The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

Role Overview:

IRC is seeking a Chief Global People & Culture Officer to succeed a retiring leader of a high performing global team. This high-impact executive role is responsible for leading the Global People & Culture function aligned with IRC's vision, mission, and strategic goals. This is a critical appointment for the organization, and the successful candidate will serve as a trusted, hands-on partner to the CEO, Executive Board, and senior global leadership.

The Global People & Culture Officer will set strategic direction while maintaining a sharp focus on execution and delivery across the full scope of Global People & Culture. This leader will drive continuous improvement in how IRC attracts, develops, and retains talent across all geographies, ensuring the Global People & Culture function operates effectively, efficiently, and in close alignment with organizational priorities. They will be a significant sponsor and driver of IRC’s inclusion agenda and practices.

The ideal candidate is a decisive, results-oriented executive with proven credentials in managing complex global people functions. They bring strong management skills, superior leadership capability, and sound judgement - with a consistent track record of delivering on commitments and building trusted relationships at the most senior levels of an organization. Critically, this person is a self-driving entrepreneur; someone who sets direction, seizes opportunities, and moves with pace and initiative - while remaining collaborative and aligned to organizational priorities. The role will require upwards of 20% global travel.

Key Accountabilities:

Leadership

  • Act as a trusted strategic advisor and business partner to the Executive Board, and senior global leadership
  • Set and deliver a multi-year global People strategy - translating strategic priorities into practical, scalable plans with measurable outcomes
  • Successfully steer the organization’s progress despite the sector’s financial constraints and uncertainty, leveraging a lean, yet impactful team
  • Lead the Global People & Culture function to operate as a high-performing, agile team that delivers proactive support to the organization
  • Champion IRC's Strategy100 People Goal; communicate progress and build organizational alignment through clear, consistent messaging
  • Build cohesive business cases for change through disciplined collaboration and executive-level influence
  • Develop the capabilities of the Global People & Culture team, creating a culture of performance, accountability, and continuous improvement
  • Lead the organizational agenda on psychosocial health, safety, and employee wellbeing - building a culture where these are fully integrated into all areas of business operations
  • Ensure robust people governance, compliance, and risk management across all geographies, aligned with local labor laws, safeguarding obligations, and organizational values

High Performing Team 

  • Ensure the global and distributed P&C function is positioned to deliver proactive, effective service across the full employee lifecycle - from attraction and onboarding through development, performance, and succession
  • Develop and maintain workforce plans that keep resources properly aligned to organizational priorities and emerging challenges
  • Drive incremental, sustainable improvements across P&C programs, policies, and practices - moving the organization forward through disciplined execution rather than large-scale disruption while appreciating and influencing the culture and the very best ways of working at IRC
  • Oversee global rewards, performance management, and talent systems to ensure equity, competitiveness, and alignment with organizational strategy

People Data, Technology & AI

  • Sponsor and drive IRC's people data infrastructure agenda ensuring systems are AI-ready and provide the foundation for responsible, effective use of AI tools across the People function.
  • Continue building a people analytics capability that enables data-driven decision-making at all levels - from workforce planning to retention risk to performance trends
  • Determine how AI transformation will affect IRC's workforce - what capabilities will be needed, what roles will evolve—and lead P&C to support organizational AI workforce transition
  • Partner with IT and senior leadership to identify and deploy P&C AI use cases with the highest return on investment, including tools that improve efficiency within the P&C function itself
  • Ensure all IRC staff have access to foundational AI literacy, and that P&C professionals are equipped to influence and adopt AI-powered workplace tools.

Global Talent

  • Champion internal partnership approaches that grow global talent pipelines, drive inclusion across all regions and functions, and ensure the voices of employees across every country where IRC operates are heard and valued
  • Champion a culture of performance and accountability that is equitable, supportive, and directly linked to IRC's mission outcomes
  • Continuously evaluate and improve people-facing policies and practices to ensure consistency, fairness, and effectiveness across all geographies
  • Embed IRC's Values - Integrity, Equality, Accountability and Service — into the operational fabric of the Global People & Culture function

Candidate Profile:

Required Experience

  • Proven senior executive - track record as a trusted advisor and business partner to the C-Suite in a large, global, matrixed organization
  • Deep expertise across the Human Capital / People Management discipline - with demonstrated ability to deliver high return on investment and strong alignment to business strategy
  • Experience leading complex, multi-geography organizations through operational and structural change, including operating model design, employee experience, and workforce planning
  • Experience driving people data infrastructure and analytics - familiarity with Workday or equivalent HRIS platforms is an advantage
  • Strong organization design and development credentials
  • Demonstrated success in driving internal talent development and building inclusive, high-performing global teams

Personal Characteristics

  • Executive presence and communication skills; able to influence and build trust at all levels — from field employees to the Board
  • Highly organized, decisive, and delivery-focused; comfortable operating in both strategic and operational modes as the situation demands
  • Resilient, adaptable and ability to manage through ambiguity and change
  • Operate with a sense of urgency when needed, in a fast-paced and high-stakes environment
  • International track record; fluent in navigating multicultural environments and context-dependent complexity
  • A proactive self-starter with a hands-on approach and strong personal accountability
  • Energized by the mission of IRC and by the opportunity to make a tangible difference in the organization's capacity to serve its clients globally

Key Competencies:

Influencing Collaboratively

The Chief People & Culture Officer will build credibility quickly through clear communication, consistent delivery, and the ability to bring diverse stakeholders to shared outcomes. They will establish trusted, productive relationships across the Executive Board, peers, and the full global workforce - demonstrating the emotional intelligence and interpersonal skill to connect authentically at every level of the organization.

Shaping Strategy

This leader will think beyond the Global People & Culture function and operate with a genuine enterprise mindset. They will partner with senior executives in a data-driven, insight-led manner, translating ambiguous business needs into clear organizational priorities and actionable plans. Strong commercial acumen and the ability to articulate the people dimensions of business performance are essential.

Developing Talent

The CPCO will bring deep expertise in talent development, team building, and organizational capability. They will hold teams accountable to collective goals, actively develop and recruit leaders who embed needed skills into the organization, and build clear team identity and purpose. They will have a track record of delivering best-in-class leadership development initiatives in complex, global organizations.

Delivering Results

Above all, this leader delivers. They move multiple initiatives forward with determination and focus, are comfortable going deep on the details when required, and take personal accountability for outcomes. They are decisive and action-oriented - willing to challenge the status quo with creative thinking while staying grounded in what is achievable. Their peers and stakeholders will consistently describe them as someone who does what they say they will do.

Reporting Relationships:

  • This position reports to the SVP, Research & Innovation, People & AI; CEO Airbel Impact Lab, with a close partnership and regular engagement with the President/CEO and Executive Board
  • Manages nine direct reports on the Global P&C Leadership Team
  • Responsible for HQ P&C team of approximately 100 employees, within a Global P&C matrixed team of approximately 400+ employees
  • Key partnership with the Chief GEDI Officer

Compensation: (Pay Range: $250,000 - $350,000) Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget.  Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

All International Rescue Committee workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. Our Standards are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Conflicts of Interest, Fiscal Integrity, and Reporting Wrongdoing and Protection from Retaliation. IRC is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe, and to take all necessary actions and corrective measures when harm occurs. IRC builds teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients.

Cookies: https://careers.rescue.org/us/en/cookiesettings

Compensation: Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget.  Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days depending on role and tenure, medical insurance starting at $163 per month, dental starting at $6.50 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with immediately vested matching, disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

Equal Opportunity Employer: IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

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