Head of People and Culture at Aga Khan Education Service, Kenya (AKESK)

The Aga Khan Academy Nairobi is operated by Aga Khan Education Service Kenya (AKESK), a non-profit organization, with close to a hundred years’ experience operating schools in Kenya. Our first formal schools were opened in 1918, and AKESK currently operates 11 schools in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret, serving close to 5,000 students with a quality, ... Head of People and Culture Role Summary: The Head of People & Culture will lead AKES, Kenya’s human capital agenda, with emphasis on service, stewardship and organisational excellence across its schools.

As steward of the organisation’s people, culture and values, the role will ensure people practices enable schools, leaders and staff to thrive in pursuit of educational excellence. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer and serving on the Senior Leadership Team, the role will shape a high-performing, values-driven organisation aligned to AKES, Kenya’s mission of delivering quality education and developing ethical, globally minded citizens.

The position has a system-wide remit across IB and National Curriculum schools in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, contributing to network-wide improvement and strategic development. Key Responsibilities: Strategic Human Capital Leadership: Develop and execute an HR strategy aligned with organisational priorities. Advise the CEO and Senior Leadership Team on workforce planning, organisational design and leadership capability.

Oversee compensation, benefits and reward frameworks, ensuring equity, competitiveness and sustainability. Lead collective bargaining and institutional labour relations. Foster an HR business partnering culture, providing proactive, value-adding support to schools and leaders. Coach school leaders on people, culture and organisational effectiveness matters. Collaborate with regional and global AKES HR partners to strengthen practices and shared learning.

Contribute to regional HR alignment, knowledge sharing and development of HR practices. Lead HR operations across AKES, Kenya, including oversight of the HR team in Mombasa, ensuring consistent HR standards. Operational Excellence and Governance: Oversee end-to-end HR service delivery across the employee lifecycle. Drive effective use and continuous improvement of HR systems, technology and analytics.

Oversee employment-related legal and employee relations matters with Legal Counsel. Ensure robust HR governance, compliance and risk management in line with Kenyan labour laws and statutory requirements. Provide workforce reporting and analytics to senior leadership and the Board. Serve as Secretary to the AKES, Kenya Human Resources Committee (HRC), supporting governance, committee operations and reporting.

Talent and Organisational Development: Strengthen performance management systems to drive accountability, growth and continuous improvement. Lead talent management, succession planning and leadership development. Build organisational capacity through effective learning and development strategies. Promote collaboration, professional excellence and continuous learning. Establish and oversee leadership development programmes that strengthen management capability and cultivate future leaders.

Employee Relations, Culture and Engagement: Provide expert leadership in employee relations, including grievance and disciplinary processes. Champion a culture of respect, inclusion, integrity and high performance. Develop and oversee culture strategies that strengthen engagement, wellbeing, belonging and organisational effectiveness. Monitor employee engagement and culture indicators and ensure timely interventions.

Serve as executive lead for adult safeguarding across AKES, Kenya, ensuring effective policy implementation, compliance, risk management and a culture of safety, dignity and accountability. The requirements Qualifications and Experience: Master’s degree in Human Resource Management, Organisational Development or a related field, together with a Bachelor’s degr