Purpose of the Role

The Head of HR is responsible for leading Merchant West’s HR Strategy to build a trusted, high-performing, and future-ready organisation. This role provides strategic direction and operational oversight across all areas of HR including talent management, performance, culture, and reward, ensuring that HR practices enable business growth, compliance, and long-term sustainability.

Main Accountabilities:

1.Legislative Compliance

• Ensure full compliance with all South African employment legislation, including the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), Labour Relations Act (LRA), Employment Equity Act (EEA), and related statutory obligations.
• Maintain up-to-date policies and procedures that reflect legislative and best-practice changes.
• Oversee statutory reporting (EEA, Skills Development, COIDA, UIF, B-BBEE skills development, etc.) and ensure timely submissions.
• Act as an advisor on all labour relations and compliance matters, mitigating organisational risk.

2. Compensation, Benefits & Reward

• Lead the design, governance, and communication of Merchant West’s total reward framework, ensuring fairness, transparency, and market competitiveness.
• Oversee executive incentive programs and the Share Participation Trust, ensuring alignment with long-term business goals.
• Partner with the Remuneration Committee (RemCo) to prepare submissions, provide insights, and ensure robust governance.
• Oversee job grading and pay structure reviews, maintaining internal equity and external competitiveness.
• Manage the annual salary review and bonus process, ensuring performance differentiation and budget alignment.
• Champion reward communication, ensuring employees understand the link between performance and reward.

3. Strategic HR Leadership

• Lead the design and implementation of the HR Strategy and Operating Model, ensuring alignment with Merchant West’s business objectives and culture.
• Establish an annual People Plan and calendar, mapping all cyclical HR activities and initiatives.
• Develop an HR data and analytics capability to inform business decisions.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with ExCo, senior management, and business leaders, positioning HR as a trusted strategic partner.
• Represent HR at executive forums (on request), contributing to business strategy, organisation design, and workforce planning.

4. Organisational Development & Culture

• Drive organisational design and development initiatives that enhance structure, role clarity, and efficiency.
• Lead initiatives that embed Merchant West’s values and “Go Beyond” culture, promoting engagement, accountability, and inclusion.
• Oversee culture diagnostics (engagement surveys, focus groups, exit insights) and drive measurable improvement plans.
• Lead change management programmes that enable transformation and continuous improvement across business units.
• Partner with leadership to build an environment of trust, collaboration, and empowerment.

5. Talent, Learning & Leadership Development

• Oversee end-to-end talent management, including workforce planning, recruitment, internal mobility, and succession planning.
• Build a strong leadership pipeline through targeted development programs, mentoring, and coaching.
• Implement a skills framework and ensure learning interventions support business capability growth.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning, ensuring compliance with mandatory training and maximising skills spend.
• Champion performance enablement, ensuring managers have the tools and confidence to coach and develop their teams.

6. Team Leadership & HR Operations

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing HR team with clear accountabilities and performance goals.
• Ensure consistent delivery of HR services through efficient systems, automation, and process governance.
• Serve as a visible people leader, driving collaboration, continuous improvement, and excellence in execution.
• Act as a change agent, building HR capability and credibility across the organisation.

Qualifications:

• Education: BCom Degree in Human Resources, Industrial/Organisational Psychology, or related field (Master’s degree advantageous).

Experience:

• Experience: 10–15 years progressive HR experience, including 5+ years in a senior leadership role
• Proven track record leading HR strategy, organisational development, and transformation in a multi-entity and/or financial services environment
• Experience partnering with Exco level leadership to support business strategy, people initiatives, and organisational outcomes.
• Strong expertise in South African labour legislation, governance, and complex employee relations
• Demonstrated experience in reward strategy, performance enablement, and culture transformation
• Experience implementing or optimising HR systems, analytics, and operating models

Skills:

• Organisational design, workforce planning, and operating model optimisation
• Compensation, benefits, and total reward strategy
• HR analytics and data-driven decision making
• Executive communication, influencing, and negotiation
• Change leadership and transformation delivery

Competencies:

• Strategic thinker, able to translate business priorities into HR strategies
• Emotionally intelligent leader with sound judgement and strong interpersonal effectiveness
• Commercially astute, balancing people, performance, and business outcomes
• Culture builder, embedding values into leadership, systems, and ways of working
• Strong stakeholder engagement and executive presence, with the ability to influence and challenge
• Decisive problem solver, operating effectively in complex environments
• Collaborative and results-driven, with a focus on execution and continuous improvement