About the role
Please note that this role is open only to candidates based in the EU.
At its simplest, this role is about ensuring that Systemic Justice has the internal strength, care and infrastructure it needs to scale in a way that actively strengthens its anti-oppressive organisational culture.
As Head of HR, People and Culture, you will be stepping into an organisation shaped by the founding vision of Nani Jansen Reventlow, and now led by Saranel Benjamin, and entering a deliberate phase of expansion. You will inherit a small but deeply values-led organisation with a clear strategic direction, a strong sense of identity, and a highly committed, expert team working across Europe.
Over the next period, Systemic Justice will significantly increase the size of its team. This role exists to ensure that growth is intentional, well-supported and sustainable. That means building and strengthening the people, culture and systems that allow our work to be done with care, rigour and integrity, particularly in the context of anti-oppressive practice and community-centred work.
Our work engages directly with communities and activists who are already operating under conditions of pressure, marginalisation and harm. Internally, we take seriously our responsibility to create an organisation that does not reproduce those dynamics. As we grow, we want to preserve the closeness, trust and shared accountability that exists in a small team, while putting in place the structures that allow more people to join and thrive.
In practice, this role combines hands-on people operations with strategic cultural leadership. You will lead recruitment and onboarding during a period of rapid hiring, ensuring that new colleagues are welcomed, supported and integrated in ways that reflect our values while maintaining the cohesion of the team. You will strengthen HR policies, processes and systems, working across multiple European jurisdictions with the support of external legal partners. You will also play a key role in codifying, embedding and evolving our anti-oppressive organisational culture, including approaches to wellbeing, learning, reflection and accountability.
This role is not about imposing systems for their own sake. It is about designing ways of working that support people to do difficult, meaningful work well, over the long term. You will help the organisation slow down where needed, invest in its internal capacity, and create the conditions for sustainable impact.
We expect the role to evolve over time. The first year will focus on foundations: recruitment, onboarding, policies, systems and cultural clarity. From there, the shape of the role will develop in response to what the organisation needs next.
What will effective performance look like?
Success in this role will be measured not only by outputs, but by how effectively you strengthen the organisation’s capacity, culture and ways of working in alignment with our values.
Months 1 & 2: onboarding and integration
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Develop a deep understanding of Systemic Justice’s mission, values and approach, and how these show up in internal practice.
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Build a clear picture of existing people processes, policies, systems and documentation, identifying strengths, gaps and priorities.
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Review handover materials and work closely with senior colleagues to understand current and upcoming recruitment plans.
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Begin building trusting relationships across the team, creating space to listen, observe and learn how the organisation functions day to day.
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Engage actively with our commitments to anti-oppression, intersectionality and justice, reflecting on how these inform your approach to people, power and leadership.
Months 3 & 4: taking ownership
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Take the lead on recruitment and onboarding processes, supporting multiple hires while maintaining a strong candidate and staff experience.
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Begin implementing improvements to HR policies, systems and processes, working collaboratively with colleagues and external advisors.
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Provide day-to-day people and culture leadership, supporting managers and senior colleagues as the team grows.
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Contribute to strategic workforce thinking, helping the organisation plan roles, structures and capacity in a responsible, sustainable way.
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Strengthen internal practices around wellbeing, learning and reflection, ensuring these are held consistently as the organisation expands.
Months 5 & 6: strengthening foundations
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Establish a clear, coherent people and culture framework that supports continued growth.
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Demonstrate measurable improvements in recruitment efficiency, onboarding quality, clarity of policies and confidence in internal systems.
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Help codify elements of Systemic Justice’s organisational culture so they are clear, shared and lived, not just implicit.
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Support senior colleagues to embed people and culture considerations into decision-making, planning and leadership.
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Model values-aligned leadership in your day-to-day work, particularly in how you handle complexity, power, care and accountability.
