Compensation And Benefits Lead, Africa

Job Title: Compensation and Benefits Lead, Africa

Reporting: To Regional Head of HR, Africa

Location: Durban, South Africa

ABOUT UPL: UPL is focused on emerging as a premier global provider of total crop solutions designed to secure the world's long-term food supply.

Winning farmer's hearts across the globe, while leading the way with innovative products and services that make agriculture sustainable, UPL is the fastest-growing company in the industry.

Our successes in the field add up to powerful financials.

UPL delivers results from protecting crops that translate into attractive investor value.

Based on the recognition that humankind is one community, UPL's overarching commitment is to improve areas of its presence, workplace, and customer engagement. Our purpose is 'OpenAg'.

An agriculture network that feeds sustainable growth for all. No limits, no borders. We are one team, for maximum impact.

Role Summary: The Compensation and Benefits Lead will play a strategic role in developing, implementing, and managing compensation and benefits programs across our operations in Africa. This position requires a deep understanding of local labour markets, compliance requirements, and cultural nuances to ensure competitive and equitable compensation practices that attract and retain top talent. This position will also be responsible for managing the South African payroll as well as sign off and approval of the payrolls of entities across the continent.

Role Responsibilities:

1. Design and implement comprehensive compensation strategies aligned with the company's overall objectives and market trends.
2. Analyse market data and conduct benchmarking studies to ensure competitive pay structures within the region.
3. Benefits Program Management: Oversee the design and administration of employee benefits programs, including health, wellness, retirement, and other perks that meet local needs and regulatory requirements. Regularly assess benefits offerings and propose improvements based on employee feedback and market research.
4. Compliance and Reporting: Ensure all compensation and benefits practices comply with local labour laws and regulations across African countries of operation. Prepare regular reports and presentations for executive leadership and stakeholders on compensation and benefits metrics.
5. Payroll Management: Run the South African Payroll with third party Pay space to ensure that employees are paid accurately and on time monthly. Payroll recons, including SARS and third-party payments. Approve all other entity payrolls to ensure accuracy. Manage third party payroll vendors.
6. HR Analytics and Data Management: Utilize HR analytics to monitor trends, identify gaps, and drive data-informed decision-making regarding compensation and benefits. Maintain accurate and up-to-date compensation and benefits data in HR information system.
7. Headcount Budgets: Lead Africa headcount budgets for Supply Chain and Business respectively, annually ensuring accuracy of budgets submitted. Keep budgets up to date through the year to ensure accurate tracking of budgets.
8. Employee Engagement Initiatives: Lead communication efforts to educate employees about compensation structures and benefits offerings, fostering a culture of transparency. Collaborate with the employee engagement team to evaluate the effectiveness of compensation and benefits offerings.
9. Internal Stakeholders: Work closely with HR business partners, finance, and management to align compensation and benefits programs with business objectives. Consult with legal and compliance teams to ensure adherence to local laws and regulations.
10. External Stakeholders: Outsourced Payroll Providers. Training and SD Suppliers.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required:

1. Bachelor's degree in human resources, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field.
2. 5+ years of experience in compensation and benefits management, preferably within a multinational organization.
3. Relevant certifications, such as a CEBS or SHRM certification, preferred.
4. In-depth knowledge of compensation and benefits practices and regulations across multiple African countries.
5. Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and make data-driven recommendations.
6. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate with diverse stakeholders.
7. Proven experience in project management and leading cross-functional initiatives.
8. Proficiency in MS Office.
9. Experience managing benefits and compensation in a Human Resources Information System (HRIS), (Success factors would be advantageous).
10. Pay space and ESS Experience.
11. Excellent communication and organizational skills.
12. Up to 25% travel required.

Behavioural Requirements:

1. Attention to detail and capability to grasp the context and impact of compensation information.
2. Conscientious, ethical and diligent.
3. Ability to deal with adversity (Resilience).
4. Ability to deal with ambiguity.
5. Agile and problem-solving mentality.
6. High level of personal ethics.

Adaptability & Resilience: Recognizes and is open to changing circumstances and alters behavior and scales up as necessary; increases personal awareness and appreciation of individual and cultural differences to create an open, inclusive, and accepting workplace. Has a creative mindset and ability to think holistically, takes calculated risks and maximizes opportunities.

Results Orientation: Acts, pursues goals with persistence and achieves results; communicates goals and vision to the team to drive enthusiasm and ambition. Enhances the speed of execution and builds efficiency in processes, systems, and people; has sharp focus on quality-orientation.

Strategic Orientation: Demonstrates knowledge of the social, economic, and environmental factors and how they impact the business. Identifies key issues that could impact the business and develops strategy through an analytical lens / design thinking.

Building Teams and Talent: Empowers colleagues through knowledge sharing and delegation, quickly establishing rapport; provides recognition for achievements and accomplishments.

Customer Centricity: Understands the customer needs and pain points, fulfills the needs and expectations by focusing on creating value for customers.