANA’s multi-country scope requires jurisdiction-specific guidance or risk management.
• Manage and support employee relations matters across both portfolios, including performance counselling, grievances, exit interviews, disciplinary processes, and other casework in line with Foundation procedures.
• Build strong employee relationships and provide professional P&C advice to leaders and employees across Senegal and PANA.
• Identify, escalate, and manage people risks across the two portfolios, maintaining appropriate confidentiality and documentation.

WHO YOU ARE

• Postgraduate degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field, and/or an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• 10 to 15 years of progressive P&C experience in strategically focused roles. Senior-level Human Resources Business Partner experience is essential.
• Demonstrated African regional and multi-country experience, with the ability to support both a country or regional portfolio and pan-African programs.
• Minimum 5 to 7 years of experience leading and managing a team, with a proven ability to motivate, develop, and energize others.
• Experience working with a P&C Centre of Excellence is required.
• Depth in at least one additional P&C discipline, such as Reward, Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Employee and Leadership Development, Organization Design and Change, Employee Relations, or HR Services.
• Strong consulting capabilities, including problem solving, negotiation, facilitation, coaching, and stakeholder management.
• Ability to grow P&C professionals and apply evolving P&C best practices.
• Ability to navigate a complex, matrixed, and changing organization while balancing local, regional, and pan-African priorities.
• Willingness to take initiative, work with urgency and persistence, and remain effective in a fast-paced environment.
• Creative and pragmatic approach, with the judgement to take calculated risks and influence adoption of new ideas.
• Superior collaboration and interpersonal skills across cultures, geographies, and functions.
• Well-developed analytical, conceptual, and strategic thinking skills.
• Sound judgement, professional maturity, discretion, and comfort with technology and data.
• Flexible and adaptable, with the ability to execute across changing priorities.
• Excellent verbal, written, facilitation, and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate complex information to diverse audiences.
• Professional maturity, cultural sensitivity, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values.
• Demonstrated commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision.
• Professional proficiency in French and English is required.
• Proficiency in project management tools and software (e.g. Asana, Trello, MS Project)
• Experience with capacity building, technical assistance and stakeholder engagement

The Mastercard Foundation values the unique skills and experiences each individual brings to the organization and we are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone.

Completion of satisfactory business references and background checks are essential conditions of employment.

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