HR Manager - DRC
About the role
BURN is scaling its manufacturing, distribution and carbon operations across the DRC. The HR Manager owns the full people function for the country: a compliant, audit-ready, well-administered workforce that supports both permanent operations and time-bound, project-based teams. The role is equal parts strategic HR business partner and hands-on compliance and operations lead.
The successful candidate will bring the DRC people function to a fully compliant, defensible standard – closing gaps in statutory registration, contract management, payroll tax treatment and audit readiness – while building the HR framework (grading, policy, records) that allows the operation to grow without legal or reputational risk.
Duties and Responsibilities
Project-Based & Fixed-Term Contract Management
Statutory Compliance & Audit Readiness
Payroll & Compensation Administration:
HR Business Partnering & Employee Relations:
Leadership & Team Development:
Skills and Experience
Qualified Female Candidates encouraged to Apply
BURN does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, processing, training, or any other fees).
BURN is scaling its manufacturing, distribution and carbon operations across the DRC. The HR Manager owns the full people function for the country: a compliant, audit-ready, well-administered workforce that supports both permanent operations and time-bound, project-based teams. The role is equal parts strategic HR business partner and hands-on compliance and operations lead.
The successful candidate will bring the DRC people function to a fully compliant, defensible standard – closing gaps in statutory registration, contract management, payroll tax treatment and audit readiness – while building the HR framework (grading, policy, records) that allows the operation to grow without legal or reputational risk.
Duties and Responsibilities
Project-Based & Fixed-Term Contract Management
- Contract design: Structure, issue and track all contrats à durée déterminée (CDD) so that duration, renewals and permissible number of renewals stay within Code du Travail limits and do not inadvertently convert to CDI.
- Contract register: Maintain a live register of every fixed-term and project contract with start/end dates, renewal history, funding source and required approval trail, so no contract lapses, auto-renews or over-runs unnoticed.
- Project close-out: Manage project ramp-downs and end-of-project separations lawfully – correct notice, final dues, certificate of service and documentation – mirroring the disciplined approach applied in other markets.
- Approval discipline: Ensure every contract renewal or non-renewal carries the documented internal approval required by group policy, with a retained evidence trail.
- Forward planning: Advise the business early on workforce planning for project peaks and exits to avoid rushed, non-compliant hiring or terminations.
Statutory Compliance & Audit Readiness
- CNSS: Own the relationship with CNSS and lead responses to any CNSS audit or inspection – ensuring correct registration of all employees, accurate contribution bases, timely declarations and payments, and a clean, reconstructable record.
- IPR & payroll taxes: Ensure correct calculation, withholding and remittance of IPR (impôt professionnel sur les rémunérations) and all payroll-related taxes and levies (INPP, ONEM and others), keeping the payroll tax structure aligned to current law.
- Minimum wage: Implement and maintain SMIG (minimum wage) compliance, promptly reflecting rate changes (including the increases effective January 2026) across affected grades and contracts.
- Grading framework: Keep the DRC labour-grade framework current – the mapping of the official occupational categories to BURN roles – and use it to govern pay, benefits and internal equity.
- Records & files: Maintain complete, inspection-ready employee files (contracts, IDs, CNSS numbers, medical, disciplinary records) so the operation can withstand a labour inspection or statutory audit at any time.
- Regulatory watch: Track and action changes in DRC labour law, ministerial orders and social-security rules, briefing the CPO on material risks.
Payroll & Compensation Administration:
- Payroll integrity: Oversee accurate, on-time monthly payroll for all DRC staff, eliminating data-quality failures (blank pay fields, duplicate entries, mis-mapped grades) through disciplined pre-payroll checks and reconciliations.
- Adjustments: Administer allowances, backpay and salary adjustments precisely, with signed agreements retained on file (bilingual where required).
- Grievances: Handle employee compensation grievances (e.g. disputed deductions, interim allowances) fairly, promptly and with a clear documented resolution.
- Cost analysis: Support cost modelling for headcount, project staffing and reorganisations.
HR Business Partnering & Employee Relations:
- Advisory: Act as trusted advisor to DRC country leadership on organisation design, performance and people risk.
- Lifecycle: Manage the full employee lifecycle: recruitment, onboarding, confirmation of probation, performance management, discipline and separation – each step properly documented and legally defensible.
- ER cases: Lead disciplinary and grievance procedures in line with DRC law and internal policy, coordinating with legal counsel where needed.
- Policy: Localise and apply group HR policies to the DRC context, ensuring they are lawful and understood in French.
Leadership & Team Development:
- Team: Lead, coach and develop the DRC HR team, raising the standard of HR administration and compliance.
- Collaboration: Partner with group HR data and legal functions for reporting, analytics and case management.
Skills and Experience
- Languages: Full professional fluency in French and English – able to draft contracts, policies and formal correspondence, and negotiate, in both languages.
- Experience: 7+ years of progressive HR experience, including a senior generalist or HR management role, in the DRC.
- DRC labour law: Demonstrable, current knowledge of the DRC Code du Travail, CNSS, IPR/payroll taxation, INPP/ONEM and minimum-wage (SMIG) regulations.
- Project contracts: Proven track record managing fixed-term / project-based contracts and lawful project-linked workforce ramp-downs.
- Audit: Experience owning or surviving a statutory/CNSS audit or labour inspection with clean records.
- Payroll rigour: Strong payroll and HR data discipline – accuracy, reconciliation and control mindset.
- Education: University degree in HR, Law, Business or related field.
- Sector: Experience in manufacturing, energy, distribution or a multi-site industrial environment.
- Projects: Exposure to donor- or carbon-funded projects and their employment requirements.
- Systems: Familiarity with HRIS/payroll systems and mail-merge / bulk document generation at scale.
- Credential: Professional HR certification.
- Compliance-first mindset with meticulous attention to detail and documentation.
- Sound judgment and integrity when handling sensitive cases and confidential data.
- Clear, confident communicator in both official languages.
- Organised and proactive – anticipates deadlines, renewals and risks before they become problems.
- Collaborative business partner who balances employee fairness with business protection.
Qualified Female Candidates encouraged to Apply
BURN does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, processing, training, or any other fees).