People Systems & Operations Associate

About Youth Impact

Youth Impact is an international NGO grounded in evidence, focused on improving education and health outcomes for young people. The organisation works alongside governments to expand high-impact programs through public systems, using rigorous testing and iteration to increase effectiveness while lowering costs. It operates with government partnerships and local teams in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, India, and the Philippines, alongside collaborators in many other countries and a globally distributed workforce. As the organisation expands quickly into new regions, it is seeking people who are motivated by its mission of helping all young people thrive.

Role overview

The People Systems & Operations Associate will sit at the crossroads of people strategy, systems architecture, analytics, and operational delivery. This person will create scalable, insight-led people systems while also ensuring smooth day-to-day people operations across a multi-country, global setup.

The role is suited to someone who is more of a builder and operator than a conventional HR generalist. Success in this position depends on the ability to design strong systems, interpret people data, and turn findings into practical improvements for employee experience and organisational performance.

The position exists because the organisation is growing rapidly across geographies. As headcount and operational complexity increase, Youth Impact needs someone experienced in structuring and improving organisations in fast-scaling environments, while preserving agility, culture, and performance.

Key responsibilities

• Create and maintain a global people data structure covering areas such as hiring, retention, engagement, and performance.
• Design leadership dashboards and automated reports that support decision-making.
• Convert data into concise insights and practical recommendations.
• Run internal research activities such as engagement surveys, benchmarking, and workforce modelling.
• Ensure learning and development initiatives are tracked using measurable impact and return-on-investment indicators.
• Review and improve end-to-end processes across recruitment, onboarding, performance management, learning, benefits, and compliance.
• Spot process bottlenecks and duplication, then introduce scalable improvements that make workflows faster and cleaner.
• Use automation and workflow improvements to lower admin load and shorten turnaround times.
• Build continuous improvement practices and feedback loops into people operations.
• Support workforce planning through modelling and hiring analytics.
• Monitor hiring funnels, time-to-fill, and quality-of-hire measures.
• Track the effect of learning initiatives and performance results.
• Help establish structured career pathways and systems for talent growth.
• Work with Country Leads, Department Heads, and senior leaders to ensure systems and reporting align with organisational priorities.
• Provide technical support and training to drive adoption of tools and processes across countries.
• Act as the organisation’s main specialist for people systems and analytics.
• Support change management related to system upgrades and global standardisation.
• Develop and uphold data governance rules and access controls.
• Protect global compliance in record management, benefits tracking, and employee documentation.
• Standardise documentation methods and audit trails across country offices.
• Handle employee data with confidentiality and strong ethical standards.

What success in this role looks like

• People systems are fully connected and efficient across all countries.
• Leadership has access to live dashboards for informed decision-making.
• Manual work is reduced through automation.
• Employee experience and engagement improve.
• Systems and standard processes are adopted consistently worldwide.
• Workforce planning and talent decisions are guided by clear data.

Experience and qualifications

• At least 5–8+ years of experience in people operations, HR, data, systems, or consulting settings.
• Background working in multi-country or global organisations.
• A proven record in systems implementation, data analysis and reporting, project management, and process improvement.
• Strong analytical ability and familiarity with people systems and automation tools.
• Deep experience in process mapping and operational efficiency.

Who is likely to thrive here

• Highly organised and able to deliver with structure and precision.
• A systems thinker who can build connected, scalable solutions.
• Strong at turning data into clear, usable insights.
• Comfortable working in fast-moving environments and adapting quickly.
• Proactive, resourceful, and solution-focused.
• People-centred, balancing efficiency with employee experience and empathy.
• Collaborative and effective across cultures, functions, and time zones.

Other requirements

• The candidate must have the legal right to work in their country of residence.
• English proficiency is required.

Benefits

The role comes with generous annual leave, sick leave, global health insurance provisions, a range of stipends, professional development support, remote working, and access to a broad global network.

Location and contract

• This is a remote role open to candidates based in Botswana, Namibia, India, the Philippines, South Africa, or the USA.
• The contract is fixed-term for 2 years.
• Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until the role is filled.