Country Director, Rwanda

Kigali, Rwanda

Overview

Pharo Foundation (“the Foundation”) is a mission-driven, non-profit organisation that designs, funds, and operates economic development programmes to achieve its vision of a vibrant, productive, and self-reliant Africa. Over the next decade, our goal is to create maximum impact towards three critical missions:

1. Empowering the next generation: Our education mission is to ensure that all students have an opportunity to access a high-quality, affordable education, and become productive citizens of a rapidly-changing world.
2. Eliminating barriers to employment and productivity: Our productivity mission is to identify and eliminate health, financial, and structural barriers to employment and productivity for working people.
3. Solving water scarcity: Our water mission is to ensure that people and communities across Africa have access to a safe and affordable source of water.

The Foundation also owns Pharo Ventures which is the for-profit arm of its operations with sustainable businesses in Ethiopia and Somaliland geared towards job creation and economic empowerment.

We are a diverse, multicultural, and passionate organisation, with over 700 employees in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Somaliland. Our headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya, and we have a liaison office in London, UK.

Opportunity

We are currently in search of a Country Director for Rwanda who will be responsible in leading the execution of the Foundation’s long-term strategy in Rwanda. This career enriching position is an excellent challenge for an ambitious, self-driven individual seeking to make an impact by leveraging their relevant skills and experience through the provision of strategic leadership in establishing, developing and managing the Rwanda Country Office Programmes in line with the Vision, Mission, Values of the Foundation.

The role holder will enhance our operational presence in Rwanda and scaling up of our programmes within the country. This includes both, not-for-profit and for-profit investments in the country. The role is accountable for all aspects of the country programmes, ensuring the delivery of the highest-level quality and impact. The Country Director will also represent the organisation towards all partners and stakeholders.

Working in a collaborative fashion and with highly committed colleagues, the position offers an incredible opportunity to an individual who respects and understands local cultures and values and yet embraces and can work within international work ethics and standards.

The role presents a unique opportunity for a genuinely driven, curious and passionate individual who desires to affect real change; a confident individual who takes a dynamic, innovative and forward-thinking approach to their work and in return will be rewarded with an excellent mix of challenge, motivation and fulfilment.

Key relationships

Role:Country Director

Location:Kigali, Rwanda

Reporting to:Chief Operations Officer 

Direct Reports:Head of Education

Finance Manager

Supply Chain Manager

Senior Officer, People and Culture

Functional relationships:Pharo Foundation’s EXCO and Senior Leadership Team

Key stakeholders and regulators

Duties and responsibilities

Strategic Direction and Leadership

• Spearhead the development and implementation of a country strategy that contributes to the organisational goals of Pharo Foundation.
• Identify, assess, and inform the Chief Operations Officer, CEO and Board of Trustees about trends and opportunities related to the strategic missions.
• Work with relevant technical stakeholders to set the strategic direction for Rwanda operations.
• Review the strategy constructively and openly to contribute to effective decision making.
• Provide progressive, visionary leadership for Pharo Foundation Rwanda’s team.

Programme development and management

• Develop and implement country programmes based on the Foundation’s strategic pillars, and actively participate in periodic country strategic reviews to respond to changing circumstances, ensuring the highest impact.
• In line with the Foundation’s strategy, proactively develop well researched and evidenced programme initiatives for submission to the CEO and the Board of Trustees.
• Proactively identify suitable local partners, conduct robust due diligence, identify areas for capacity building and contractual arrangements.
• Ensure that systems are in place to monitor, evaluate and assess the impact of each programme and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
• Contribute to the identification of investment opportunities, drafting of business plans and investment analysis documents to contribute to the development of Pharo Ventures in Rwanda.
• Assist in the management of data, trends, insights and metrics for the business portfolio in Rwanda.
• Carry out site visits to potential and existing business.
• Maintain a rolling database of potential business ventures for screening and analysis.

Key Stakeholder Management

• Develop relationships with key stakeholders, especially relevant ministries, and collaborate with agencies at all levels in the country to enable the appropriate development of the Foundation’s activities.
• Represent the Foundation with Government, regional authorities, identified partners, auditors, media and the public.
• Promote and safeguard the Foundation’s recognition and reputation in the country; ensure that the Foundation is always fully compliant with all legal and regulatory requirements.

Financial Management

• Define financial resource requirements for the country team and all programme activities and functions and ensure that systems and teams are in place for the effective management of financial resources in relation to logistics, procurement and capital assets.
• Ensure that effective and secure control of the Foundation’s finances are established and maintained, in line with the Foundation’s financial procedures and guidelines.
• Oversee and monitor the Foundation’s finances in country and in collaboration with the Finance team, ensure regular reporting is in place.
• Develop country operational budgets and put in place robust budgeting principles and governance guidelines.

Human Resources Development and Management

• Build, manage and strengthen the local country team by recruiting the best talent possible, domestically and from the diaspora.
• Coach and mentor staff as appropriate to improve performance.
• Working with line managers and the People and Culture team to identify the training needs of employees and ensure processes are in place to support and encourage appropriate personal and professional development of staff within the context of organisational objectives.
• Boost productivity and team morale through setting of clear goals, continuous feedback and personal growth.

Qualifications and requirements

• Minimum Master’s Degree in a relevant discipline or MBA.
• Minimum Ten (10) years of experience Five (5) of these in increasingly senior management roles in international development entities or the private sector in Rwanda.
• Demonstrated financial management experience, including preparation and management of budgets is a prerequisite for the role.
• Extensive experience in scaling up companies, programmes or divisions in privately funded philanthropic enterprises in Rwanda will be an added advantage.
• The ability to work autonomously, have strong self-motivation and the maturity to remain accountable for results.
• Excellent communication skills both when working with peers and colleagues, as well as when remaining an approachable and accessible figure to direct reports.
• Strong leadership pedigree and experience of building and scaling up best in class organisations across Africa.
• Superb management skills: able to manage and motivate a wide variety of employees from diverse backgrounds in a professional and compelling manner.
• Dedicated team player with demonstrable experience in setting up good governance and processes at scale.
• Problem solving and creative thinking skills with the ability to get results in sometimes unstructured environments.

Personal attributes

• High levels of integrity, professionalism, resilience, accountability, commitment and determination.
• Self-assured, internally motivated and passionate individual driven to succeed and make a difference.
• Positive and outgoing personality with solid leadership, interpersonal and diplomatic skills.
• A visionary leader with ability to inspire and motivate others to achieve organisational objectives.
• Great attention to detail and a flexible approach to work. 
• Highly structured and keen on processes that drive organisational effectiveness.
• Excellent communicator and comfortable to work in a diverse team environment.
• Passionate about developing people.
• Demonstrates high ethical standards and is values driven.
• Ability to foster collaborative approaches to work and build partnerships with key stakeholders.
• Adaptable and resilient, with the ability to navigate through change and uncertainty.

Application procedure

We will review completed applications on a rolling basis. In the event that we identify an outstanding candidate early in the process, we reserve the right to appoint before the deadline. For this reason, we encourage interested candidates to apply as early as possible. Due to the high volume of applications, we regret that we will only contact shortlisted candidates.

• You are required to attach a detailed CV and cover letter.
• Application link: https://a.peoplehum.com/6k9u6
• Deadline:28th February 2025

Equal Opportunity Employer:
We are committed to diversity and inclusivity in our workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, gender, or disability.