Director, People & Culture

About Right To Play

Right To Play protects, educates, and empowers children to rise above adversity using the power of play. For 25 years, we have been a global leader in helping children learn and improve their well-being through play. We reach millions of children each year in 14 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Indigenous communities in Canada, helping them to stay in school and learn, overcome prejudice, heal from trauma, and develop the skills they need to thrive. We do this by harnessing play, one of the most fundamental forces in a child’s life, to teach children the critical skills they need to dismantle barriers and embrace opportunities, in learning and in life. These programs are supported by our global offices in Toronto, Canada; London, UK and seven national offices (NOs) across Europe and North America.

Role Summary

The Director, People and Culture (P&C) supports strategic organizational planning and plays a critical role developing and executing HR strategies. It includes driving HR systems transformation, engagement programs and performance management, to enhance the overall employee experience, foster a high-performance culture and strengthen retention and engagement across all Right to Play (RTP). The role also provides P&C leadership, acting as a direct partner and advisor to managers across HQs, Indigenous Programs and National Offices (NOs).

Accountability & Responsibilities

Management and Advice (Canada and National Offices) – 45%

• Provides leadership and coaching to staff on key workplace matters including employee relations, talent development, performance management, and compliance with HR policies and regulations.
• Partners with the Global Leadership Team (GLT) members to drive efficiency and quality assures P&C operational practices in HQs and NOs considering the local legal advisors.
• Ensures compliance with policies, employment laws and donor requirements (i.e. by providing training).

Strategy and Policy – 15%

• Develops timely country specific policies that align with RTP goals and local contexts, ensuring competitive and equitable practices and supports the development of global policies.
• Establishes a clear communication strategy to build understanding of local and global policies.
• Ensures policies are compliant with local legislation, meet sector standards and align with RTP’s strategy.

Employee Engagement – 15 %

• Leads the end-to-end engagement surveys processes, from design and execution to analysis and communication of results and continuous improvement.
• Drives impactful organizational initiatives, including enterprise-wide action plans based on survey results, through data-driven insights and robust action planning.
• Collaborates closely with functional leaders and P&C colleagues to ensure alignment with the broader people strategy and business objectives.

Systems Management – 15%

• Oversees and optimizes all core HR processes and systems, ensuring compliance, consistency, and operational excellence across the employee lifecycle—from onboarding to offboarding.
• Provides strategic leadership in HRIS management, data integrity, and process improvement.
• Manages the relationship with P&C systems providers and Canadian service providers.

Performance Management – 10%

• Leads the design, execution, and continuous improvement of the global performance management framework and process, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and cultural consistency across RTP.
• Drives successful implementation of performance tools to embed a high-performance culture and ensure equitable, transparent performance outcomes worldwide.

Scope (Geographical and/or Functional), Impact and Autonomy

Operating with high autonomy, the Director, P&C has global oversight of engagement, people management and P&C systems across all locations. They provide P&C generalist advice to senior managers in Canada and NOs as well as guidance and support to Global P&C Team members on areas of focus.

Leadership and Staff Management

The Director, P&C manages, mentors, and supports direct reports to foster high performance, accountability, and professional growth. They provide leadership and subject matter expertise to the P&C team and all staff on performance management, employee engagement, culture and systems transformation.

Information Requirement for Decision-Making

The Director, P&C addresses issues on partial and sensitive information and makes decisions by leveraging a comprehensive understanding of international and Canada employment standards, human rights legislation and HR best practices to ensure compliance and ethical practices.

Innovation and Improvements

The role focuses on HR systems and process improvement and demands strong analytical skills to interpret trends and evaluate implications, often developing new improved tools and frameworks to meet the evolving needs of a global organization. It maintains the balance between local demands and consistency across countries, while navigating a complex governance structure.

Relationships & Communications: Internal/External

The role builds and maintains relationships with internal stakeholders including global P&C, and the Global Leadership Team (GLT) to influence management practices. Externally, it engages with consultants, service providers, peer INGOs, and professional networks to ensure RTP adopts best practices.

Right to Play is seeking a Director, People and Culture to oversee engagement, people management and HR systems across the global organization. With solid knowledge of business and management principles, the Director, P&C will support senior managers in Right to Play’s Canadian Headquarters and in the National Offices in Europe. A leader, with at least 10 years of professional experience and C-suite attributes to grow as an executive, will thrive in this role. An inspiring people leader with a coaching and caring approach, you bring a strong sense of mission, empathy and experience working in the non-profit sector and in a global/multi-country organization. You are forward thinking, innovative and embracing of technology. You thrive in an environment where you have a high level of autonomy to make decisions. You are very strategic, highly organized, experienced in leading through change and a skilled communicator. You are a strong team player, ambitious and bring a sense of fun to your work every day – all foundational to the Right to Play culture.

Education & Experience

• Master’s degree (Human Resource Management, Business Administration, Organizational Behaviour or any related field).
• CHRP/CHRL and/or equivalent HR designation is an asset.
• Extensive and progressively senior generalist HR experience overseeing a multi-country portfolio.
• Experience in an HR/P&C Director role previously, is preferred.
• HR experience in the non-profit sector and a deep understanding of the unique human resource challenges of the sector, emerging trends, and the talent who are drawn to it.
• Experience in strategic planning, resource allocation, HR modelling and workflow coordination.
• Experience identifying areas of improvement, providing practical solutions and leading transformative change in line with an organization’s vision, values and plans.
• Extensive expertise in Canadian employment law and international employment best practices.
• Experience introducing and managing HR systems.
• Deep understanding of MS Office and HR systems to oversee the generation of P&C data, drive data analysis, improve reporting, and translate information into effective people solutions.
• Proficient in verbal and written English.
• Fluency in French, Arabic, and/or Portuguese is an asset.

Core Competencies

• Collaboration: Flexible, and integrity-driven approach to building trusted cross-functional partnerships. Ability to exercise discretion and confidentiality while maintaining employee and RTP interests at heart.
• Growth Mindset: Drives continuous learning and innovation by anticipating issues, adapting solutions and exploring emerging trends. Fosters a culture of improvement.
• Resilience: Highly driven, independent and resourceful. Capable of problem-solving, achieving quality results, and demonstrating high levels of accountability in an environment where prioritization is required.
• Professionalism: Demonstrate integrity, discretion, and accountability in managing sensitive relationships and governance structures, while modeling ethical leadership and high standards of performance.
• Management and Interpersonal Skills: Exceptional communicator with an unmatched ability to inspire, mentor and coach diverse teams, and above all, support team leaders in their own departmental HR needs.

Apply For This Job

Name*

Email*

Phone*

A valid phone number is required.

Cover Letter*

Attach Resume*

Submit

By applying with us, you agree to Oxford HR’s Privacy Policy

Open Modal Open Modal Open Modal