Innovation for Poverty Action (IPA) HR Consultant Job Vacancy in Ghana

Innovation
for Poverty Action (IPA) Ghana is part of a larger US based non-profit
organization founded in 2003 by Dean Karlan, with the goal of serving as the
link between academic research and real world problems faced by the poor in
developing countries. IPA creates and evaluates approaches to solving
development problems and works to scale up successful projects through
implementation and dissemination to policymakers, practitioners, investors and donors
around the world, to determine the cost effectiveness of poverty alleviation
programs, using the most rigorous evaluation techniques. With 280 currently
ongoing projects in 42 countries in Africa, Asia, and North and South America,
IPA’s projects span a variety of fields, including microfinance, transfers,
education, health, agriculture, corruption, charitable giving, political
participation and social capital.

IPA is a
registered NGO, in Ghana with 16 on-going projects, 40 international and local
staff and permanent offices in Tamale and Accra. Currently, IPA has a local
salary scale in place in Ghana. However, this system needs to be re-evaluated
so as to include more tiers within job categories. Guidance is also
needed on the formation and management of a compensation structure that is
internally consistent and at the same time, on par with market compensation.
The ultimate goal is to have a fair pay system and benefits that will attract,
retain and motivate staff.

Job
Description

Scope
of duty

Review existing IPA Ghana
documentation that guide remuneration including personnel policies, staff
terms of reference and staff contract terms
Review salary and benefits
packages of five organizations, which offer positions similar to IPA local
positions to confirm the salaries, allowances and entitlements/benefits
offered (These organizations will be selected with advice from IPA).
Review salaries and benefits of
local staff.
As much as possible, match
existing Terms of Reference with those of comparator organizations to
facilitate an accurate determination of salary levels for various
positions and job groups.
Present a consolidated report
with recommendations from the findings of the survey.

Specific
Tasks for the Consultant:

Discuss with IPA Ghana and determine
the existing positions, job descriptions and staff contract terms and the
types of contracts
Review a list of five
comparator organizations which to be considered for the Remuneration
Survey, identify one contact person in each organization.
Design brief questionnaire and
define what data to collect, i.e. general participant information (name
and address of participating organization, number of employees in various
categories, measures of fiscal size and description of similar
organizations/firms.
Obtain participants’
information, such as:

Contact Information – Name,
address, title, phone, fax, and email of person responding to the survey
Employment Information –
Benefits, working conditions, standard work week, union affiliations,
cost of living increases
Job data including the number
of incumbents in the job classification , average salary of the
incumbents, salary ranges for positions with specified minimum and
maximum salaries, bonuses, overtime payments, reporting relationship,
etc.

Assurance of confidentiality
and ensuring that appropriate measures have been taken to ensure the
confidentiality of the survey participants.
Investigate additional
resources on local salary structures and rates, including inside NGO’s.
Include this information when conducting final analysis.
Construct the salary scale
describing benchmark jobs while balancing between specificity of the job
description and generalized-ability of the job for matching by grouping
relevant job positions into job families based on (1) Similarity of
functions, and (2) Hierarchy within job family
Present the survey findings and
recommendations in form of a report to IPA Ghana
All the deliverables shall be
delivered in one original hard copy, and one electronic/ soft copy,
preferably in Microsoft Word, and Excel format where applicable.

Expected
output

Review the existing IPA Ghana
methodology for setting the salary scale, including the HR policies, Job
descriptions, staff terms of contracts, job types for which the scale has
to be set.
Provide a list of comparator
organizations which may be considered for the Remuneration Survey. All
organizations where data is sought should have established remuneration
ranges which clearly distinguish pay for levels of responsibility.
Match terms of reference based
on the benchmarks while evaluating Structure, Content, Progression, and
Qualifications.
A salary scale that matches
other comparator organizations
Highlight of benefits offered
by comparator organizations for similar contractual modalities with
emphasis on annual leave, sick leave, maternity & paternity leave,
health coverage, life & disability insurance, vacation benefits and
public holidays.
Proposal for new Terms of
Reference that take into consideration levels and titles of similar job
profiles in comparator organizations.
When the information from the
five to seven potential employers is complete, IPA Ghana will make the
selection of at least 4 retained organizations for inclusion in the
Remuneration Survey Analysis
Classify the current TORs based
on the newly set salary scale

Time
frame
This is the tentative timeline but further discussions will be held with the
consultant to ensure that the dates are reasonable

Data collection on salary,
allowances, entitlements/benefits and job descriptions of comparator
organizations (10 working days)
Analysis of data (5 working
days)
Preparation of draft report (3
working days)
Presentation of findings (1
working day)
Finalization of report (2
working days)

The
consultant will report to the Country Director and this consultancy will be
approximately 21 days.

Required
Skills or Experience

Required
Skills and Experience
Individual Consultants wishing to be considered for the services described
herein should have the following qualifications:

Solid knowledge and experience
in effective human resources management, including application of best
practices in development of a clear HR strategy and HR Surveys
Operational effectiveness
Ability to lead business
processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems
Proven track record of similar
assignments with other organizations in the region
Fluency, both in written and
spoken English
Commitment to humanitarian
principles and action