Head of People & Culture

Role Overview

This is the most senior people role in a Kenya-wide schools network, and it carries a genuinely system-wide brief: the person in post shapes how every school in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu recruits, develops, supports and retains its staff. Day to day the work moves between strategy and hands-on partnership — advising the CEO and Senior Leadership Team on structure, reward and capability, coaching heads of school through difficult people decisions, and keeping HR operations, compliance and reporting tight across all sites. The role matters because staff quality and staff culture are the levers behind educational outcomes here; get the people agenda right and classrooms, leaders and learners all benefit.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and deliver the network's people strategy, converting school-improvement priorities into workforce plans, organisational design decisions and leadership capability programmes that the Senior Leadership Team and the Board can act on.
• Act as a trusted adviser to the CEO and fellow senior leaders on pay structures, benefits and reward frameworks — keeping them equitable, market-aware and financially sustainable — and lead collective bargaining and union relationships on the institution's behalf.
• Partner with Legal Counsel on employment law matters, disciplinary and grievance cases, and statutory obligations under Kenyan labour legislation, while maintaining governance, risk and compliance standards across the function.
• Coach and challenge heads of school and their leadership teams on people, culture and organisational effectiveness, and embed an HR business-partnering model that adds real value rather than process overhead.
• Own end-to-end HR service delivery through the employee lifecycle, set consistent standards across sites, and provide direct oversight of the HR team based in Mombasa.
• Sharpen performance management, talent review and succession planning, and design leadership development that grows both sitting managers and the next generation of school and network leaders.
• Lead the engagement, wellbeing, inclusion and belonging agenda — tracking culture and engagement data and stepping in early when indicators slip.
• Serve as executive lead for adult safeguarding across the network, ensuring policy is implemented, risk is managed and a culture of safety, dignity and accountability holds; also act as Secretary to the Human Resources Committee, supporting its governance, operations and reporting.
• Work alongside regional and global HR colleagues to align practice, share learning and bring proven approaches back into the Kenya network.

Requirements & Qualifications

• A Master's degree in Human Resource Management, organisational development or a closely related discipline, plus a Bachelor's degree in HR, business administration or equivalent.
• Professional HR certification and active membership of the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM).
• At least five years operating at senior leadership level, with a demonstrable record of leading a strategic HR function in a multi-site, multi-stakeholder or otherwise complex organisation.
• Substantial hands-on experience of labour relations, collective bargaining and employment law compliance, including managing disputes, discipline and grievance processes.
• A proven track record in organisational development, talent management and HR transformation — not just maintenance of existing systems.
• Comfort with workforce analytics, HR technology and reporting to senior leadership and governing bodies; prior experience serving a board or committee is valuable.
• Experience in the education sector, or in another mission-driven organisation of comparable complexity, is an advantage.
• Personal qualities the role demands: strategic judgement, high emotional intelligence, credibility with senior and school-level leaders alike, the ability to influence and build capability through coaching, and an unwavering commitment to integrity, stewardship and accountability.

Why Join AKES, Kenya

• Direct reporting line to the Chief Executive Officer, with a seat on the Senior Leadership Team — real influence over institutional direction, not just functional delivery.
• A network-wide remit spanning IB and National Curriculum schools in three cities, giving the role scale and variety that single-site HR leadership rarely offers.
• The chance to shape organisational culture at its foundation in a values-driven education network whose mission is developing ethical, globally minded citizens.
• Structured collaboration with regional and global AKES HR partners, opening access to shared practice and cross-network learning.