Deputy Director, People Operations at Youth Development Labs: (Deadline 18-07-2026)
Deputy Director, People Operations
Operations & Finance - Remote
ABOUT YLABS
YLabs is a leading global design and research organization designing technologies that amplify youth power, agency, and opportunity. Founded in 2014 at the Harvard Innovation Lab, YLabs partners with young people to co-create inclusive digital products and services that improve their lives. Our design process opens spaces where young people’s ideas can become a reality – where they are the architects of the solutions to their most pressing challenges.
YLabs multidisciplinary team delivers youth-driven innovation and impact at scale. Our team combines expertise in youth-driven design with adolescent health, climate, livelihoods, digital product design, behavioral science, and epidemiology. With headquarters in Rwanda and the USA, we’ve worked in 18 countries to date on projects spanning three focus areas: optimum health and wellness, improved economic opportunity, and increased climate resilience.
Find out more about our projects here: https://www.ylabsglobal.org/work
JOB SUMMARY
YLabs is seeking a senior leader to build and guide our global HR and operations function for our next phase of growth. You will function as a department head: setting the strategic direction for how YLabs attracts, levels, compensates, and retains a globally distributed team. You will establish and refine the systems, structures, and compliance infrastructure that make this possible as YLabs grows. You will partner with the Senior Leadership Team on organizational strategy, ensuring our people and operations are supported in a way that is caring, compliant, and well-run.
Key areas of leadership include redesigning our global pay equity structure, modernizing our leveling and performance management practice, and building the hiring and compliance infrastructure for our Pan-African and Asian expansion.
JOB TYPE
This is a full-time, fully benefited position. The initial contract term for this role is 12 months.
LOCATION
This is a remote role open to global candidates, with a preference for someone based in Africa.
ABOUT YLABS’ COMPENSATION
YLabs adheres to Project Fair’s principles and standards to establish equity in pay with the overriding principle of “equal pay for work of equal value” outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals. All salary ranges are based on level within the organization and are competitive to regional and national salary benchmarks, based on the respective office location.
PAY RATE
The pay range for this position is $50,000–$61,818 USD annually (gross), commensurate with experience [payable in local currency]. This range is regionally benchmarked for a P6-level position in the YLabs Kigali office. YLabs pays full-time staff salaries in the local currency of the staff member’s permanent work location.
YOU WILL
Global People Strategy
- Develop and implement a global pay equity system and salary bands grounded in regional and national benchmarking, designed for a geographically dispersed international nonprofit
- Evolve YLabs' internal leveling framework to match industry standards and the organization's trajectory, and strengthen our performance management and feedback culture
Talent Acquisition
- Establish international recruitment strategy and policies for employees and contractors alike, mapping talent against current and projected needs and positioning YLabs as an employer of choice
Global Policy Development
- Map, plan, and guide in the development of policies and protocols to govern our global operations, prioritizing and owning the work plan.
- Review and address policy shortcomings for an organization with a largely geographically dispersed workforce. Craft new policies that keep us compliant, support our scaling, and operationalize our values, including equity.
Legal & Global Compliance
- Design YLabs' global compliance strategy, advising leadership on country-level engagement models (entity registration, Employer of Record, contractor arrangements) and ensuring compliance in every geography where we work, including our US and Rwanda entities.
Team Leadership
- Supervise, mentor, and develop the HR & Operations team, building people-operations capacity across the organization
HR Operations
- Oversee core HR operations, including payroll, benefits, our global HRIS, and the sensitive handling of personnel matters, while strengthening the business processes that keep the organization running well
Learning, Development & Employee Experience
- Shape YLabs' learning and development strategy, including employee progression frameworks and succession planning for key roles
- Together with the People Operations team, guide the employee experience portfolio: wellness initiatives, the annual staff survey, and engagement programming
YOU ARE:
- A systems builder who establishes structures that outlast any single project and thinks beyond their own team to the whole organization
- An emotionally intelligent people leader: you mentor team members and set the tone for wellbeing and trust across an organization
- Skilled in hard conversations; you deliver candid feedback with care and help managers do the same
- Culturally fluent, modeling equitable and inclusive ways of working across diverse, distributed teams
- At ease with autonomy and high-stakes judgment: you make complex decisions independently and advise leadership on the ones that shape organizational success
- A champion of YLabs' vision and values who owns departmental goals and brings data to every recommendation
YOU HAVE:
- 10+ years of progressive experience in people operations, HR, or talent management, including senior or leadership roles
- Experience leading people operations and compliance work at an INGO, especially with a substantial footprint in Africa
- Demonstrated experience designing or implementing compensation structures, salary bands, or pay frameworks across multiple countries and continents
- Working knowledge of international employment compliance and multi-country employment models (direct employment, Employer of Record, contractor engagement)
- Experience supervising and developing staff across distributed, multicultural teams
- Experience crafting policies for an INGO
- Fluency in written and spoken English
DESIRABLE:
- A track record of supporting an organization through a period of growth or transition
- Familiarity with pay equity frameworks such as Project Fair
- Degree in human resources, business, law, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience; HR certification (e.g., CIPD, SHRM, CHRP) is an asset
APPLICATION PROCESS
To apply, please visit our careers page at ylabsglobal.org/careers and submit your application through the online portal. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
YLabs recognizes the effort that goes into submitting an application; all applications received during the posting period will be reviewed, and all candidates will be notified of their application status once the hiring process begins. All YLabs offers of employment are conditional on satisfactory background check and criminal record clearances. All your information will be kept confidential in accordance with applicable privacy and employment regulations.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
YLabs is committed to building teams and policies that promote equity, justice, and belonging at work. We strongly encourage people from all cultures, races, educational backgrounds, socio-economic classes, sexual orientations, age, gender, and physical abilities to apply. We do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, familial status, marital status, caregiver status, or any other category protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
How to Apply
Interested candidate should submit their application no later than 18th July 2026. Please click on the “Apply” button to complete your application.
