Head of Human Capital - SPARK Schools - Rosebank, Gauteng at SPARK Schools

Responsibilities:

Talent Acquisition 

• Ensure that there are effective recruitment strategies to attract and retain top talent. 
• Promote SPARK Schools as an employer of choice by showcasing the SPARK culture, achievements, and EVP. 
• Oversee and quality assure the full recruitment process, from job posting to employee onboarding. Ensure that new joiners are given a comprehensive introduction and onboarding experience to integrate them efficiently into SPARK. 
• Use data insights to refine and improve the talent acquisition process by monitoring key recruitment metrics. This also includes a seamless requisition process and a reliable talent pipeline mechanism. 

Talent Management and Development

• Ensure that there are clear career paths for different leadership roles, detailing the skills and experiences required.
• Ensure that there is a consistent process of Identifying high-potential employees and creating succession plans to meet SPARK’s strategic and operational priorities.
• Ensure that there is a learning and development strategy that is linked to, for example, performance management outcomes, milestones and gaps, succession planning etc.
• Ensure that there is a reliable and efficient performance review process guided by best practices and tailored to SPARK Schools.

Employee Relations 

• Provide direction to the employee relations teams, ensuring alignment with SPARK’s operational and strategic goals. 
• Assist in the development and review of policies related to employee and industrial relations, ensuring they are effectively communicated and consistently applied. 
• Act as the primary mediator for complex grievances, aiming for amicable solutions while staying up to date on South African labour laws and ensuring all practices are ethical and compliant. 

Culture, DE& I

• Actively drive the process of aligning SPARK’s values with the behaviours that develop and maintain a culture aligned with SPARK’s mission and vision.
• Communicate and coordinate requirements to ensure the achievement of key cultural milestones.
• Initiate and accomplish special projects following the identification, clarification, and prioritisation of cultural issues. 
• Design and implement a comprehensive diversity and transformation strategy with KPIs that align with SPARK’s transformation, growth, and strategic objectives and are benchmarked against industry best practices. 
• Forecast and align resources, both operational and financial, to support SPARK’s DEI strategy while proactively addressing potential variances. 
• Facilitate open dialogues on transformation issues to further SPARK's objectives by leading SPARK’s DEI initiatives assertively in daily operations, fostering a culture of service, collaboration, and efficacy. Assume responsibility for all outcomes related to DEI, focusing on minimising labour, commercial, and reputational risks. 

Employee Wellness

• Develop a network-wide employee wellness strategy by identifying and researching industry and leading practices to establish organisational objectives and targets in line with SPARK’s growth and strategic objective of thriving employees. Further raising the profile of mental wellness within SPARK to destigmatise mental health through employee education and understanding.

Management of People-Data 

• Collaborate with stakeholders to create clear, unbiased questionnaires that meet the intended objectives and ensure that all feedback-generating mechanisms reach all employees, respecting privacy and ethical standards. 
• Collaborate with leaders to develop action plans based on key findings, enhanced by SMART goals that will provide continuous evaluation and allow the refinement of the data-gathering process, ensuring relevance and effectiveness while maintaining the integrity of human capital data with ethical and legislative standards. 
• Manage and provide input into the development of annual human capital metrics that support SPARK’s objectives of maintaining culture, the ability to attract talent, sustainable performance, employee wellness, and SPARK's financial and operational priorities. 

Organisational Design and Development 

• Maintain the SPARK South Africa organisational structure by identifying efficiencies or misalignments with SPARK’s strategic objectives and financial model while collaborating with leadership to understand SPARK’s evolving requirements and propose enhancements to improve efficiency and execution. 
• Lead initiatives to forecast, plan, and manage workforce needs, ensuring the organisation is well-positioned in South Africa to meet its current and future talent requirements. 

Employee Compensation and Benefits 

• Oversee the precise monthly processing of payroll and employee expenses, working closely with the finance team to reconcile and document payroll expenses for compliance and financial audit reporting. 
• Develop payroll strategies that align SPARK’s objectives with all payroll and tax regulations in South Africa. 
• Design and maintain competitive salary structures, ensuring fairness and alignment with all relevant legislation. 
• Conduct South African market research to inform compensation and benefit decisions, ensuring legislative compliance and market competitiveness. 
• Lead the development and management of the annual human capital budget, aligning with strategic and operational requirements. 

Governance and Reporting 

• Prepare and present comprehensive written reports to SPARK’s key internal and external stakeholders on relevant human capital updates to include talent acquisition strategies, cost of employment, employee engagement levels, key employee risks, and other relevant initiatives as required. 

Qualifications and Criteria:

The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications:

• Qualification Background: Human Resources or Industrial/Organisational Psychology 
• Additional: A Masters level degree in a relevant field is advantageous 
• Experience: A minimum of 10 years of human capital generalist experience 
• Domain of experience: Experience operating at scale or in a rapid-growth business in a Service, Education or Similar sector 
• People management: 5 to 7 years of people/team management experience