Head of Human Resources (AgriBusiness)

Job Title: Head of Human Resources

Reports to: Managing Director/CEO

Location: Ngor Okpala, Imo State

Function/Division: Human Resources

Grade/Level: Senior Management

Employment Type: Full-time

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Our client is a wholly Nigerian-owned, large-scale integrated agribusiness located in Imo State. The organisation operates an automated poultry and feed-milling complex supporting commercial feed production, pullet rearing, layer operations, table-egg production, and related poultry value-chain activities.

ROLE PURPOSE

The Head of Human Resources leads the organisation's end-to-end people function across feed-milling, poultry, farm, commercial, and support operations. The role ensures the business has the workforce, leadership capability, performance discipline, and employee-relations framework required to operate safely, productively, and sustainably.

The role builds practical HR systems for a mixed industrial workforce covering workforce planning, recruitment, payroll oversight, reward, performance, learning, succession, employee and industrial relations, compliance, culture, and welfare-service standards.

REPORTING STRUCTURE

Reports directly to the Managing Director/CEO and serves as the organisation's principal adviser on people, organisation, and workforce matters.

Direct reports include HR Operations/Payroll, Talent Acquisition/Learning, and Employee Relations/Welfare personnel, subject to the approved organisation structure.

Works with all business and functional heads. On employee welfare, HR sets service standards and budgets for staff accommodation, employee transport, and canteen, while Administration runs these services day-to-day. Facilities, security, and HSE sit with Administration and are outside this role. Payroll operates under clear segregation of duties: HR owns employee master data and payroll inputs, Finance owns payroll funding, payment, and recording.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Workforce planning, organisation design, recruitment, and timely mobilisation of critical talent
• Accurate HR operations, payroll oversight, reward, benefits, employee records, and statutory compliance
• Performance management, succession, learning, and leadership capability
• Employee relations, discipline, grievance management, and industrial-workforce stability
• Culture, engagement, retention, and welfare-service standards and oversight
• HR policy, analytics, systems, controls, and management reporting
• Leadership of a practical, responsive, and commercially grounded HR function

DETAILED RESPONSIBILITIES

Workforce Planning and Recruitment

• Translate business plans, production shifts, and expansion priorities into approved workforce plans and staffing budgets
• Lead recruitment for executive, professional, technical, farm, factory, sales, and support roles using consistent selection standards
• Maintain job descriptions, organisation charts, headcount controls, onboarding, probation, and confirmation processes
• Manage contract and casual workforce requirements and local hiring expectations without compromising merit, safety, or control

HR Operations, Payroll, Reward, and Compliance

• Maintain accurate contracts, employee records, attendance, shifts, leave, transfers, disciplinary records, and exit documentation in the approved HR system
• Validate payroll inputs, overtime, allowances, deductions, and benefits with Finance, preserving approvals and segregation of duties
• Develop practical job grades, salary structures, and benefits, and support periodic market benchmarking and pay reviews
• Ensure compliance with applicable Nigerian labour, pension, tax, employee-compensation, and employment obligations

Performance, Talent, and Succession

• Run a clear performance-management cycle linking role objectives and KPIs to business results, conduct, and capability
• Coach managers on feedback, performance improvement, promotion, confirmation, and fair consequence management
• Identify critical roles and successors, conduct talent reviews, and maintain practical development and retention plans

Learning and Capability Development

• Identify role-critical skill gaps and deliver an annual learning plan covering technical, supervisory, safety, quality, and leadership needs
• Coordinate induction and mandatory training and maintain reliable completion and competency records
• Build internal coaching, on-the-job learning, and supervisor-development routines suited to factory and farm operations

Employee and Industrial Relations

• Maintain clear HR policies and handle grievances, discipline, investigations, and terminations fairly, promptly, and with proper documentation
• Advise managers on shift-workforce, contract-labour, and employee-relations risks, and engage employee representatives or unions where applicable
• Monitor workplace climate, absenteeism, misconduct, and labour disputes, and intervene before they disrupt operations

Culture, Engagement, and Welfare

• Build a performance, safety, accountability, and respect culture through consistent leadership behaviour and employee communication
• Track engagement and turnover risks, and implement targeted retention and workforce-stability actions
• Set and monitor service standards and budgets for staff accommodation, employee transport, and canteen, while Administration operates these services day-to-day

HR Leadership, Governance, and Analytics

• Set the HR strategy, annual plan, budget, service standards, and team accountabilities in line with business priorities
• Advise the CEO and leadership team on organisation design, restructuring, change, workforce cost, and people risk
• Provide accurate HR dashboards covering headcount, labour cost, vacancies, turnover, attendance, performance, learning, and employee relations
• Protect employee data, support audits, and close control or compliance actions promptly

KPIS AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES

• Critical-role vacancy fill and workforce-plan attainment
• Time to fill, quality of hire, and probation pass rate
• Critical-talent retention and regrettable turnover
• Absenteeism, overtime, and labour cost against plan
• Payroll accuracy and on-time completion
• Performance-cycle completion and underperformance resolution
• Mandatory training compliance and closure of critical skill gaps
• Grievance and disciplinary-case resolution time
• Industrial-relations incidents and lost time from labour disruption
• HR data accuracy, employee-record completeness, and audit-action closure
• Employee engagement and priority retention-action completion
• Reliability of staff transport, accommodation, and canteen services

KEY STAKEHOLDERS

Internal: Board and MD/CEO; General Managers and functional heads; Feed Mill, Poultry, Sales, Procurement, Quality, Finance, Engineering, Warehouse, Internal Audit, HSE, and all employees.

External: Recruitment and training partners; labour and pension authorities; professional bodies; medical, insurance, and benefit providers; outsourced labour providers; employee representatives or unions; host-community representatives on employment matters.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Industrial Relations, Psychology, Business Administration, or a related discipline
• Minimum 10 years' progressive, broad-based HR experience, including at least four years leading a substantial HR function or operating as a senior HR Manager/HR Business Partner ready for full functional leadership
• Substantial HR experience in agribusiness or industrial manufacturing is essential (non-negotiable); direct feed-milling, poultry, or integrated-farm experience is strongly preferred
• Demonstrable end-to-end capability across workforce planning, recruitment, payroll and reward, performance, learning, employee relations, compliance, HR systems, and analytics
• Experience managing a mixed workforce of managers, technical employees, shift workers, factory or farm operatives, contract staff, and casual labour
• Strong employee-relations experience in an industrial setting; formal union or employee-representative experience is an advantage
• Track record of building or strengthening HR systems in a growing, greenfield, or operationally demanding organisation
• CIPM membership or another recognised HR professional qualification is strongly preferred; a relevant postgraduate qualification is an advantage
• Willingness to be based in Ngor Okpala and to work regularly across mills, farms, and other operating locations

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

• Workforce planning, organisation design, and job architecture
• Recruitment, selection, onboarding, and manpower control
• Payroll governance, compensation, benefits, and job grading
• Performance, talent, succession, and retention management
• Learning-needs analysis and industrial capability development
• Employee relations, discipline, industrial relations, and Nigerian labour compliance
• HR operations, HRIS, employee data, and people analytics
• Change management and employee-welfare administration

IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE

A broad-based HR leader with more than 10 years' experience in agribusiness or industrial manufacturing, ideally feed milling or poultry. The candidate may already lead an HR function or be a high-performing HR Manager/Senior HR Business Partner ready to step into functional leadership. The individual must move confidently between CEO advice, workforce planning, payroll controls, factory-floor employee relations, and capability building, while creating practical systems for a newly operational business. A narrow HR specialist, policy-only practitioner, or corporate generalist without industrial-workforce depth would not be suitable.

FIRST 12 MONTHS: PRIORITY OUTCOMES

• Payroll controls in place and validated with Finance
• Workforce plan and staffing budget approved
• Employee-relations and disciplinary framework established
• Critical-role hiring delivered

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