Company Ombuds

Role Overview

This position serves as the single, confidential entry point for all whistleblowing reports and grievances raised across BURN’s markets, covering employees, contractors, agents, suppliers, and customers. The person in this role takes ownership of every case from the moment it is received, coordinates the appropriate response, and drives each matter toward a fair, documented resolution. Beyond individual cases, this role identifies patterns and systemic risks, presenting insights to senior leadership and the Board so that recurring issues inform real changes to policy, practice, and culture.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the designated, trusted contact for whistleblowing reports and grievances from all sources, across every market, and ensure that each person who raises a concern receives a prompt, confidential acknowledgement.
• Log every matter as a formal case, assess its urgency and risk level, and determine the most appropriate route: informal resolution, management referral, or a formal investigation.
• Manage the full lifecycle of each case, tracking status, timelines, and actions, and ensure every case reaches a clearly documented resolution or is formally closed.
• Conduct fact-finding investigations personally where appropriate, or assign them to the relevant internal function (People, Legal, Operations, Commercial, Risk) or an external investigator, while retaining oversight and accountability until closure.
• Collaborate with managers and internal teams to agree on and implement remedies, corrective actions, and follow-up measures, escalating directly to the CEO or Board whenever a matter involves senior management, serious risk, or requires independence from normal reporting lines.
• Keep the person who raised the concern appropriately informed of progress and outcomes, within the limits of confidentiality and legal obligations.
• Monitor case data for recurring themes and emerging risks across markets, and provide anonymised, aggregated reports to the SMT and Board on volumes, categories, resolution times, and organisational trends.
• Maintain a secure, access-controlled case management system, keep reporting channels fit for purpose, and adapt intake and communication approaches to the cultural, linguistic, and legal contexts of BURN’s operations, so the channel remains trusted and accessible to factory, field, and office-based staff alike.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; an advanced degree in law, human resources, organisational psychology, conflict resolution, or a related field is strongly preferred.
• At least 8 years of professional experience in employee relations, grievance or case management, ethics and compliance, mediation, or a closely related field, including a minimum of 3 years in a senior or standalone role with independent decision-making authority.
• Demonstrated experience managing sensitive and complex cases end-to-end, including whistleblowing and grievance matters, and coordinating investigations conducted by other parties.
• Deep understanding of confidentiality management, data protection, and secure record-keeping, with the ability to operate independently from the structures, functions, and individuals under review.
• Experience working across multiple countries and cultures, with familiarity and comfort in African labour and workplace contexts strongly preferred.
• Fluency in English is required; working proficiency in French and/or Swahili is a significant advantage given BURN’s market footprint.
• Unquestionable integrity, discretion, and personal credibility when engaging with people at every level, from the factory floor to the Board; exceptional listening and facilitation skills in emotionally charged situations.
• Strong organisational discipline and case-management rigour, sound judgment regarding when a matter needs investigation or escalation, and the analytical ability to turn individual concerns into systemic insight.