Hr Business Partner

Expatriate assignment | Group Human Resources

Department: Group Human Resources

Reports to: Group Human Resources Director

Type: Full-time, expatriate assignment

Location: West Africa (travel to other Group locations as required)

About the organisation

Our client is an established African energy and infrastructure group with interests across upstream oil and gas and other strategic sectors. Group HR is being rebuilt, with dedicated leads for HR Operations, Business Partnering, Talent & Development, and HR Systems & Reporting. This is one of the first hires into the new structure.

Position summary

The HR Business Partner is the bridge between Group HR and the operating and functional teams. You will provide hands-on people support to departments, apply HR policy consistently, and drive engagement, retention and change so that HR initiatives land in practice. The role suits someone who wants to build credibility and ways of working from the ground up rather than step into a finished structure.

Key responsibilities

• Act as the HR point of contact for assigned departments and leadership teams, understanding their priorities, headcount and people risks
• Apply HR policies and procedures consistently, advising managers on interpretation and practical application
• Lead employee engagement and retention activity, acting on survey, exit and flight-risk insight
• Support change management and people-related activity linked to organisational change
• Coach line managers on performance, conduct, team issues and people decisions
• Work with HR Operations on employee relations cases, investigations, disciplinary and grievance matters
• Partner with Talent & Development on recruitment demand, performance cycles, learning and succession
• Use headcount, attrition and cost data to give management practical insight
• Ensure Group HR initiatives are adopted in the business and feed operational feedback back to HR leadership
• Support compliance with local employment law alongside HR Operations and Legal

Education and qualifications

• Degree in Human Resources, Business, Psychology or a related field
• CIPD, SHRM, CIPM, SABPP or an equivalent recognised professional HR qualification preferred

Experience

• 7+ years in HR, including at least 3 years in a generalist or business partnering role supporting senior operational stakeholders
• Oil and gas, energy or another complex, multi-site industrial environment preferred
• African markets experience an advantage; strong transferable profiles with proven adaptability considered

Competencies

Business partnering; employee relations; engagement and retention; change management; coaching line managers; data-informed HR advice; credibility with senior and operational leaders; confidence to challenge; discretion and integrity; hands-on, flexible and comfortable building from scratch; effective across geographies and cultures.

KPIs

Manager satisfaction with HR support; engagement and retention improvements in supported areas; consistent, timely policy application; employee relations cases handled correctly; HR initiatives implemented on schedule.

Expatriate package

Competitive net salary, plus company-provided or supported housing, transportation, medical cover, relocation assistance, work authorisation support and biannual flights home.

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