HR Intern – Global HR Operations

About Pure Earth

Pure Earth is a leading international nonprofit addressing toxic pollution—one of the most urgent and solvable global health challenges. Through evidence-based interventions and strong global partnerships, Pure Earth works to reduce lead and mercury exposure and protect vulnerable communities worldwide.

As the organization expands across regions, strengthening operational infrastructure and consistency is critical to enabling sustainable growth. The Global HR function plays a central role in building the systems, tools, and processes that support this scale.

Internship Program Overview

This role is part of Pure Earth’s 12-week structured internship program, designed to provide meaningful, hands-on experience to interns while contributing to clearly defined organizational priorities.

Internships are designed to:

• Develop practical capabilities aligned to the intern’s future career in HR and operations
• Provide exposure to global, multi-country organizational environments
• Deliver tangible outputs that improve internal systems and effectiveness
• Operate under structured supervision with defined goals and feedback loops

Position Summary

The HR Intern will support the Global HR Operations workplan, with a focus on strengthening foundational HR systems, standardization, and knowledge management across the organization.

This role is positioned not as administrative support, but as a contributor to building scalable HR infrastructure in a rapidly growing, globally distributed nonprofit.

The intern will work on discrete, high-impact projects that improve consistency, usability, and accessibility of HR processes and tools across regions.

Responsibilities may include working on and contributing to any of the below areas:

1. HR Systems & Standardization

• Contribute to the development of a standardized HR framework across the employee lifecycle, ensuring alignment in tools, templates, and documentation
• Build and refine a comprehensive suite of HR templates (e.g., job descriptions, evaluation tools, onboarding resources) to support consistency across regions
• Establish basic documentation standards (formatting, naming conventions, version control) to enable scalability and ease of use
• Support the creation of a centralized HR knowledge repository in SharePoint, improving structure, accessibility, and governance

2. Recruitment Processes & Candidate Management

• Support coordination and tracking of candidates through a centralized tracker, ensuring visibility and accuracy across hiring processes
• Apply and refine structured interview and evaluation approaches to enhance consistency and fairness in candidate assessment
• Contribute to improving recruitment workflows, including scheduling processes, communication templates, and documentation
• Support the standardization of job descriptions and hiring materials to align with organizational guidelines

3. HR Knowledge Management & Documentation

• Conduct a structured review and organization of HR documentation, identifying gaps, redundancies, and opportunities for simplification
• Improve usability of HR resources by designing intuitive navigation and access structures
• Develop a practical HR Resource Toolkit that enables employees and managers to easily access key documents and templates
• Support implementation of basic document governance practices to ensure sustainability over time
• Additional or different projects as determined by the HR Director or VP Operations

Expected Outcomes (End of Internship)

By the end of the internship, the intern will have contributed to:

• A more structured and consistent HR template ecosystem
• An organized and accessible HR knowledge repository
• Improved visibility and coordination in recruitment processes
• At least one tangible improvement to an HR process or workflow
• A set of deliverables that can be scaled and used across teams

Learning & Development Opportunity

The intern will gain exposure to:

• HR operations within a global, multi-country organization
• Building and implementing scalable HR systems and processes
• Applying structured approaches to recruitment and evaluation
• Managing documentation and knowledge in a growing organization
• Working in a cross-functional and internationally distributed team

Supervision & Work Structure

• Work under the guidance of the Global HR Director and HR team members
• Participate in regular check-ins and working sessions
• Receive ongoing feedback to support development and delivery of outcomes

Qualifications

• Pursuing Master’s or recently completed a Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, Psychology, or a related field
• Strong organizational and analytical thinking skills
• Clear written and verbal communication abilities
• Comfort working with structured tools (Excel, SharePoint, documentation systems)
• High attention to detail and interest in process improvement and systems-building
• Ability to work independently while collaborating in a global team environment.

Internship Details

• Duration: Up to 12 weeks
• Schedule: Up to 20 hours per week
• Location: New York City (in-person; hybrid flexibility aligned with team needs)
• Compensation: $20/hour

Program Expectations

Interns are expected to:

• Demonstrate professionalism and accountability
• Deliver agreed outputs within defined timelines
• Maintain clear communication with their supervisor
• Understand that the internship is a learning experience and does not guarantee employment