Description contexte :
Expertise France is the French public agency for international technical cooperation. The agency operates around four main priority areas:
- Democratic, economic, and financial governance;
- Stability and security in crisis and post-crisis contexts;
- Climate change mitigation and sustainable urban development;
- Strengthening health systems, social protection, and employment.
In these areas, Expertise France delivers engineering and project implementation services focused on capacity building, mobilizes technical expertise, and acts as a project integrator by combining public expertise and private sector know-how.
With an operational volume of €390 million and more than 400 projects across 145 countries, Expertise France operates within the framework of France's international cooperation and development assistance policy.
Expertise France Rwanda is currently implementing six projects, mainly funded by the European Union, AFD (French Development Agency), and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, with a total budget of €50 million. Its key areas of intervention in Rwanda include:
- Economic and financial governance
- Sustainable development, climate, and agriculture
- Health and human development
Position Description
Expertise France Rwanda opened its permanent office in January 2025.
Given the rapid expansion of its activities, the creation of a Human Resources (HR) Unit has become necessary. Based in Kigali, the Senior Human Resources Officer will report directly to the Coordinator of Cross-Cutting Functions (CFT) within the Project Support Unit (PSU), which encompasses procurement, logistics, finance, and HR services needed for project implementation.
The Senior HR Officer's primary role is to oversee human resources management and support the establishment of the HR environment for the Expertise France Rwanda office, in accordance with HR best practices and internal procedures.
Expertise France currently uses a third-party employer for HR management and is now transitioning to becoming a direct employer, a process that will be overseen by the Senior HR Officer.
In coordination with the Human Resources Directorate and under the supervision of the Cross-Cutting Functions Coordinator, the Senior HR Officer will carry out the following duties:
Direct Employment Setup
- Support the implementation and monitoring of the legal analysis related to transitioning to direct employment, including employer obligations.
- Contribute to the planning and implementation of the transition from third-party employer to direct employment.
- Help develop HR tools for direct employment management (HR database, payroll, training tracking, etc.).
- Support the selection of a payroll service provider and the establishment of the monthly payroll process (validation, payments, cash flow forecasting).
- Contribute to drafting employment contract templates in coordination with HQ HR and local legal counsel.
- Handle administrative processes with local authorities (Labour Inspectorate, social security bodies, etc.).
Structuring the HR Unit
- Assist in developing the HR Handbook with tools and procedures aligned with internal rules and operational needs.
- Coordinate and monitor the outsourced salary benchmarking exercise.
- Support the analysis of potential evolutions of Expertise France’s social policy, including financial impact assessments.
Staff Recruitment
- Receive and process recruitment requests and necessary information to post job openings.
- Publish job advertisements on the Expertise France website and on Job in Rwanda.
- Ensure the recruitment tracking tool is updated by hiring managers.
- Centralize all information and documents related to contract preparation, monitoring, and signing.
- Follow up on all contractual steps with the third-party employer (offer letters, contracts, insurance, payroll, purchase orders).
- For direct employment, ensure execution and proper archiving of all contractual steps (offer letter, contract, insurance, payroll).
- Oversee payments related to recruitment (job ads, third-party payroll, insurance, etc.).
- Archive complete HR files for each staff member.
- Organize onboarding of new staff (briefing on agency operations, coordination with other units for equipment, badges, office integration, etc.).
- Verify third-party employer invoices for compliance with services delivered.
Day-to-Day HR Management as Direct Employer
- Ensure compliance with local labor law in all HR procedures and conduct legal monitoring.
- Liaise with administrative authorities (Labour Inspectorate, social security institutions, etc.).
- Draft and validate local HR procedures.
- Oversee the recruitment process (needs assessment, posting, candidate follow-up, feedback).
- Manage all administrative and contractual processes for national staff.
- Provide technical HR support to project managers and coordinators (goal setting, performance evaluations, disciplinary procedures, etc.).
Skills Development
In collaboration with the training team at HQ:
- Identify individual and collective training needs.
- Contribute to the development of the annual skills development plan.
- Help prepare the annual training calendar.
- Ensure legal training obligations are met.
- Advise staff and project leaders on training opportunities.
- Assist in selecting and organizing local training providers and handling logistics.
- Manage the AEGIS training platform within the PSU (access rights, assigning courses to national staff).
Employee Relations
- Establish a timeline for creating staff representative bodies.
- Organize representative elections with support from HQ HR and local legal advisors.
- Develop a social dialogue strategy in coordination with HQ HR.
- Prepare agendas and minutes of meetings with staff representatives.
- Monitor delegation hours and ensure proper exercise of union rights.
- Regularly report to HQ HR on social dialogue.
- Produce required documents for staff consultation in coordination with legal counsel.
Cross-Cutting Activities
- Foster a positive work environment and company culture by providing a confidential and active listening space for staff and contributing to motivation strategies.
- Identify at-risk individual situations among staff and report to the CFT and HQ HR.
- Support the management of disputes, disciplinary cases, and potential litigation with HQ HR and legal counsel.
- Prevent and manage internal conflicts and raise awareness on psychosocial risks.
- Stay informed on economic, legal, and social developments.
- Ensure proper archiving of all HR documents for national personnel.
Required Qualifications / Education / Experience
- Advanced degree in Human Resources or a relevant field
- Minimum 3 years of professional experience in international cooperation (mandatory)
- Minimum 5 years of experience in a similar HR position
Required Skills and Competencies
Knowledge
- Understanding of AFD and/or Expertise France procedures and frameworks
- Strong grasp of operational project challenges and requirements
- In-depth knowledge of local labor laws and employer obligations in the context of direct employment
- Full command of HR procedures, including recruitment, termination, career management, training, and office setup
- Cross-functional skills in HR, financial and legal data analysis and reporting; strong synthesis capabilities
- Ability to contribute to capacity building, including in a functional reporting context
Technical Skills
- Strong organizational and writing skills
- Strategic thinking and ability to design and optimize HR structures adapted to operational needs
- Negotiation skills
Interpersonal Skills
- Team spirit and ability to work collaboratively
- High level of rigor and autonomy
- Stress management capabilities
- Excellent interpersonal communication
- Enjoyment of working in multicultural teams
- Clear and effective communicator
- Observant, reliable, transparent, and proactive
- Creative and responsive
Application deadline : July 24th at 2 :00pm
Please send resume + cover letter at :
https://expertise-france.gestmax.fr/13532/1/senior-hr-officer-h-f/fr_FR