Senior HR Officer – Kigali, Rwanda

Company Overview 

The Pharo Foundation (the “Foundation”) is a privately funded entrepreneurial organisation that runs philanthropic programmes as well as a for-profit arm, Pharo Ventures. The vision of the Foundation is an economically vibrant and inclusive Africa. The Mission is to achieve our Vision by investing in the human and physical capital of Africa, with a strong focus on job creation.

Established in 2011 as a UK-based non-profit, the Foundation has since made a strategic shift to directly design and implement its own programmes to ensure greater engagement with communities, better results, and increased accountability. The Foundation has carried out numerous projects in East Africa, with a focus on Ethiopia and Somaliland, and is now expanding operations in Rwanda and Kenya. The key strategic pillars for the philanthropic side of the Foundation are education, health, water, and agriculture. At the end of 2019, the Foundation started its Pharo Ventures franchise to prioritise sectors where the Foundation believes a real impact can be made by establishing self-sustaining businesses that focus on job and economic value creation.

Headquartered in London, the Foundation has an operational Head Office in Nairobi, Kenya with country offices in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa and Assosa), Somaliland (Hargeisa), and Rwanda (Kigali) with further expansion plans in East Africa.

Position Summary

The Senior HR Officer (SHRO) will be at the forefront of implementing the human resources strategy in collaboration with the HR Manager in Rwanda and Regional HR team in Kenya. This position will give the right candidate an excellent mix of challenge, motivation, and fulfilment.

We are looking for a confident individual who takes a dynamic, innovative, and forward-thinking approach to their work. The position holder should be passionate about bringing impactful change using his/her HR experience, executing modern HR processes and respects and understands local cultures and values, and yet embraces and can work within international work ethics and standards.

Role:  Senior HR Officer (Kigali).

Reporting to:  Human Resources Manager (Rwanda).

Functional Relationships: Human Resources team (Nairobi), Heads of Programmes (Rwanda), Head of Education (Rwanda), Finance and Administration Manager (Rwanda) and Office Manager (Rwanda).

 Key Duties and Responsibilities

1. HR Policy Development  

• Review human resources management practices on a continuous basis and execute policies that enhance the long-term commitment of employees.
• Support the Human Resources Manager to prepare, review and monitor HR policies and create the mechanisms for internal checks to ensure that they are aligned and fully understood by employees.
• Implement consistent HR policies and procedures.
• Develop reporting mechanisms that demonstrate employee feedback on the relevance of policies and develop new policies as appropriate.

2.Recruitment 

• Develop and implement an employee centred approach that will enable the Foundation to  attract,  develop and retain a strong  brand with the aim of positioning the organization as an employer of choice
• Collaborate with line managers in the development of staffing plans and recruitment plans, ensuring appropriately staffing of teams according to the need and budget availability in an efficient and timely manner.
• Develop a competitive recruitment strategy to attract and retain the best talent, both local and diaspora ensuring diversity in all new hires.
• Develop HR metrics that demonstrate how the organisation is performing against its hiring goals and ensure that the management team is regularly informed about appropriate recruitment plans.

3. Learning and Development    

• 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 stated objectives.
• Collaborate with line managers in establishing the skills gaps within the relevant departments and facilitate the analysis of training needs and execution of mitigation initiatives.
• Oversee the delivery of training programs, ensuring that training records are documented appropriately and stored.

4. Performance Management

• In collaboration with line managers, review, develop and implement efficient performance measurement processes.
• Ensure all employees have regular performance appraisals and work with line managers to ensure that the outcome of these processes is robust and well documented.
• Implement a performance driven culture that rewards exceptional performance.
• Communicate the positive benefits of performance management to employees, as well as provide consistent, data-driven updates to management.

5. Employee Engagement

• Develop HR organizational culture support initiatives that will help infuse the vision, mission and values of the organisation and create a culture that derives from these principles.
• Execute employee engagement strategies to ensure employees are passionate, invested, and motivated by their work.
• Develop employee engagement and retention strategies that promote employee satisfaction, and team harmony.

6. Compensation Management

• Ensure a competitive market related compensation and benefits framework is maintained; develop specific programmes to attract and retain high performing talent.
• Ensure periodic market salary reviews and assessments are conducted and make appropriate recommendations for annual reviews.
• Develop, review and implement employee wellness programs in consultation with the management team.

Qualification Requirements

• HR-related Bachelors’ degree (preferably in Social Sciences) with a postgraduate HR qualification and/or membership of a professional HR association- CIPD, CHRA, SHRM.
• A minimum of six (6) years of professional experience.
• Prior experience in working with multinational organisations or subsidiaries is a distinct advantage but as a minimum, each candidate must be able to demonstrate strong HR acumen in fast-growing organisations.
• Must be an excellent communicator in written and spoken English. Fluency in French will be an added advantage.
• Good understanding of Rwanda’s labour laws, standards, and legal requirements.

Behavioural Competencies 

• Able to manage and motivate a wide variety of employees from diverse backgrounds in a professional compelling manner.
• Problem solving and creative thinking skills: the ability to get results in unstructured environments, a solid record of accomplishment for growing businesses, and implementing best practice policies and processes.
• Self-assured, internally motivated, and passionate individual with outstanding communication skills driven to succeed and make a difference.
• Must possess high levels of integrity, resilience, accountability, commitment, and determination.
• Good understanding of HR data metrics and the ability to present these to the senior management to aid in decision-making.

Due to the expected high volume of applications, we regret that we will only be able to contact shortlisted candidates.  Review of applications will begin as soon as they are received, and only complete applications will be reviewed. In the event that an outstanding applicant is identified early in the search process, we reserve the right to appoint before the deadline. For this reason, we encourage interested and suitably qualified candidates to apply at the earliest possible opportunity. If you do not hear from us during this period, please consider your application unsuccessful.

Please send the information listed below, as a single PDF file to the following email address: [email protected]  and add the job title ‘Senior HR Officer – Kigali, Rwanda’ to the email subject line.

1. A detailed CV and cover letter. State in your cover letter where you heard about this position e.g. through the website, jobs board, etc.

2. An essay of no more than 1,000 words outlining:

• What experience have you gained that makes you the most qualified candidate for the role?



• What challenges do you foresee as a Senior HR Officer managing increasingly complex HR tasks in a growing international organisation and what steps will you take to successfully resolve these based on your experience and knowledge?

3. A one-page list of five references with current addresses, phone numbers, and email contacts.

The application deadline is 27^th May 2022.