Reports to: Regional Director, ESA

Division: ESA Hub

Department: People and Operations

Location: Nairobi, Kenya (periodic travel within region; occasional international)

Travel: Up to ~10% based on program needs

Salary Scale Level: 4

About HOT

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) sits at the nexus of participatory mapping, community-led development, humanitarian response, open data and tech. With a talented and diverse team spread around the globe, HOT is an NGO which supports a dynamic global community of thousands of dedicated volunteers using maps and open data for humanitarian response and the Sustainable Development Goals. Working with humanitarian and development partners like the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières, UN agencies, governments and others, the HOT community maps in solidarity with those affected by or at risk of disaster, contributing the maps and data aid workers need to do their lifesaving work.

In 2020 the work of the HOT community was recognized by TED’s Audacious Project, a collaborative philanthropic initiative that serves as a springboard for social impact on a grand scale, leading to an exciting new phase of growth. HOT is expanding its activities: opening four regional hubs and scaling up its support to local mapping communities with the audacious goal of mapping an area home to one billion people in 94 countries at high risk of disasters or experiencing poverty - mapping with communities before they are in crisis.

About the Role

The Regional People and Operations Associate is the regional lead for operations and HR and right-hand to the Regional Director. The role keeps ESA-wide operations running smoothly and compliantly across logistics, people operations, procurement, finance administration, and documentation. The position maintains regional processes and an accurate asset registry; coordinates travel, events, and field logistics; coordinates people management within the region, including hiring and onboarding, employee relations, conducts due diligence on contractors, vendors, and mappers; and supports the ESA team on partnership activities through scheduling, meeting logistics, events organising, notes, action tracking, and MoU/LoU routing and reminders. The role also convenes cross-functional coordination across Programs, Community, and Tech to unblock work and promote consistent ways of working across the region. The Associate will work closely not only with the ESA Hub Team, but also their functional counterparts on the Central team and HOT’s other three Hubs in Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia Pacific, and West and Northern Africa.

Essential Functions

• Team Rhythm & Internal Comms: Lead the weekly ESA meeting (agenda, pre‑reads, facilitation, decisions, action tracker, notes in 24–48h); maintain the regional operating calendar and reminders.
• Operations Governance: Keep SOPs current (travel, events, procurement, recordkeeping) including ensuring alignment and compliance with org-wide policies; ensure duty‑of‑care and data protection across activities.
• Logistics & Travel: Coordinate travel/visas/security briefings, events and field deployments; manage remote/office ops (equipment allocation, couriering, SIMs/data).
• Asset Management: Maintain the ESA asset registry (tagging, assignment, checks/repairs, end‑of‑life); quarterly reconciliations and exception reports.
• People Ops Support: Coordinate hiring logistics and onboarding/offboarding; triage HR queries; maintain personnel files; review timesheets for compliance and approvals.
• Procurement & Due Diligence: Run compliant procurement; conduct vendor/contractor/mapper due diligence (KYC, conflicts, sanctions/PEP, references); maintain supplier lists/frameworks.
• Finance Administration: Prepare payment packs; review expense claims and coding; support RD expense filings/corporate card reconciliations; forecasting/accruals and audit support.
• Partnerships Support: Provide scheduling and logistics for ESA partner meetings and events; circulate pre‑reads and take minutes as needed; support action/owner/due‑date trackers and send reminders; assist with MoU/LoU routing/signature and basic deliverable tracking; maintain partner files and a simple CRM tracker.
• Risk, Safeguarding & Security: Embed safeguarding/anti‑fraud; maintain risk registers for events/deployments; coordinate security advisories and incident escalation.
• Continuous Improvement & Tooling: Champion use of HOT tools; deliver short trainings/quick references; publish a monthly ESA Ops dashboard; lead small Kaizen improvements.
  

Requirements

Education / Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Human Resource Management, Logistics/Supply Chain, International Development/Relations, or comparable professional experience.
• Professional certifications a plus (e.g., PMP/Prince2, CIPS/Procurement, CHRP/People Ops, ISO 31000 Risk).

Experience

• Minimum of 3-4 years of progressive operations/administration experience in NGOs or similar multi‑country contexts; regional ESA experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience across at least three of the following: logistics & travel, procurement, HR/people ops, asset management, finance admin, partnership support (scheduling, documentation, MoU tracking).
• Experience setting up and improving SOPs and internal controls; familiarity with donor compliance and audits.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong project management and coordination; excellent documentation and follow‑through.
• Practical knowledge of procurement cycles, vendor due diligence/KYC, and contract administration.
• Finance literacy (budgets, POs, invoices, accruals) and comfort with spreadsheets and dashboards.
• Tools: Google Workspace, project trackers (Asana), simple CRM/asset registers (BambooHR, NeonOne); comfort learning new systems.
• Cultural competence, relationship building, and clear written/spoken communication across countries/time zones.
• Problem-solving mindset, discretion with sensitive information, and bias for action.

Languages

• Fluency in written and spoken English required.
• Proficiency in one or more regional languages is an advantage (e.g. Swahili, French, Portuguese).

Other

• Ability to travel within ESA and occasionally internationally (up to ~10%).
• Commitment to HOT’s values, open data, community‑led development, and safeguarding.

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with OpenStreetMap ecosystems, humanitarian mapping, GIS/data collection tools, or community‑led programs.

What We Offer

• Mission-driven, remote-first work environment
• Opportunity to shape a core function within a globally respected open mapping organization
  
• A collaborative, learning-focused team culture
  
• Competitive compensation based on experience and location
  
• Fully remote & flexible work arrangements
• Home Office Allowance
• Healthy Staff allowance
• Coaching Program supported by The Humanitarian Coaching Network
  

Applications should be sent on or before Tuesday, 4th November, 2025.