Director, People & Culture

Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) invites applications for a Director, People & Culture, based in Waterloo, Canada to join our dedicated and talented team in our mission to create business solutions to poverty!

MEDA’s work is built on a foundation of Mennonite business roots and faith-based values, within the global context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We believe business solutions are effective interventions to address poverty. Through a market-systems approach and strategic partnerships, MEDA enables access to finance and provides business and technical expertise to build transformative agri-food market systems that create decent jobs, allowing traditionally excluded groups to become active participants in a sustainable economy. MEDA welcomes all who share our values and want to join us in our mission. To find out more about MEDA, please visit our website at www.meda.org.

POSITION SUMMARY

Reporting to the Vice President, People & Culture the Director, People & Culture is a key leadership as well as hands-on role that provides strategic and day to day HR/People & Culture advisory and technical support to the North America and Latin America teams.

The role also provides People & Culture (P&C) leadership on strategic projects intended to improve MEDA’s culture, employee experience and P&C operations, and collaborating with other members of the P&C team to achieve collective results.

The Director P&C is also responsible for leading the organization’s Talent Acquisition function on a global basis.

Job Status: Full-time

Reports to: Vice President, People & Culture

Start Date: August 2026

Location: Waterloo, Ontario- Canada

Working Arrangement: Hybrid with 3 days in office

Salary Range: $116,400-129,300

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

North America & Latin America Business Partnering - 40%

• Provide advice and guidance to senior leadership in meeting their business goals from a P&C perspective
• Establish and manage relationships with corporate and regional leaders and Country Manager(s) within the region to support MEDA’s overall business and P&C strategy/objectives
• Provide guidance to people leaders on a range of P&C matters including employee relations issues, performance management, employee engagement, turnover, etc.
• Lead end to end recruitment, manage employee onboarding and offboarding processes, including documentation, orientation, and exit interviews
• Collaborate with P&C team members to foster positive employee relations and maintain a productive work environment
• Support and implement ongoing global employee engagement initiatives, such as employee surveys and other mechanisms to “listen” to staff and identify improvement areas for the business
• In consultation with people leaders, escalate complex issues to the VP, P&C
• Partner across the P&C team and with clients to apply effective performance management, learning and compensation practices to impact engagement, and ensure Country P&C Manager(s) are trained and encouraged to drive these initiatives locally
• Oversee the day to day running of our Waterloo office which we co- share with another organization.

HR Leadership – 15%

• Manage and lead P&C resources, providing guidance, coaching and feedback to optimize performance
• Provide leadership, guidance and direction to Country Manager(s) around P&C programs, policies, and practices, ensuring compliance with organization, country, donor and legal requirements as applicable
• Stay up to date on changes in employment laws, within assigned region(s)
• Collaborate with other Directors, P&C and VP, P&C on files or projects as required

Global Talent Acquisition – 25%

• Oversee the Talent Management (Recruitment and Selection) program globally on behalf of P&C as the Practice Lead, taking a strategic view and ensuring program goals and results support overall business objectives
• Evolve the Talent Acquisition function in line with MEDA’s strategic direction and business priorities and ensure an excellent candidate and employee experience
• Continually assess the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection processes, research best practices, obtain feedback from new hires and hiring managers, and leverage data to refine and improve the processes over time. Initiative and lead development of and updates to recruiting processes, procedures, and systems
• Develop and facilitate training for hiring managers on the recruiting process and provide periodic training to management staff, building the skills and commitment of hiring managers to follow best practices in all stages of the talent acquisition life cycle
• Develop creative ideas and innovative recruiting techniques to source qualified professionals and a diverse talent pool and share with P&C colleagues, serving as thought leader
• Develop/improve recruitment templates and forms and maintain employee contract templates for North America & Latin America

Compliance and Policy Implementation – 10%

• Ensure compliance with P&C policies, procedures, and legal regulations
• Implementation and communication of P&C policies and programs including updates to the employee handbook
• Stay updated on employment laws and regulations to provide accurate information and support to employees
• Respond to line manager and employee inquiries and provide guidance on P&C policies, procedures, and programs

P&C Operations – 10%

• Collaborate with P&C Leadership and P&C team members to prioritize, develop and deliver services and products that add value to MEDA departments, regions and country offices, in support of MEDA's strategy
• Contribute to P&C budgeting process
• Supports the VP, P&C in the design and delivery of strategic projects intended to enhance the culture/employee experience or to improve P&C operations.
• Contribute to and potentially oversee portions of annual processes such as strategic and business planning
• Review the effectiveness of and evolve the P&C Service Delivery Model in collaboration with P&C Leadership
• Represent the VP at the Executive Leadership Team as required

REQUIREMENTS

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration or related field

Experience: 10-12 years of progressive Human Resources experience, including solid business partnering experience, ideally in a global organization

Expertise:

• Strong knowledge and proven experience in setting up, implementing and managing a global talent acquisition strategy in a multinational organization
• Intermediate experience with MS Office programs, including Excel and PPT
• Proven ability to conduct effective presentations and training
• Experience leading a project from inception to completion
• Proven leadership experience including the ability to lead through others
• Strong business acumen including experience and familiarity with a variety of business principles, environments and requirements in a corporate environment and the demonstrated ability to understand organizational objectives and link the to day-to-day actions.

• Fluency in English and Spanish, both written and spoken, is a preference
  

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS INCLUDE:

• CHRP or CHRL Designation
• Ability to organize and prioritize several tasks at once efficiently and effectively
• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills
• Strong written and verbal skills with the ability to communicate effectively and efficiently
• Demonstrated experience dealing successfully with confidential and sensitive issues
• Politically astute and culturally sensitive
• Ability to communicate in a friendly and informative manner with people from a wide variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds and lifestyles
• Willingness and flexibility to deal directly with colleagues working in other parts of the world from a scheduling perspective
• Solid negotiation, conflict resolution, and people management skills
• Excellent teamwork and team building skills and the ability to gain the confidence and trust of leaders and employees
• Appreciation and support of MEDA’s faith statement, values and goals
• Ability and willingness for occasional travel to developing countries

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Friday May 8, 2026 @ 4:00 pm EST.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as received. Only successful applicants will be contacted.

All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational need. MEDA welcomes and encourages applications from all genders, backgrounds, religions, cultures, nationalities and abilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates with disabilities taking part in the selection process.

MEDA is not in a position to sponsor or assist candidates in obtaining work permits. Employees are required to establish that they will be able to work legally in the country the role is in, during the course of employment.

MEDA does not use AI for screening, assessing or selecting applicants