HR Coordinator – Operations & Employee Relations

ForAfrika is an African-founded and led organisation with over 40 years of impact across the continent. We partner with communities through our integrated development continuum: saving lives and building resilience to reach self-sufficiency through our Humanitarian & Development work and unlocking commercial viability through our Social Enterprise activities. We are Africans, delivering African-led solutions for Africa, and we stand by our promise: we’re committed to the long run, until the job is done and communities are enabled to thrive.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Human Resources Director, the role provides HR operational support for national and international staff contracted through ForAfrika, across the Global Support Office (GSO) and supported Country Offices. The role supports the effective delivery of HR services across payroll and benefits administration, recruitment, contracting and onboarding, performance management, employee relations, staff exits, HR systems and employee records. The HR Coordinator plays a key role in supporting a fair, compliant and accountable workplace by coordinating employee relations matters, including grievances, disciplinary processes, workplace concerns and HR investigations, as well as supporting Safeguarding and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) investigations where required. The role ensures compliance with ForAfrika policies, procedures, accountability standards and applicable labour legislation. Acting as a central link between the GSO HR team, employees, managers and Country Offices, the HR Coordinator ensures timely HR support, accurate documentation and records, effective communication, and consistent application of organisational policies and procedures.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

Payroll Administration & Employee Benefit

• Provide oversight and coordination of the monthly payroll process for Global Support Office, JAGO, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic (CAR), working closely with the appointed external payroll consultant and relevant internal stakeholders.
• Coordinate the timely collection, review and submission of complete and accurate payroll inputs to the external payroll consultant in line with agreed monthly payroll timelines.
• Review and validate all payroll inputs and adjustments before submission, including new hires, terminations, salary changes, allowances, deductions, leave-related adjustments and other approved payroll changes.
• Review payroll reports, reconciliations and supporting documentation prepared by the external payroll consultant to verify accuracy and completeness prior to final approval and payment.
• Ensure that the external payroll consultant applies applicable statutory deductions, employer contributions and other payroll-related obligations in accordance with country-specific requirements, escalating any compliance concerns where necessary.
• Serve as the primary HR liaison between ForAfrika and the external payroll consultant, ensuring payroll queries, corrections and required actions are resolved within agreed timelines.
• Manage all correspondence and administration with brokers and service providers regarding employee benefits, including pension/provident funds, life cover, disability benefits and medical aid/health insurance, as applicable.
• Administer employee benefits across GSO, JAGO, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia and CAR in accordance with organisational policies, employment terms and applicable local legislation.
• Maintain complete, accurate, confidential and secure electronic records of payroll inputs, approved payroll reports, reconciliations and supporting documentation.
• Support the HR Director with salary scaling and benchmarking, job grading, remuneration reviews, payroll analysis, budgeting and other compensation-related data requirements.
• Ensure all new employees across the listed offices are accurately set up on the Employee Self-Service (ESS) system and Ninety EOS platform, with employee information maintained and updated as required.
• Ensure new employees receive appropriate onboarding, training and ongoing support on the effective use of ESS and Ninety EOS, including relevant performance management processes and tools.
• Support payroll-related internal and external audits, including the preparation of payroll reports, reconciliations and supporting documentation.
• Maintain strict confidentiality and data protection in handling employee remuneration, benefits and personal information.

Contract Administration and Staff Exits

• Coordinate with the Legal Practitioner to prepare, review, update and manage employment contracts for new and existing employees across GSO, Rwanda, Ethiopia, CAR and Uganda, ensuring accuracy, legal compliance and timely completion of extensions, amendments and terminations.
• Conduct contract briefings as part of HR induction, ensuring employees understand their terms and conditions of employment, and ensure all contracts are appropriately signed and copies provided to relevant parties.
• Provide guidance and support to management on employee exits, including resignations, end of contracts, retrenchments and redundancies, ensuring compliance with ForAfrika policies and applicable labour legislation.
• Manage the end-to-end employee exit process, including preparation of exit documentation, handover requirements, asset clearance and exit interviews, final exit payments using feedback to identify relevant organisational trends and improvement opportunities.
• Coordinate with IT and relevant departments to ensure the timely return of ForAfrika assets, removal of system access and retrieval of access cards before or upon an employee’s departure.
• Finalise and submit all required employee benefit and termination documentation to Sygnia and other relevant service providers within the required timelines.

Performance Management

• Ensure all new managers are assigned a team, set up on Ninety, and have updated roles and responsibilities.
• Ensure all managers are familiar with and understand the performance management process.
• Maintain a tracker of all staff on probation and remind line managers of upcoming probation reviews at least two weeks before the end date.
• Ensure bi-monthly or weekly performance check-ins are conducted during the probation period for all new employees.
• Coordinate and follow up with managers to ensure quarterly ROCKs and bi-annual appraisals are completed and submitted to HR on time.
• Record and maintain all performance appraisal submissions for all CO’s and provide a consolidated annual report to the HR Manager.
• Support the HR Director in conducting staff trainings on policies as well as performance management.

Systems & Compliance.

• Maintain accurate, up-to-date employee files for GSO, Rwanda, Ethiopia, CAR, and Uganda.
• Assist all employees with any staff personnel related queries
• Ensure monthly reports are submitted to the HR Director
• Ensure compliance to departmental and organizational policies and procedures
• Assist and provide auditors with required Audit information when requested for each company
• Prepare all disability and death claims for staff members- liaise with medical practitioners and family members
• Serve as the primary point of contact between HR staff and Synergy, providing backstopping support for the Sage 300 People system.

Employee Relations, Investigations & Accountability

• Serve as a first point of contact for employee relations matters, providing employees and managers with guidance on grievances, workplace concerns, disciplinary matters and the appropriate HR processes in line with ForAfrika policies.
• Conduct and/or support HR investigations into allegations of misconduct, policy violations, harassment, bullying, workplace conflict and other employee-related concerns, under the guidance of the HR Director where required.
• Support and participate