HEAD OF PROGRAMS

Job Description | Kigali, Rwanda

ABOUT KULA PROJECT

Kula Project is a nonprofit organization partnering with Rwanda’s smallholder coffee farmers to grow
prosperity.

Our flagship initiative, the Kula Fellowship Program, equips coffee farming households with the training, tools, and coaching needed to increase their harvests, diversify their revenue and grow their income. We are a team of 22, with 20 staff based in Rwanda and two in the US. We are in an exciting season of organizational growth, building stronger systems, deepening our impact, and preparing for the next phase of program expansion and external validation.

POSITION OVERVIEW

This is a pivotal leadership role for Kula Project. The Head of Programs will lead the organization's Fellowship Program in Rwanda, overseeing both the Operations and Impact/MEAL functions, and will serve as a core member of the Senior Leadership Team.

We are looking for a Rwandan leader who combines rigorous development sector experience with international perspective, deep commitment to data-driven program design, and the management depth to lead a multi-function team. The right person will be both a strategic thinker and a hands-on leader — someone who can hold the vision for what excellent program delivery and impact measurement look like, while also developing the staff and systems to make it real.

This role is an opportunity to shape the next chapter of Kula's programmatic work — continuing to grow our impact strength and efficiency, while pursuing our goal of 100,000 coffee farmers impacted by 2035.

ROLE DETAILS

Title: Head of Programs

Reports To: Executive Director, Rwanda 

Direct Reports: Operations Director and Impact/MEAL Lead 

Location: Kigali, Rwanda (required)

Language: Kinyarwanda and English fluency required

Employment: Full-time

Travel: Modest domestic and international travel expected and encouraged

KEYRESPONSIBILITIES:

PROGRAM LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

• Lead all aspects of the Kula Fellowship Program, encompassing both Operations and Impact/MEAL, with a strong emphasis on cost efficiency, return on investment, and data-driven impact.
• Work closely with the Executive Director Rwanda and the Senior Leadership Team to build and refine vision and strategy for program growth, ensuring alignment with organizational strategic goals, funding realities, and emerging opportunities.
• Ensure the Fellowship Program develops in service of Kula's three-year and annual goals, adapting strategy as organizational priorities and external context evolve.
• Represent the Program function in Senior Leadership Team meetings; contribute actively to organizational planning, budgeting, and decision-making.
• Stay current with developments in the smallholder agriculture, coffee, and international development sectors — bringing relevant learning back into Kula's programmatic approach.
• Be willing and proactive about traveling modestly outside of Rwanda to learn from peer organizations, attend relevant conferences in East Africa and internationally, and represent Kula in external forums.

OPERATIONS 

• Supervise and partner with the Operations Director to ensure all Fellowship Program activities are executed effectively, on time, and within budget.
• Ensure field staff — including Business Coaches, Farm Trainers, and Community Catalysts — are well-supported, clearly directed, and equipped to deliver excellent programming.
• Oversee Program planning and scheduling cycles, ensuring operational timelines are realistic, well-communicated, and aligned with impact measurement needs.
• Ensure regular and accurate program reporting is maintained across the Operations team.

IMPACT & MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning)

• Provide strategic leadership for Kula's Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) system — overseeing how data is collected, analyzed, synthesized, and used to inform program development and communicate impact to donors.
• Supervise and develop the Impact/MEAL Lead (to be hired) and the broader MEAL team, including data analysts and data collectors.
• Cast and maintain a strong vision for programmatic impact: what we measure, how we
  measure it, how we evaluate results, and how we learn from them.
• Oversee all data collection design — including survey writing, form building, analysis frameworks, and dashboard development — ensuring data is accessible, accurate, and actionable.
• Drive the impact conversation within Kula, helping all program staff understand, learn from, and respond to data findings; keep impact goals at the forefront of organizational priorities.
• Lead Kula's preparation for a peer/external controlled review of the Fellowship Program’s impact — coordinating with external evaluators, ensuring data infrastructure is ready, and managing internal preparation across teams.
• Coordinate closely with the Revenue/MarComms team on impact reporting, partner
  compliance requirements, and translating program results into compelling donor
  communications.
• Oversee the Impact/MEAL budget and ensure resources are allocated effectively across the function.

TEAM DEVELOPMENT & CULTURE

• Build a high-functioning, learning-oriented Program team — developing staff capability, creating clear role clarity, and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Support staff wellbeing and professional growth through regular 1:1s, performance feedback, and development conversations.
• Model Kula's values in how you lead — with integrity, humility, curiosity, and deep respect for the farming communities we serve.

SYSTEMS & TOOLS

• Champion the use of Asana and Kula's project management systems across the Program team — ensuring tasks, goals, and action items are tracked and visible.
• Support the implementation of Kula's quarterly goals framework within the Program function, ensuring team goals are set, updated, and connected to organizational priorities.

QUALIFICATIONS

REQUIRED

• Strong roots in and commitment to Rwanda's development context.
• Global development perspective, with international education and/or significant international work or research experience. 
• Fluency in Kinyarwanda and English (written and spoken).
• Significant experience in the NGO or international development sector, including program management at a senior level.
• Strong background in Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning — including data collection design, analysis, and results communication.
• Demonstrated experience managing multi-function teams, with a track record of developing staff and building team culture.
• Demonstrated research-oriented approach to program development and evaluation.
• Comfort working in a dynamic, growing organization where roles and systems are still being built — adaptability and ownership mindset are essential.

STRONGLY PREFERRED

• Experience with Randomized Controlled Trials or other rigorous external impact evaluation methodologies.
• Experience in coffee, agriculture, or rural smallholder economic development.
• Familiarity with project management tools (Asana or equivalent) and a systems-oriented approach to team management.
• Experience working across East African development contexts and/or representing an organization at regional or international forums.
   

WHO YOU ARE

You are a Rwandan leader who has seen the world and brought it home. You have the rigour of someone trained in research and evaluation, the warmth of someone who genuinely cares about people, and the management depth to develop a team over time. You hold both the big picture of program vision and evaluation along with the operational details that make it real.

You are energized by data, but you know that data only matters if it changes something. You can translate numbers into stories and stories into decisions. You bring intellectual curiosity to your work and model the kind of continuous learning you want to see in the teams you lead.

You are a builder. You are not looking for a fully formed system to manage — you are looking for the opportunity to shape something meaningful, with a team that shares your values and a mission you believe in.

We are committed to a fair and thorough hiring process and will review applications on a rolling basis. We strongly encourage applications from Rwandan candidates with international experience.

How to Apply

Interested candidate should submitted their applictaion no later than14th May,2026. Please click on the “Apply” button to complete your application.