Tender for a Senior Trainer international for personal development as trainer for the Rwandan software development trainee program "The Gym"

1. General information

1.1. About KB21

KB21 Ltd. is committed to promoting the Rwandan IT scene. We focus on capacity developmentand job creation in the Rwandan IT economy. KB21 Ltd. has been partnering with Rwandan companies, institutions, and individual trainers in several projects, connecting Rwandan tech teams to international projects and remote work opportunities.

In 2019, we introduced our independent training programme, called “The Gym”, together with our partner Tech in Ruanda e.V., guiding young Rwandan ICT talent through a structured set of technology and professional skills modules empowering them to provide services for global clients.

1.2. About “The Gym”

The Gym is Rwanda's most intense software development trainee program. Trainees join the program with solid foundations in software development and undergo a rigorous 6-month, full-time, on-site training in software development, professional skills and ways of work that brings them to the level of being able to join international software development teams as Junior Developers. Graduates of The Gym work remotely from Rwanda for international companies. Find out more on https://www.thegym-rwanda.com/

For this assignment: We are looking for someone who has deep experience in how software development teams work in Europe. Preferably they have experience in Germany specifically, as most employers of Gym graduates are based there. They need to have immersed themselves in the ways of work in Europe on-site and need to have gained this experience from several companies, allowing them to have a more representative impression and not the limited perspective of a single company.

At the same time the person should have an initial understanding of the Rwandan context. They should have experienced working on-site in Rwanda, even if it is for a brief period, so that the basics of working in the country are not completely alien to them. They should also have collected some experience working with Rwandan software developers from various companies.

2. Contractual information 

• The service can be performed remotely.
• The service performance period is March 2026 to May 2026.
• The legal entity that is the carrier of The Gym is KB21 Ltd., a Rwandan limited liability company.
• Quotes for this tender can be specified in EUR or in RWF.
• You can either apply as an individual freelancer or as a company. If you apply as a company you need to specify the individual trainer who will be conducting these trainings and share the information (CV, references etc.) related to that specific trainer.
• Companies will only be able to change the expert trainer during the duration of the contract with prior written consent of The Gym. When the trainer changes The Gym will have the right to terminate the contract, if it does not consent to the change of trainer.

3. Tasks to be performed by the contractor 

At The Gym we focus not only on the development of technical skills but also on excellent professional skills and effective ways of work. We expect trainees to own their learning journey. That is why we are investing time in the trainees receiving one-on-one coaching sessions.

The Senior Trainer's task is to conduct:

• 1 hour of one-on-one personal development coaching per participant every week
• for a total of 30 participants, totalling 30 hours of coaching per week.
• This will be done for a defined portion of the cohort period, totalling approximately 3 months.
• The total number of consultant hours is going to be 390 hours
• The Senior Trainer will coordinate closely with the rest of the team that works with the trainees (Program Coordinator, Coaches, Senior Developers).

Detailed task breakdown:

• 1 hour of one-on-one personal development coaching per participant every week.
• During these coaching sessions the senior trainer will help the trainee reflect on their implementation of the standard ways of work taught by The Gym, these include
  • Practices of self-reliability: 
    • time-planning with time-boxes and adherence to these timeboxes
    • time-tracking as a way to report to oneself on the actual process of the day
    • self-reflection to initiate identification and solution of any gaps in performance
  • General ways of work
    • note-taking and personal knowledge management
    • learning methodologies
    • task management
  • Team-work
    • putting the team first - there is no such thing as individual success in software development
    • motivating fellow team members and avoiding unintentional demotivation (focus on communication recipient)
    • communication habits
    • consensus building in projects
• The senior trainer will receive access to all the training materials used to instruct the trainees, so they can identify the standards we use and teach
• In addition to this the senior trainer will help the trainees identify personal challenges that are not covered by any standardized training-content of the gym.
  • These could be motivational, inter-personal or any other type of challenges.
  • The senior trainer will use a resource-oriented approach to help the trainees understand the challenges and identify potential solutions.
  • The senior trainer will follow up on those issues in their continuous coaching of the trainees

4. Tender requirements

4.1. Qualifications of the expert needed
 

• General professional experience: At least 5 years experience in coaching in professional skills in an international environment (for example as a Scrum Master / Agile Coach / Trainer)

• Specific professional experience: At least 5 years experience in at least 3 different start-ups or corporations on-site in Europe, out of which:

• •  At least 1 year in Germany;
  • In a role as a Scrum Master / Agile Coach / Team Development Manager, or in a different role within an agile software development team (software engineer, Product Owner etc.)

• Leadership / management experience: Lead developer teams in at least 2 projects with an international team-composition, including the participation of Rwandan developers in at least 1 project.
• Experience in the region / knowledge of the country:

• • At least 3 trainings conducted for Rwandan developers on-site in Rwanda
  • Experience coaching developers from at least 3 different companies within Rwanda developers.

4.2. Specifications of input

Calculate your financial bid exactly in line with the quantitative requirements of the specification of inputs above. There is no contractual right to use the full number of hours. No travel costs are foreseen for this assignment. 

5. Requirement on the format of the tender

The quote should include:

• A financial quote
• Evidence of commercial register entry (for companies) or tax registration as a freelancer (individuals)
• A declaration by the company / individual submitting the quote, stating that the eligibility criteria listed in the "Eligibility criteria" section of this tender are met.
• Trainer CV
• The criteria table. Please make sure to provide a reference for each experience you mention in the criteria table.

The structure of the tender must correspond to the structure of the ToR. In particular, the detailed criteria table should be organised in accordance with the positively weighted criteria in the assessment grid (not with zero). The tender must be drawn up in English language. 

Criteria table

Please submit a table in the format below. Use one row for each criterion, and list the name of the company / organization, the name of the person that is a reference, their position at the company at the time you worked with them and their email address.

6. Evaluation Criteria

The technical assessment is based on this technical assessment grid.

An offer will be selected, if the vendor is eligible and the offer ranks the best based on the combined reached points in the technical assessment (weighted 70%) and the price assessment (weighted 30%).

7. Eligibility criteria

Eligibility criteria for this tender are:

• Evidence of commercial register entry (for companies) or tax registration as a freelancer (individuals)
• Exclusion grounds: The tenderer must provide a signed declaration confirming that none of the following situations apply:
  • Criminal convictions for corruption, fraud, money laundering, or other offences affecting professional integrity;

• Insolvency, bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceedings;
• Serious professional misconduct affecting the ability to perform the contract;
• Actual or potential conflict of interest with the contracting entity or the project.

8. Submission of Quotes, relevant dates

Deadline for submission of quotes is the 25th of February 2026.

Please submit your quotes by uploading them to https://www.the-gym.rw/SeniorTrainerinternational

Service provision is expected to start on the 01st of March 2026.