Manager of People and Culture

The Youth Climate Justice Fund (YCJF) supports youth-led socio-environmental and climate justice movements worldwide through participatory grant making and capacity strengthening to build trust and bridge gaps between funders and young leaders. The YCJF was publicly launched in September 2023 and is led by a global team of young professionals from diverse backgrounds. We support a community of 120 grantee partners in 50+ countries globally.

Why work with us

At the Youth Climate Justice Fund, you’ll join a deeply values-driven, global, and fully remote team committed to redistributing resources to youth-led climate justice movements. We work collaboratively, at the speed of trust, and with care at the center of how we operate, prioritizing learning, transparency, wellbeing, and shared leadership. Our culture is grounded in mutual support, humility, and joy, and we strive to create space for personal growth, creativity, and reflection.

YCJF is composed of Indigenous women, people with disabilities, and people of color, with 90% of its members from the Global South, reflecting the communities and contexts we exist to serve. Our broader community, including staff, Regional Committees, and our Governing Body, spans 21 countries, with 77% from Global Majority regions. We are a gender-diverse organization, with over 75% of our members identifying as women or gender-diverse people, and we continue to build an ecosystem that centers lived experience, intersectional justice, and meaningful representation at every level of our work.

Purpose of role 

The Manager, People & Culture will lead YCJF’s day-to-day People & Culture function, shaping an employee experience that reflects our values as a youth-led, global climate justice fund. Working across countries, cultures, and time zones, the Manager will help build an environment where staff feel supported, connected, and empowered to grow and do meaningful work.

Working closely with the Director of Operations, Co-Executive Directors, and staff, the Manager will lead the implementation and continuous improvement of YCJF’s people practices, including performance management, professional development, employee relations, compensation, policies, and organizational culture. While strategic direction and final decisions on sensitive matters remain with senior leadership, the Manager will provide expertise, guidance, and coordination to ensure thoughtful, equitable, and consistent implementation.

The role will also support the people-related aspects of YCJF’s participatory governance and engagement with advisors, adapting people practices to the organization’s collaborative and evolving ways of working. We are looking for someone who combines strong HR expertise with a genuine passion for people, coaching, and facilitation. Beyond building effective systems, this person will help nurture a culture of trust, care, accountability, and belonging, ensuring that YCJF remains a place where people can thrive, learn, and find joy in working together.

Primary responsibilities

The job holder will have the following key responsibilities:

Employee Experience and Culture

Lead efforts to make YCJF a supportive, inclusive and engaging place to work.

• Develop and maintain opportunities for staff to share feedback, experiences, and concerns through check-ins, surveys, and other feedback channels, translating insights into meaningful improvements.
• Design and coordinate initiatives that strengthen staff wellbeing, belonging, collaboration, recognition, and connection across a globally distributed team.
• Identify emerging people and culture challenges, working with the Director of Operations and relevant managers to respond proactively.
• Lead the design and coordination of staff retreats in collaboration with the Director of Operations, Senior Leadership Team, external facilitators, and staff, ensuring meaningful opportunities for strategic reflection, learning, team-building, and connection. Incorporate staff feedback into future planning.

Performance and Growth

Build a culture of feedback, learning, and professional development.

• Lead YCJF’s performance management cycle, including goal-setting, regular feedback, performance reviews, and development planning.
• Coach and equip managers with the skills, tools, and confidence to navigate performance conversations, staff development, feedback, and management challenges.
• Develop and coordinate professional development opportunities, including learning plans, coaching, training, and other resources that respond to staff needs.
• Work with leadership to establish clear and equitable frameworks for career progression, role levels, promotions, and performance improvement.

Employee Lifecycle

Own and continuously improve the employee experience from recruitment through departure.

• Partner with hiring managers to design and coordinate inclusive recruitment processes, including role scoping, job descriptions, interviews, and candidate assessment.
• Lead People & Culture onboarding, ensuring new staff understand YCJF’s culture, policies, benefits, expectations, and ways of working, in coordination with hiring managers.
• Improve clarity and equity in career pathways, including role levels, progression within roles, title structures, and promotion criteria, working closely with the Director of Operation and Co-Executive Directors.
• Lead thoughtful and human-centered offboarding, including exit interviews and capturing organizational learning.
• Use employee lifecycle feedback and data to identify opportunities to improve retention and employee experience.

Policies, Compensation, and Benefits

Ensure YCJF has simple, accessible and well-run People & Culture systems.

• Develop, maintain, and implement HR policies, guidance, and processes, ensuring they are clear, accessible, and consistently applied across the team.
• Manage employee records, HR systems, documentation, leave records, and employment changes, coordinating with fiscal sponsors, Employers of Record (EORs), and other employment partners.
• Coordinate compensation reviews, benchmarking, and benefits administration in partnership with the Director of Operations and relevant external providers, supporting equitable and financially sustainable approaches.
• Maintain an annual People & Culture calendar covering performance reviews, benefits, renewals, professional development, and other milestones.

Staff Relations and Support

Support constructive workplace relationships and ensure staff concerns are addressed fairly and with care.

• Serve as an approachable first point of contact for staff seeking People & Culture guidance, maintaining confidentiality, trust, and appropriate professional boundaries.
• Develop and maintain clear grievance and workplace concern procedures, distinguishing between informal support, management responsibilities, and formal processes.
• Support managers and staff in navigating workplace challenges, difficult conversations, and conflict resolution, promoting early and constructive approaches where appropriate.
• Coordinate the handling and appropriate escalation of sensitive or complex employee relations matters with the Director of Operations, ensuring consistency, fairness, and confidentiality.

Profile

The following offers an aspirational view of our ideal candidate profile; however, we encourage applications from candidates with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds, especially those from underrepresented groups.

Essential

• At least 5 years of experience in human resources, People & Culture, organizational development, employee experience, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing people practices across performance management, employee engagement, professional development, and the employee lifecycle.
• Strong experience supporting and coaching managers, facilitating constructive conversations, and navigating employee relations, workplace conflict, and sensitive HR matters.
• Experience developing HR policies, processes, and systems, with an understanding of equitable employment practices, confidentiality, and organizational compliance.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, facilitation, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to build trust and work effectively with staff and leadership.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to balance multiple priorities and translate organizational needs into practical solutions.
• Commitment to climate justice, youth leadership, and values of equity, care, accountability, and inclusion.

Desirable

• Experience working in youth-led, grassroots, international, nonprofit, or other values-driven organizations.
• Experience supporting globally distributed, multicultural teams and working with international employment arrangements, including fiscal sponsors or Employers of Record.
• Experience designing and facilitating staff retreats, organizational learning spaces, or team development initiatives.
• Experience developing compensation structures, career progression frameworks, or equitable approaches to professional growth.
• Lived experience in and/or close connection to communities and movements advancing social, environmental, or climate justice.

Benefits

We offer competitive compensation aligned with our values of equity and global parity, meaningful opportunities to shape an evolving organization, and the ability to work autonomously while contributing to an ambitious mission. YCJF provides four weeks of annual leave, an additional two-week organization-wide end-of-year break, all locally recognized public holidays, cost-of-living adjustments, and flexible working arrangements, including allowances for remote-work costs.

Our benefits package includes comprehensive health insurance (medical, vision, and dental) with coverage for dependents, life insurance, bereavement leave, and policies designed to support staff wellbeing and the emotional realities of climate justice work.

Reporting and team structure

The Manager, People & Culture reports to the Director of Operations and works closely with the Co-Executive Directors, Senior Leadership Team, and staff across YCJF. The Manager leads day-to-day People & Culture operations and coordinates with fiscal sponsors, Employers of Record, and other external partners, while working with senior leadership on strategic priorities, sensitive employee relations matters, and decisions requiring organizational approval.

To apply for the post 

To apply for this role, please submit a copy of your CV/resume and a cover letter outlining your interest in the role and how you fulfil the requirements set out in the job announcement. Please ensure you send your CV and Cover letter in the following format: full_name_CV_org_name_role and full_name_role_CL.

Please note: to ensure the security of your application and to ensure that your data complies with GDPR regulations, applications via email will not be accepted.

·The deadline for applications is Monday 30th of November, 9:00 am CET·

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Upsall International actively promotes equality, diversity, and inclusion. In recruiting candidates, we seek candidates with the proven skills required, irrespective of race, gender, religion or belief, age, disability, or sexual orientation.