Performance and Career Development Manager

Job Purpose

The Performance and Career Development Manager is responsible for overseeing the strategic execution of Performance Management while leading the Career Development function. This role also has oversight of Learning and Development, ensuring its alignment with performance and career growth strategies. In partnership with the Director of People, the Manager will design, implement, and operationalise the company-wide Succession Planning strategy and initiatives, building strong leadership pipelines and sustaining organisational capability. By integrating these key functions, the Performance and Career Development Manager fosters a culture of continuous growth, high performance, and professional development, enhancing both individual employee potential and overall organisational success.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and continuously improve the organisation’s Performance Management framework, ensuring a structured approach to goal setting, feedback, and evaluation.

• Lead the design and execution of career development initiatives, including career pathways, succession planning, mentoring, and coaching programmes.

• Oversee Learning and Development (L&D) to ensure training initiatives are aligned with performance objectives and career growth aspirations.

• Collaborate with leadership and department heads to identify skill gaps and align learning interventions with business needs.

• Develop and implement policies and structures to monitor and track the fair distribution of work across teams, ensuring balanced workloads.

• Work closely with the Senior People and Culture Compliance Manager to ensure compliance with relevant policies and best practices in talent management.

• Support managers and employees in adopting effective performance review processes, including constructive feedback, goal setting, and performance improvement planning.

• Utilise data and analytics to measure the effectiveness of performance, career development, and L&D programmes, driving continuous improvement.

• Drive a high-performance culture by promoting engagement strategies and recognition programmes that align with the organisation’s values.

• Lead culture alignment initiatives in Kenya, ensuring organisational values, behaviours, and people practices are embedded and consistently upheld.

• Represent the People team in disciplinary and grievance meetings in Kenya, ensuring fair, transparent, and policy compliant processes.

• Partner with Practices and support Startups, where required, on Performance Management, Career Development, Succession Planning, and Learning & Development Advisory.

• Work with the Director of People to draft, implement, and operationalise the company wide succession planning strategy and initiatives, ensuring leadership and critical role pipelines are effectively built and sustained.

• Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within all performance and career development initiatives.

• Lead, mentor, and develop the Performance & Career Development Associate and Learning & Development Senior Associate, fostering a collaborative and results-driven team.

Key Performance Indicators 

• Performance Appraisals & Goal-Setting

• Career Development Engagement & Internal Promotions

• Alignment of Learning Programmes to Skill Gaps

• Employee Engagement & Feedback on Performance Management

• Manager Training in Performance Management & Coaching

• Workload Distribution & Equity Tracking

• Retention of High-Potential Talent

• Succession Planning

• Culture Alignment in Kenya

• Employee Relations 

• Practices & Project Support