Consultant – Senior HR Transition Specialist

Senior HR Transition Specialist (Consultant)

Background

Cordaid is committed to locally led development, recognizing that sustainable change requires local actors to shape priorities, lead implementation and drive impact. Increasingly, Cordaid acts as a partner, broker and enabler (strengthening systems, supporting collaboration, and ensuring quality, risk management and accountability) rather than delivering programs directly.

Cordaid has transitioned to a domain-based operating model in which Regional Core teams work closest to partners and country contexts, supported by specialized domains that provide technical expertise, quality standards, donor engagement and compliance. This interdependent model combines local ownership with strong organizational standards to deliver effective, context-driven programs.

As part of this organizational transition, Cordaid is implementing changes to its workforce structure across approximately 15 countries. This includes assessing future organizational capacity requirements and supporting workforce transitions in line with applicable labor legislation, organizational policies, duty-of-care obligations and good international HR practice.

The workforce transition is a key enabler of the new operating model and requires a careful balance between strategic workforce planning and the legally compliant, fair and timely implementation of organizational changes. Success will depend on close collaboration between Global HR Lead, Regional Directors, Regional Core teams, Country Directors and Managers, Country HR focal points, the Transition Team and local legal advisors.

The transition will be delivered through a collaborative model that builds on existing organizational capacity. Routine administrative implementation and country-level HR processes will remain the responsibility of Global, Regional and Country HR teams, supported by local legal advisors where required. The Senior HR Transition Specialist will provide strategic HR leadership, technical guidance, coordination and quality assurance across the transition program, focusing on complex workforce transition cases, strategic decision-making, stakeholder coordination, risk management and manager support. Operational implementation may be supplemented, where necessary, by dedicated operational or project management support.

To support this critical organizational transition, Cordaid seeks to engage a Senior HR Transition Specialist to lead and coordinate the HR dimensions of the workforce transition program, ensuring a consistent, legally compliant and people-centered approach across all countries while aligning implementation with Cordaid’s values and new operating model.

Objective of the Assignment

The Senior HR Transition Specialist will provide strategic HR leadership, technical advice, coordination and quality assurance to support the implementation of Cordaid’s workforce transition across approximately 15 countries.

The primary objective is to ensure that workforce transition processes are:

• Strategically aligned with Cordaid’s new operating model and organizational priorities;
• Legally compliant and informed by authoritative country-specific legal advice;
• Consistent across countries while appropriately adapted to local contexts;
• Implemented fairly, transparently and respectfully;
• Delivered on time with clear decision-making, coordination and risk management; and
• Conducted in a manner that protects staff dignity, organizational continuity, Cordaid’s values and reputation.

The Consultant will work through Global HR, Regional Core teams, Country Management, local HR focal points and local legal advisors. The Consultant is not expected to replace country-level legal counsel or assume responsibility for all routine HR administration across the countries concerned.

Scope of Work

The assignment will be implemented according to the 7 priorities below. Priority 2.1 constitutes the core mandate. Priority 2.2 work will be undertaken only where it directly supports the transition and where capacity allows, as agreed with the Global Human Resources Lead.

2.1. Strategic Workforce Planning and Capacity Assessment

• Lead the development and application of a proportionate workforce capacity assessment methodology.
• Support Country and Regional leadership to assess future workforce requirements against the new operating model, country engagement model and approved transition direction.
• Review existing structures and identify critical capacity needs, gaps, overlaps, role changes and transition implications.
• Develop or quality assure country-specific workforce recommendations, including sequencing and key dependencies.
• Promote consistency of principles and decision-making across countries while allowing justified contextual adaptation.
• Provide senior HR advice on restructuring options and their people, legal, operational and reputational implications.

2.2 Workforce Transition Planning and Coordination

• Coordinate the development of country-specific workforce transition plans, implementation timelines and decision points.
• Review and quality assure plans prepared by Country Management, Regional Core teams or HR focal points.
• Ensure alignment with organizational transition milestones, operational requirements and approved governance processes.
• Identify cross-country dependencies, bottlenecks and issues requiring management decisions.
• Monitor progress and recommend corrective actions where implementation is delayed or risks are increasing.
• Ensure that workforce actions are sufficiently planned to minimize disruption to programs, partnerships, donor commitments and essential organizational functions.

2.3 Employment Relations and Legal Coordination

• The Consultant will coordinate and quality assure restructuring, redundancy, contract-transition and termination processes where required. Responsibilities will include:
• Ensuring that appropriate local legal advice is commissioned or obtained at an early stage.
• Coordinating engagement among Country Management, local HR, Global HR and legal advisors.
• Reviewing proposed processes and documentation for consistency with Cordaid policies, approved principles and good international HR practice.
• Advising management on complex employee-relations cases, consultation approaches, documentation requirements, severance principles and transition risks.
• Quality assuring the preparation of employee communication, consultation and decision documentation.
• Supporting selected high-risk consultation or employee meetings where senior HR involvement is required.
• Monitoring implementation to promote fairness, consistency, dignity and appropriate confidentiality.
• Escalating material legal, ethical, safeguarding, operational or reputational concerns promptly.

Legal authority: Country-specific legal advice will remain the authoritative basis for employment decisions and procedures. The Consultant will have a coordinating, advisory and quality-assurance role and will not substitute for qualified local legal counsel.

2.4 HR Risk, Compliance and Quality Assurance

• Develop and maintain an overarching HR transition risk framework and support country-level HR risk assessments.
• Review alignment with national labor legislation, internal HR policies, donor requirements where relevant, duty-of-care principles, safeguarding obligations, equity and non-discrimination standards.
• Identify inconsistencies in transition approaches and recommend practical corrective actions.
• Advise on governance, documentation and decision trails needed to demonstrate due process.
• Ensure lessons and recurring risks are shared across countries and reflected in updated guidance.

2.5 Manager Coaching and Change Support

• Coach Country Directors, Managers and HR focal points in planning and leading workforce transitions.
• Prepare managers for difficult employee conversations, consultations and communication of decisions.
• Provide practical guidance on respectful, transparent and timely communication throughout the transition.
• Build confidence and capability among Regional and Country HR colleagues to manage implementation consistently.
• Advise leadership on staff engagement, change fatigue, morale, trust and organizational continuity during the transition.
• Promote culturally sensitive and values-based approaches while maintaining clarity and accountability.

2.6 Stakeholder Coordination and Decision Support

• Facilitate effective coordination among Global HR, Legal Counsel, the Transition Team, Regional Directors, Country Directors and Managers, Regional Core teams, local HR focal points and other relevant stakeholders.
• Prepare or support the preparation of clear decision papers, options and recommendations for management consideration.
• Clarify responsibilities, handovers and escalation routes for each country process.
• Ensure relevant stakeholders receive timely information and that decisions are translated into clear implementation actions.
• Support constructive resolution of disagreements or ambiguities affecting workforce-transition implementation.

2.7 Project Management and Implementation Control

• Maintain an integrated workforce-transition implementation plan covering countries, major milestones, interdependencies and critical decisions.
• Maintain consolidated action, decision, issue and risk logs.
• Coordinate regular implementation reviews and follow up on agreed actions.
• Highlight overdue decisions, capacity constraints and emerging risks requiring escalation.
• Coordinate with the designated Transition Program Management function or assigned project-management support.
• Where no separate project manager is assigned, perform the minimum project-management activities required to maintain control, while ensuring that this does not displace the Consultant’s strategic HR responsibilities.

Deliverables

Core deliverables are:

• Inception report confirming the methodology, prioritization, governance, support requirements and implementation plan.
• Workforce capacity assessment methodology and supporting tools.
• Country workforce assessment reports or quality-assured assessment outputs for countries within scope.
• Country workforce transition plans, including milestones, responsibilities, legal inputs, communications, key decisions and risks.
• Consolidated HR transition implementation plan and tracker.
• Consolidated HR risk register, decision log and issue/escalation log.
• Legally informed and quality-assured workforce-transition templates, guidance notes and documentation packages.
• Manager guidance and coaching materials for consultations, difficult conversations and staff communication.
• Monthly progress reports highlighting achievements, upcoming decisions, delays, risks, support requirements and corrective actions.
• Final assignment report, including implementation status, outstanding actions, lessons learned and recommendations for future organizational transitions.

Indicative Phasing

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Human Resources Management, Employment Law, Business Administration, Organizational Development or a related field.
• Professional HR certification, such as CIPD, SHRM or HRCI, is an advantage.
• Relevant project or program management qualification is an advantage.

Required Experience

• A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible senior HR experience, including substantial experience in several of the following areas:
• Leading or advising on complex workforce restructuring and organizational transitions.
• Strategic workforce planning and organizational design.
• Employment relations, redundancy, contract transition and separation processes.
• Coordinating workforce transitions across multiple legal jurisdictions and working effectively with local legal counsel.
• Providing HR support across multiple countries, preferably in Africa, the Middle East and/or fragile and conflict-affected contexts.
• Working in international NGOs, humanitarian organizations or multinational organizations.
• Leading change-management and manager-coaching interventions.
• Managing complex, multi-country workplans, dependencies, risks and decision processes.
• Working with decentralized or matrixed operating models and influencing without direct authority.

Technical Competencies 

• Workforce planning and organizational restructuring.
• Employment relations and workforce reduction processes.
• International HR practice and multi-jurisdictional legal coordination.
• HR risk management, compliance and documentation governance.
• Change management, staff communication and manager coaching.
• Program and project management.
• Organizational design and role clarity.
• Equity, non-discrimination, safeguarding and duty of care.

Skills and Personal Attributes 

• Excellent stakeholder management, facilitation and communication skills.
• Strong analytical, planning, problem-solving and decision-support capability.
• High emotional intelligence, empathy and cultural sensitivity.
• Ability to handle sensitive discussions and confidential information with discretion.
• Sound judgement and the ability to remain objective in complex or contested situations.
• Ability to manage multiple country processes and competing priorities without losing strategic focus.
• Strong report writing, documentation and presentation skills.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders without formal authority.
• Commitment to treating all staff with dignity, fairness and respect.
• High integrity, resilience and professionalism.

Languages

• Fluency in English, written and spoken – essential.
• Professional fluency in French, written and spoken – essential.
• Working knowledge of Arabic – desirable.

Reporting, Governance and Working Relationships

The Consultant will report to the Global Human Resources Lead or a designated HR Lead at the Netherlands Office and the Regional Director West Africa, with a matrix reporting relationship to the Transition Leads. The Consultant will work closely with the Legal Counsel, Regional Directors, Regional Core teams, Country Directors and Managers, local HR focal points and other relevant functions.

Regular progress updates will be provided to the designated transition governance body. Material legal, safeguarding, operational, employee-relations or reputational risks must be escalated promptly through agreed channels.

At inception, Cordaid and the Consultant will confirm decision rights, escalation routes, country sequencing, access to operational HR and project-management support, and the process for agreeing any changes to priorities or scope.

Duration and Location

The consultancy is expected to run for approximately 6-9 months. It will be home-based, with regular remote engagement and travel to countries of operation as required and agreed.

Selection Criteria and Weighted Scoring

Proposal Requirements

Interested candidates should submit:

• A concise technical proposal describing the proposed approach, methodology, prioritization and workplan.
• A clear explanation of how the candidate will balance strategic HR leadership with operational implementation demands.
• Proposed project-management and risk-management arrangements.
• A financial proposal, including professional fees and any assumptions related to travel.
• An updated curriculum vitae demonstrating relevant assignments and country experience.
• Contact details for at least two professional references for comparable assignments.
• Availability and proposed start date.

Submission deadline: September 23, 2026 at 5:00 PM GMT.

Submission address: procurement.cordaid.wa@cordaid.org