Pros
Joined HIH over a year ago now after many years working globally with MSF; as such have spent most of the last couple of decades working in many different contexts across Africa, the middle east and central Asia and experienced a wide variety of missions, management styles and organisational aptitudes and attitudes. HIH has been a real eye opener to me on a number of levels - an organisation that can care for its own as much as it does for the mission it promotes. It's a US organisation - a first for me employment wise - and has been in a phase of major transition as it moves from a small locally focused organization to a multimillion dollar scaling strategy. It's been a rough ride at times, but a mission as severe and critical as the climate crisis requires innovative thinking and a total change of the 'same old things, done in the same old ways, by the same old people'. Be prepared to learn, be prepared to listen and be prepared to share. Be prepared to change direction as the organization navigates the path to scale. Understand that the need for diversity is not just about colour - its about diversity of lived experiences that allows us to already know there is a world outside of the US and accept that we don't have all the answers, and the critical need to decolonise our minds. As a proud brown person of colour, and a loud and proud Muslim, I have felt and observed nothing but total respect and love from all members of the team, junior and senior; I noticed some of the comments in the earlier reviews about diversity in the organisation, but this is not what I see, and partly why I felt obliged to post (thanks, I will pass on the lectures on diversity from non-PoC ex-employees if you don't mind). Half the HIH global team are PoC, with nearly a third as non-native English speakers; this is increasing every quarter. All of the country teams are nationals of the country and own their programs - there is no colonial mentality here and that is something I truly appreciate. So yes, this is a challenging mission, but its exciting and we are seeing results. The team is truly becoming a global one - its an opportunity to contribute solving to humanities greatest challenge to date. The work is not easy - if it was we all would not be in this mess - but HIH is an organisation that is moving things in the right direction and need smart, enthusiastic, flexible people who are able to navigate uncertainty and contribute ideas to an inclusive and caring team who are all desperately trying to help fix the planet. Other pros: - super family friendly; it is family first for everyone. - the whole team has a week off per year at the same time (not taken out of leave). It allows a real disconnect from what is otherwise a pretty intense workload. - The global team is from all over - South Asia, Northern Africa, Western Africa, South Eastern Africa , Europe etc; so lots of cool stuff to learn from each other - Its a genuinely fun place to work. People are chill and non-judgemental
Cons
It's work from home. For those who have never worked in an office, this might be challenging; for those who have and are comfortable communicating primarily over the interwebs, its great. You need to be flexible and adaptable. This is a global team raging from Pacific standard to Indonesian time (like a 15 hour difference), so you do need to be prepared to occasionally work outside your comfort zone. The work is intellectually and emotionally challenging, and requires adaptable thinking and a genuine willingness to learn. If you want a very steady regular role with few surprises, this job is really not for you.
