Director, Benefits & Employee Experience

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW

The END Fund is a leading collaborative philanthropic investment vehicle dedicated to controlling and eliminating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). NTDs are parasitic and bacterial infectious diseases – including intestinal worms, river blindness, trachoma, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, and visceral leishmaniasis – that affect over 1.65 billion people globally. The END Fund’s vision is to ensure people can live healthy and prosperous lives free of the risk of NTDs and has set out to accomplish this by:

- Mobilizing and investing resources for maximum impact, 

- Advocating for innovative, integrated and cost-effective NTD programs; and

- Facilitating philanthropic and private sector engagement to end these diseases.

By engaging a community of activist-philanthropists and taking a systems approach, the END Fund works in collaboration with governments, local and international NGOs, pharmaceutical companies, and academic partners on the global campaign to control and eliminate NTDs by 2030. 

Since our founding in 2012 through 2023, with our partners, the END Fund has provided over 1.8 billion treatments for NTDs. In 2023 alone, together with our partners we treated more than 180 million people. The END Fund works globally in over 32 countries, with a primary emphasis in Africa. 

You can learn more about the END Fund here. 

ABOUT THE END FUND’S CULTURE & TALENT TEAM

The Culture & Talent team deploys human resources capabilities and is responsible for designing and shepherding initiatives that promote employee engagement, an organizational culture and practices in line with the END Fund’s values and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and team development and retention. Reporting to the Head, Culture & Talent, the Director of Benefits and Employee Experience is a new role that will work in close collaboration with the Finance & Admin team, Strategy & Operations and with Communications

THE OPPORTUNITY

The END Fund seeks a strategic and skilled Human Resources professional to create and execute the people-centered strategies on global benefits and employee experience responsibilities of the organization as part of a lean team. The successful candidate will have the ability to manage a variety of strategic and operational projects simultaneously.

The END Fund is at an exciting stage of organizational growth and we bring on the most talented team members to help advance our mission. The organization employs a global workforce with the physical headquarters in New York City, and legal entities in the UK and Kenya. The END Fund employees are spread across 13 countries in the US, Europe and Africa regions with NTD programs in more than 37 countries to date.

The Director, Global Benefits and Employee Experience will be responsible for direction and administration of the organization’s US employee benefits and serve as an employee interface for global employees hired through the Employer of Record, ensuring that employee questions and concerns are heard and addressed; driving proactive market assessments to ensure that The END Fund’s benefits programs are competitive reporting and accounting dashboard management; and leading key programs to advance internal staff communications through various projects. This director will also serve as a thought partner to the Head, Culture & Talent to advise on Rewards & Recognitions strategies and help with benchmarking against the development sector and beyond, bringing new trends and practices for consideration. The Director will also participate in executing organization development and engagement strategies being led by the Culture and Talent team

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS & CORE COMPETENCIES

•Research employee benefits plans and vendors to identify those that present the best value.

•Assist with the intersection between Finance and Human Resources; specifically risk management and compliance, maintenance of systems, and updates to HR handbook, as it related to benefit policies.

•Be the point of contact internally for explaining benefits to employees and ensuring that issues are followed up and addressed from the Benefits brokers 

•Help track and provide input on compensation forecasts.

•Create systems of communication to support employee experience, communications and understanding of benefits by leading project on building out the current employee dashboard, coordinating with other teams to phase into an employee intranet

•Conduct regular audits of benefits plans and programs to ensure accuracy and effectiveness.

•Effectively plan and direct the implementation and administration of all benefits (US and Kenya) plans including annual open enrollment.

•Develop appropriate communication and educational programs using various media to keep staff informed and update on our organization benefit programs

•Work collaboratively with the Finance & Administration as needed in the reporting, tracking and administration of benefits

•Select, manage and maintain relations with the external Benefits brokers on behalf of The END Fund

•Negotiate contracts, evaluate vendor performance, and ensure that service levels and cost targets are met.

•Support diversity, equality, and inclusion goals by setting global minimum standards for benefit plans and ensure EF meets duty of care standards and valuable benefits are offered to all EF employees.   

•Partner with the Head, Culture & Talent on driving organization development and employee engagement strategies

•Performs other duties as assigned.

EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION

•Bachelor' s degree in Human Resource, Business Administration, or a related field ; Masters Degree or HR certification (e.g. SHRM-SCP, SPHR) preferred.

•8-12 years total experience in Human Resources, Benefit Management and Administration with at least four years in US Benefits and one year in global benefits administration

•Experience implementing and managing US and Global benefits programs including health insurance and other employer benefits.

•Strong customer service orientation, with the ability to provide solutions-focused support to employees across diverse regions.

•Proven track record of developing and implementing successful wellness programs and initiatives to promote employee health, well-being and work life balance across all locations.

•Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively interact with employees at all levels of the organization.

•Strong experience in managing and administering US benefits for an organization; knowledge in scanning and understanding global benefits and nuances in local benefits administration 

•Effective planning and priority setting; handles several complex projects simultaneously with excellent follow through and attention to detail;

•Motivated by an entrepreneurial and results-oriented culture;

•Strong communication and interpersonal skills, both verbal and written, with a facility for preparing and clearly presenting information to multiple audiences;

•Ability to exercise sound judgment while handling confidential information; adheres to the highest professional and ethical standards;

•Proactive communicator and collaborator; enjoys working in a dynamic, evolving team.

•Knowledge of federal and state regulatory and compliance as it relates to benefits administration (demonstrated by SHRM-SCP or PHR certification, or equivalent experience).

•Ability to work in the US and desire to travel domestically and internationally (estimated travel less than 10%).

POSTING: Director, Benefits & Employee Experience 

LOCATION: New York City; Remote

REPORTS TO: Head, Culture & Talent

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: Occasional travel required for relevant internal meetings and external events (up to 5%)

JOB POSTING DEADLINE: This position will close at 9am EDT on September 27, 2024

SALARY: The anticipated starting annual base salary range is USD $118,000-$122,000

OUR PHILOSOPHY AND BENEFITS

The END Fund is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. It is our policy and intent that all qualified persons be given full and equal opportunities for employment, training, promotions, wages, benefits, and all other privileges, terms, and conditions of employment.  The END Fund is at an exciting stage of organizational growth and we are rapidly expanding our global footprint in order to bring on the most talented team members to help advance our mission. Currently, we have team members in 13 countries and the majority of our team is based in the United States. We maintain physical headquarters in New York City, and other team members work from their homes across the US, Africa, UK and Europe. All team members hired outside the US are hired through an Employer of Record (EOR). The END Fund offers a competitive compensation package intended to motivate employees to perform at the highest level by acquiring superior skills and competencies.

Our philosophy is shaped by the following guidelines: 1) understandable, 2) fair and defensible, 3) competitive, and 4) flexible. The END Fund differentiates pay based on the basis of role definition, scope of responsibilities, relevant team member experience and geographic location. We endeavor to compensate team members so that they can live with a sense of economic security within their geographic location. To ensure all compensation and benefits package offers are fair, defensible and competitive, the END Fund relies on external benchmarking data that is both role and country-specific.

This role is based in New York city, the anticipated annual starting base salary range is USD $118,000-$122,000

Work Authorization Required

The END Fund does not sponsor work authorization or visas. All team members must independently have legal rights to work and live in the country they are based in. This role is based in New York city and open to candidates who live and have the right to work in the United States.

Our benefits packages are also informed by local contexts to ensure appropriateness and competitiveness within specific markets. Regardless of location, all END Fund team members receive cell phone and WiFi connectivity support, flexible work arrangements, a healthy annual professional development allowance, wellness stipend and more. The END Fund also offers employer-paid health for team members and a cost-share option for dependents of team members, as well as life insurance benefits and twelve weeks fully paid family care leave; specific benefit providers will vary modestly by country of residency.