Sun King

Off-grid solar home systems provider

HR Lead – Francophone

HR Generalist & Employee RelationsUpdated on Nov 13

Full-timeNo salary listed

About the Job

Requirements

At least 8 years of progressive HR experience, including 3 or more years supporting multiple countries, and a track record of leading and developing an HR team.
A degree in human resources, business, psychology, law or a related field is required.
Working knowledge of labour law and statutory practice in West or Central Africa, with the ability to get up to speed quickly on new jurisdictions.
Deep employee relations experience, including fact-finding and investigations, disciplinary and appeal hearings, terminations, and exposure to labour tribunals or labour inspectorate processes; sound judgment about escalation and disciplined documentation are required.
Hands-on experience with an HRIS and an applicant tracking system, such as HiBob and Pinpoint or comparable platforms, and the ability to build and act on people dashboards.
Comfort using AI tools to work faster and better.
Experience supporting large, distributed, field-based workforces in sales, logistics, retail, or a similar high-volume environment.
Experience overseeing multi-country payroll and HR operations, including selecting and managing outsourced providers and ensuring statutory compliance.
Fluency in written and spoken English and French.
Willingness to travel regularly across the region and to be based in one of Sun King’s Francophone markets.

Responsibilities

Coach and develop the in-country HR team across Francophone markets, set consistent delivery standards, and build regional HR capability, bench strength, and succession.
Own end-to-end regional talent acquisition on Pinpoint, meet 30-day turnaround targets for roles at or below manager grade and 60-day targets for roles above manager grade, close at least 90% of positions through direct sourcing, and conduct documented intake discussions, structured panels, and competency-based assessments for every role.
Drive inclusive hiring through gender-decoded, template-compliant job descriptions, gender blinding on Pinpoint, diversified interview panels, reference and background checks before offers, and timely, respectful applicant feedback; improve gender representation, particularly in pay-as-you-go sales.
Deliver onboarding through planned inductions, a buddy for every joiner, complete joining documentation on HiBob, goals set within 45 days, 30-day and 60-to-90-day pulse checks, and timely probation evaluations.
Promote inclusion, belonging, and engagement through quarterly story circles and Culture Champion sessions in each country, HR-led skip-level dialogues with tracked action plans, Gallup survey action planning with managers, a monthly engagement calendar, and quarterly well-being sessions with Employee Assistance Programme partners.
Identify capability needs, run skill-share sessions in every market, drive adoption of Sun King Center for Leadership programmes, and maintain more than 90% completion of mandatory e-learning, particularly Sexual Harassment and Personal Safety modules.
Improve performance management by completing all review cycles on time, running quarterly manager capability sessions on feedback, coaching, and difficult conversations, and using performance outcomes to inform pay, promotion, succession, and mobility.
Lead regional employee relations as the senior authority, conduct fact-finding and investigations alongside a designated second, chair disciplinary and appeal hearings, close cases within 30 days, consult the Head of Employee Relations from the outset on gross misconduct and potential terminations, and obtain required approvals before termination.
Safeguard health, safety, and statutory compliance across Francophone markets; accurately record occupational incidents and illnesses on HiBob, progress work injury benefit claims for eligible cases, escalate serious workplace incidents within 24 hours, and ensure compliance with local labour legislation and statutory reporting.
Maintain a current view of top talent and high-potential employees by function, hold career conversations with key talent, build succession for critical roles, identify retention risks early, and report progress through a quarterly talent dashboard.
Ensure accurate and compliant payroll in every market, including markets managed directly by HR; optimise and automate employee lifecycle workflows on HiBob; maintain standardised dashboards for headcount, attrition, hiring, performance, and engagement; and use AI tools to surface insights and improve team productivity.
Conduct exit interviews for every voluntary leaver and feed insights back to managers for action; ensure clean handovers and clearance, complete final settlements within 30 days, and run attrition reviews that lead to targeted retention action.
Collaborate with sales, operations, finance, logistics, and other teams so people decisions support commercial delivery, and travel regularly across the region to work with field, warehouse, and retail teams.

Desired Qualifications

CIPD, SHRM, or an equivalent professional qualification is advantageous.
Familiarity with the labour codes of Togo, Cameroon, or Benin is a strong plus.

Job Location: Douala, Cameroon/Lome, Togo/Cotonou, Benin

About the role:
The HR Lead – Francophone will own the full people agenda across Sun King’s Francophone markets in West and Central Africa, starting with Togo, Cameroon and Benin. You will partner with country and regional business Managers to build and safeguard the teams that bring affordable solar energy to millions of off-grid households. Based in one of our Francophone markets and manage a team of in-country HR professionals, you will be the senior HR voice across the region: delivering against Sun King’s HR goals across talent acquisition, onboarding, engagement, learning, performance, employee relations and HR operations, and holding the line on employment compliance in each country’s labour law framework.

Regional HR leadership: Coach and develop the in-country HR team across the Francophone markets, setting a consistent standard of delivery and building regional HR capability, bench strength and succession.
Talent acquisition: Own talent acquisition for the region end-to-end on Pinpoint, holding a 30-day turnaround for roles at or below manager grade and 60 days above, closing at least 90% of positions through direct sourcing, and running documented intake discussions, structured panels and competency-based assessment on every role.
Inclusive hiring: Drive inclusive hiring through gender-decoded, template-compliant job descriptions, gender blinding on Pinpoint, diversified interview panels, reference and background checks completed before offer, and timely, respectful feedback to every applicant, while lifting gender representation across the region’s teams, particularly in pay-as-you-go sales.
Onboarding: Deliver an onboarding experience that shortens the learning curve: pre-planned inductions, an onboarding buddy for every joiner, complete joining documentation on HiBob, goals set within 45 days, 30-day and 60-to-90-day pulse checks, and probation evaluations completed within defined timelines.
Engagement and inclusion: Foster inclusion, belonging and engagement through quarterly story circles and Culture Champion sessions in each country, HR-led skip-level dialogues that turn employee feedback into tracked action plans, Gallup survey action planning with managers, a monthly engagement calendar, and quarterly well-being sessions with our Employee Assistance Programme partners.
Learning: Build a culture of learning by identifying capability needs, running skill-share sessions in every market, driving adoption of Sun King Center for Leadership programmes, and keeping completion of mandatory e-learning, particularly the Sexual Harassment and Personal Safety modules, above 90%.
Performance management: Raise the quality of performance management, with 100% completion of review cycles within timelines, quarterly manager capability sessions on feedback, coaching and difficult conversations, and performance outcomes that inform pay, promotion, succession and mobility outcomes.
Employee relations: Act as the senior employee relations authority for the region: lead fact-finding and investigations alongside a designated second, chair disciplinary and appeal hearings, drive cases to closure within 30 days, consult the Head of Employee Relations from the outset on gross misconduct and potential terminations, and secure the required approvals before any termination.
Health, safety and compliance: Safeguard health, safety and statutory compliance across all Francophone markets, with accurate recording of occupational incidents and illnesses on HiBob, work injury benefit claims progressed for every eligible case, serious workplace incidents escalated within 24 hours, and full compliance with local labour legislation and statutory reporting.
Talent management: Own the region’s talent agenda by maintaining a current view of top talent and high-potential employees by function, holding career conversations with key talent, building succession for critical roles, identifying retention risks early, and reporting progress through a quarterly talent dashboard.
HR operations, payroll and analytics: Ensure accurate and compliant payroll in every market, including those managed directly by HR; optimise and automate employee lifecycle workflows on HiBob; maintain standardised dashboards covering headcount, attrition, hiring, performance and engagement; and use AI tools to surface insight faster and lift the team’s productivity.
Offboarding: Make offboarding a priority: exit interviews for every voluntary leaver with insights fed back to managers and acted on, clean handovers and clearance, full and final settlements within 30 days, and attrition reviews that lead to targeted retention action.
Cross-functional partnership: Collaborate with sales, operations, finance, logistics and other teams so that people decisions support commercial delivery, and travel regularly across the region to spend time with field, warehouse and retail teams.

At least 8 years of progressive HR experience, including 3 or more years supporting multiple countries, and a track record of leading and developing an HR team.
A degree in human resources, business, psychology, law or a related field; CIPD, SHRM or an equivalent professional qualification is an advantage.
Working knowledge of labour law and statutory practice in West or Central Africa, with the confidence to get up to speed quickly on new jurisdictions. Familiarity with the labour codes of Togo, Cameroon or Benin is a strong plus.
Deep employee relations experience: fact-finding and investigations, disciplinary and appeal hearings, terminations, and exposure to labour tribunals or labour inspectorate processes, with the judgment to know when to escalate and the discipline to document properly.
Hands-on experience with an HRIS and an applicant tracking system (HiBob and Pinpoint, or comparable platforms), the ability to build and act on people dashboards rather than relying on assumption, and comfort using AI tools to work faster and better.
Experience supporting large, distributed, field-based workforces in sales, logistics, retail or a similar high-volume environment, not head-office populations alone.
Experience overseeing multi-country payroll and HR operations, including the selection and management of outsourced providers and statutory compliance.
Fluent in both English and French (written and spoken) and outstanding communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage effectively with diverse stakeholders across cultures and seniority levels.
A genuine commitment to fairness: the instinct to evaluate every case on its merits, advocate for what is right, and hold the line even when it is uncomfortable.
Willingness to travel regularly across the region and to be based in one of Sun King’s Francophone markets.

About the Company

Sun King

Off-grid solar home systems provider

Sun King designs, manufactures, distributes, and finances solar home energy products for off-grid communities in Africa and Asia. Its range includes solar lanterns and solar home systems with inverters and storage that can power lights, radios, phones, and household appliances, all financed through a pay-as-you-go model with small mobile money installments after a low upfront payment. The company differentiates itself with an end-to-end approach—handling product design, manufacturing, distribution, and financing—supported by a large field-agent network and strategic acquisitions like PayGo Energy to expand into clean cooking. Its goal is to increase energy access by helping households leapfrog kerosene and unreliable grids, aiming to reach millions of homes and businesses, including over 2 million in Ethiopia by 2030.

Company size: 1,001-5,000
Company stage: Debt Financing
Total funding: $864.9M
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
Founded: 2008

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