The HALO Trust

We are a UK-based charity founded in 1988, established to help the people of Afghanistan. We operate as a company limited by guarantee in England (No. 2228587, Charity No. 1001813 & SC037870) and work with The HALO Trust USA, a 501©(3) corporation (Registered Charity No. SC039625). We are the largest civilian humanitarian mine action organization in the world.

Our mission is to clear and manage explosives, including landmines, unexploded ordnance, cluster bombs, small arms stockpiles, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). This work protects lives and restores livelihoods in conflict-affected regions. We make land safe so families can plant crops, graze cattle, and access essential services like schools and water. By creating jobs for deminers and preparing areas for development, we support long-term stability in vulnerable communities.

We have programs in 30 countries and territories, including 35 years of work in Cambodia since 1991. We use an in-house web-based operations management system, built with Laravel, Bootstrap, PostgreSQL, and AWS, to improve our operations.

Our mission is to protect lives and restore the livelihoods of those affected by conflict. Our values are integrity, respect, courage, and reliability.

We employ over 8,000 international staff across four offices (Dumfries, Salisbury, Washington D.C., and The Hague) and more than 30 global programs. We foster an inclusive culture, recruiting, developing, and retaining talented people from diverse backgrounds. About 95% of our employees come from the local communities we serve, providing them with income and a chance to rebuild their lives. Working at HALO offers the opportunity to visit or work in various countries and cultures, making a difference in vulnerable communities.

We support ongoing personal development through formal and on-the-job training, coaching, mentoring, shadowing, and job rotation. Our training programs include an intensive 6.5-month Field Officer Course, which prepares individuals for junior operations officer roles and is credit-rated by Glasgow Caledonia University. Our in-house Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team delivers credit-rated courses like EOD Level 1, EOD Level 3, and Humanitarian Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (HIEDD) training, benchmarked to United Nations International Mine Action Standard competencies. Deminers, who make up 70% of our global workforce, receive IMAS-level training to safely remove explosives and learn life-saving first aid. We provide leadership training for all staff with line-management responsibilities and a 3-week program officer course for administrative roles. Dedicated full-time trainers cover various functions, and we invite external subject matter experts for technical innovations.

Employee physical and mental wellbeing is a priority. This is managed through a medical advisory board, travel health advice, an occupational health provider offering counseling, paramedics and extensive medical packs in all locations, and comprehensive insurance for international staff.

Our employee benefits vary by location.

For our UK staff, benefits include:

• 25 days of annual leave plus 8 statutory holidays
• A contributory pension scheme; we match contributions up to 5%
• Non-contributory life assurance (3x salary)
• Flexible working
• A cycle to work scheme
• Private medical health cover
• Emergency medical insurance for overseas travel
• Occupational health services, including physiotherapy and counseling support

Our international staff receive:

• Accommodation
• A daily living allowance
• Generous annual leave
• Three return flights to their home country each year
• Comprehensive or emergency medical insurance

Our US staff receive:

• 25 days (5 weeks) of paid vacation per year
• 5 days (1 week) of paid sick leave per year
• US federal holidays off
• A 401(k) retirement savings plan; we match up to 5% of monthly contributions
• Contributory health and dental insurance; we cover a portion of the monthly premiums.