People and Performance Manager

People and Performance Manager

Closing date : Monday 2nd November 2026

About Restless Development

Restless Development is a globally connected, locally led network incubating youth-led change. For 40 years, we’ve supported young people to take on the world’s biggest challenges. We shift power and resources directly to young people, equipping them with leadership skills, and connecting them with their peers and decision makers to drive long-term change.  We run youth-led programmes to tackle the issues that young people care about the most –  We also run the   Youth Collective   – a growing network of over 4000 local youth civil society groups and organisations in 185 countries. We are committed to creating an agency that walks the talk on power shifting, using the power shifting checklist, both internally and externally.

We are also proud to have received Silver in the Global Good Employer of the Year category at the 2026 Global Good Awards. This recognition reflects our commitment to creating a positive impact both within our organisation, through how we support and develop our people, and externally, through the difference we make in the communities we serve.

Our approach to safeguarding

Restless Development considers the welfare and protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults to be an organisational imperative with primacy over the success of programmes or strategic objectives. We recognise that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and we expect all of our staff, volunteers and partners to ensure we protect the communities in which we operate from harm and abide by our   Safeguarding Policy .

About the role

The People and Performance Manager is a new role within our Global People team. You will be the day-to-day operational lead for the People function across the Agency, working closely with the Director of People and Operations to ensure our people are supported, well and delivering their best work.

You will lead on performance management, talent development, staff wellbeing, HR policy, people data and employee relations advice across our Hubs and globally distributed teams. You will be confident moving between hands-on HR delivery and guiding Hub Directors, Hub Heads and line managers on how best to handle performance and people matters.

You will line manage the Assistant People Coordinator (who in turn supervises the People Officer), and lead the global People Community of Practice made up of our Hub people leads, strengthening consistent HR/People approaches across the Agency. You will work closely with the Safeguarding and Safety Manager, who retains responsibility for safeguarding, safety and security

Key responsibilities:

Managing People operations across the Agency

Lead the day-to-day running of the People team and the delivery of the People team workplan, as agreed with the Director of People and Operations.

Line manage, coach and develop the Assistant People Coordinator, and through them ensure the People Officer is well supported and performing.

Lead the People Community of Practice for Hub people leads, providing updates, training and guidance on HR decisions and practices to drive positive and consistent HR practice across the Agency.

Draft, review and update People policies, procedures and the employee handbook for approval by the Director of People and Operations, and ensure they are understood and applied consistently in Hubs.

Act as the first point of escalation for People queries that cannot be resolved by the Assistant People Coordinator or Hub people leads.

Performance management and talent

Working with Hub teams, review, improve and embed performance management throughout the Agency, using Bamboo HR to capture goals, feedback, probation reviews and performance oversight.

Coach and guide line managers, Hub Directors and Hub Heads on managing performance, including probation, perfo