Employment opportunity – People and Culture Generalist

Be a part of positive social change

Imagine working for an organization whose core mission is to advance equality, social justice and respect for human dignity. Imagine your work aligning with your personal values and being a part of creating positive social change every day through transformative human rights education programs. Alongside 55 liked-minded colleagues based in Canada and partners all around the world, you could contribute to the empowerment of people to address inequalities and discrimination, and work to build more inclusive and rights‐respecting communities with Equitas.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the People and Culture Senior Manager, the People and Culture Generalist contributes to creating and maintaining a stimulating climate and engaging employee experience at Equitas. They work in the best interest of all staff, volunteers and interns in the organization to create and preserve a culture of trust and transparency, safeguarding diversity, equity, and inclusion across the organization and a culture that promotes employee engagement, resiliency, and wellness.

They work in close collaboration with the Senior Manager People and Culture, the Racial Justice Committee and managers within the organization. They are responsible for coordinating the pay and the recruitment and selection process. They support the Senior Manager People and Culture in the coordination of the annual performance management process and managing labour relations matters.

The role requires a doer, who is capable of rolling up their sleeves to execute solutions. They should be an excellent communicator and have strong administration skills and experience.

Tasks and Responsibilities

Recruitment and staffing

• Executes strategies to attract, hire, and retain a diverse and high-performing workforce in an efficient manner to meet the business needs of the organization, while ensuring compliance with all legislation, policies and procedures, and in a way that furthers the organization’s diversity and inclusion priorities.
• Oversees the implementation of all phases of recruitment from advertising, screening, shortlisting, interviewing, reference checks, orientation, and final job placement.
• Works with the Hiring leads to create and/or revise job descriptions and terms of reference, salary benchmarks and interview frameworks for new positions, coordinate the approvals, and advertise with relevant networks to ensure diverse candidates apply
• Continuously evaluates and improves the onboarding process to ensure new hires are efficiently and effectively oriented to their role, their unit, the organization and internal procedures, policies, and processes.
• Continuously evaluates and improves the offboarding process for existing staff.

Pay management

• Ensures the administration of the pay and benefits for all staff and interns at Equitas
• Check payroll information for accuracy and ensure all relevant information is in order before processing.
• Compile, enter data and process payroll for each cycle such as New Hires, Compensation, Benefits, Termination, Leaves (STD, LTD, Parental, and Unpaid), Timesheets for part-time employees and interns, Holidays, Taxable benefits, PTO and Record of Employment.
• Supports managers by maintaining files related to leave requests and absence reports and cross-checking with timesheets as needed.

Employee relations

• Is attentive to the social climate and coordinates with the People and Culture Senior Manager and Management team in preventing and managing conflict.
• Organizes general information meetings for staff.
• Advises managers on conflicts with and within their teams and providing mediation when needed.
• Makes available and explains Human Resources regulations and procedures to all employees.
• Coordinates exit interviews

Performance Management

• Under the supervision of the senior manager people and culture, continuously evaluates and improves the performance management process to ensure clarity of goals for all staff, effective alignment between organizational objectives and individual goals, and high levels of engagement and achievement amongst staff.
• Coaches and provides support to managers to provide effective and ongoing performance management to team members.

Training and development

• In collaboration with the Knowledge Manager, Senior PC Manager and Director of Education, draws up an annual training plan for staff, monitoring its operation and producing a review on the basis of feedback from employees and their managers.
• Coordinates in-house employee training activities that address organizational needs including; training needs assessment, new employee onboarding or orientation, personnel trainings on culture, diversity, the prevention of sexual harassment etc.
• Promotes the career development of staff, in particular by making use of the process of appraisals and training.

Administration, office management and internal communications

• Answers employee’s questions regarding different HR protocols or policies (vacations, PMP, supervision, HR issues, leaves, changes on contracts, etc.).
• Puts in place systems to ensure regular flow of information to all staff about organizational matters.
• Develops and implements the plan to repurpose and reorganize the office space to facilitate collaborative work aligned with a hybrid work model (combination of remote and in office working).

What is essential for role

• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in human resources management practices and procedures.
• University degree in Human Resources, Organizational development or a related field.
• Designation as a Certified Human Resources Professional a valuable asset.
• Knowledge and experience of administrative management practices and procedures.
• Experience of developing and implementing HR policies, procedures, and projects.
• Experience of providing a broad range of high-quality HR policy advice (including disciplinary and grievance) to managers and staff.
• Proficient in the use of computers and other communication technology, previous experience with payroll and recruitment software an asset.
• Motivation and strong commitment to human rights and Equitas’ mission, vision, and values.
• Commitment to fostering a work environment that is inclusive and reflective of the diversity in the Equitas community.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in both French and English (verbal and written fluency required).

What we offer

• We offer the chance to be a part of and make up a diverse and engaged team who are all meaningfully contributing to positive social change in Canada and around the world in their own way.
• We value self-care, inclusion and empathy towards all team members and place a strong emphasis on work-life balance. In addition to vacation time, we offer 2 weeks off over the winter holidays.
• We’re all about learning and offer all employees the opportunity to participate in Learning Committees based on their interests and participate in a workplace culture that is constantly looking for ways to improve and innovate.
• We have a centrally located office with a beautiful view of Mont-Royal (although we’re currently operating remotely).
• We believe in trust and openness and offer a flexible work environment.
• We believe in creating space for everyone to lead and offer opportunities within our governance structure to allow for individuals in all roles to take on opportunities for leadership.
• We offer a comprehensive benefits package which includes a competitive salary for the NGO sector, 3 weeks paid vacation (4 weeks after 3 years), paid personal days, medical, dental and life insurance, a group RRSP and much more!

Join us!

Given the nature of our work, Equitas strongly encourages applications from any candidates who have experienced marginalization, in particular, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, LGBTQ2I people, and people living with disabilities. Candidates who wish to do so may self-identify in their application.

At Equitas, we do not tolerate harassment, discrimination, violence, or abuse of any form. All employment offers are conditional of the signing of Equitas’ Human Resources Policy, our Policy on Preventing Sexual Violence, Harassment and Discrimination and satisfactory references.

Equitas thanks all applicants for their interest. However, only applicants selected for an interview will be contacted.

How to apply?

Applications analyzed upon receipt. Please send 1 attachment (cover letter and C.V.) with your name and People and Culture Generalist in the subject line by September 23, 2022 to

Armella Mukorako
rhequitas@equitas.org