Dimagi Project Manager based in Kigali

Duration: 24 months

Background and Context

Women for Women International (WfWI) is an international non-profit making organization committed to improving the lives of socially excluded and marginalized women in conflict and post-conflict settings. We were founded on the belief that stronger women build stronger nations.

In Rwanda, WfWI started its activities in 1997 and is currently operating in 11 districts of Bugesera, Gasabo, Huye, Kayonza, Kicukiro, Muhanga, Musanze, Ngororero, Nyabihu, Nyaruguru, Rwamagana.

Through all of our work, we aim to support progress in four key outcomes in women’s social and economic empowerment: that women earn and save money, develop health and well-being, influence decisions in their homes and communities, and that they can create and connect to networks for support.

WfWI invests in marginalized women, providing a 12-month social and economic empowerment program that combines awareness on women’s rights, health, and connection to networks, along with practical and technical business and vocational support. We aim to provide women with information about their rights, build their confidence, and provide opportunities for them to improve their health and well-being as well as earn and save money. WfWI also delivers complementary programs such as men’s engagement programs and grassroots advocacy.

Wherever possible, WfWI continues the support of women graduates of our programs, particularly those who have started individual or group businesses, associations, or cooperatives. The WfWI Rwanda team aims to ensure women’s self-sufficiency: how to earn an income, to become decision-makers, and how to strengthen their own social networks and safety networks that deal with challenges facing their families and communities.

Purpose

Dimagi Inc. has received funding from USAID to implement a project in partnership with Women for Women International (WfWI) and IDEO.org. This project seeks to provide an innovative mobile solution, chatbots, to better support women actively in the workforce and those women looking for ways to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities.

Through the collaborative development of a novel chatbot called Coach Carene, the 3 partners will offer a way for participants and graduates of the WfWI program to continue to remain engaged in the program and further develop and apply the skills that they learned over the course of those 12 months.

Coach Carene will facilitate an interactive, demand-driven approach to disseminating information and creating dialogue so that women can receive coaching and advice in addition to being further connected to resources in their community after they have completed the 12-month empowerment program. This transformative way of communicating with communities will enable demand-driven communication at scale and bring significant scale efficiencies in the way development communication operations are set up. The 3 partners will work together to conduct light design research (more grounding in the needs of our target audiences) in Rwanda in order to better understand the requirements and opportunities needed to support women in their journey from the empowerment program into meaningful work. This will be accompanied by some capacity building and user testing with the end product being a locally appropriate and effective training approach.

Overview of the Role

The Project Coordinator/Manager will be WfWI’s main point of contact on this project and will be responsible for delivering on the goals and activities laid out in WfWI’s sub-contract with Dimagi Inc. WfWI’s responsibilities on the project are to:

• Contribute to the gathering of requirements
• Define content areas for the chatbot, based on beneficiary engagement
• Support the development of the prototype including the collection of feedback on the prototype at various stages
• Support the launch of the prototype
• Collect feedback from users
• Support the M&E plan development, implementation, and analysis
• Contribute to program documentation, learning, and dissemination
• Understand and contribute WfWI’s existing technical experience and grounded learning to the chatbot design process
• Support the process to define, understand and connect with the chatbot’s primary target group

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary technical link between the 3 partners: WfWI, Dimagi, and IDEO.org;
• Develop plans for field implementation of the project;
• Be part of the research team that will be field testing the app;
• Organize capacity building sessions in close collaboration with IDEO.org;
• Carries out regular monitoring and provide technical assistance to EE and M&E teams;
• Collaborates with M&E team in the development and execution of appropriate tools;
• Compiles regular reports with the support of the M&E team;

Skills & Qualifications:

• Holder of a Master’s degree in development studies, economics, statistics or any other related field with a minimum 7 years’ relevant work experience;
• Fluency with new and emerging technologies and their application to solving development challenges e.g. operating mobile apps, e-learning, SMS technology, etc.;
• Practical experience in the areas of research, information technology, software design/development, and artificial intelligence;
• Deep knowledge of women’s issues in the context of gender equality especially since WfWI in Rwanda serves marginalized women who are often illiterate, innumerate, living in extreme poverty and have been affected by violence;
• Exposure to and experience with training, curricula development and mentoring, with a focus on economic empowerment and poverty reduction, ideally with people similar to WfWI target group;
• Good communicator with great public speaking skills;
• Ability and experience in implementing plans, managing grants and budgets;
• Commitment to and respect for Women International’s mission and values;
• Strong computer skills in MS Word, Excel, internet, email applications; and
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Kinyarwanda; working knowledge of French would be desirable.

All interested candidates must submit an updated CV, cover letter, and three professional references. Send application to [email protected]

Please put Dimagi Project Manager in the Subject line. The Application deadline is June 8, 2020.

Only short-listed applicants will be invited for an interview. No telephone enquiries, please.