Head of Education (Rwanda)
Company Overview
The Pharo Foundation (“the Foundation”) is a privately funded entrepreneurial organization that runs philanthropic programmes as well as for-profit Social Ventures. The Vision of the Foundation is an economically vibrant and inclusive Africa. The Mission is to achieve the Vision by investing in the human and physical capital of Africa, with a strong focus on job creation.
Established in 2011 as the 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 looking to expand into Rwanda. The key strategic pillars for the philanthropic side of the Foundation are education, health, water, and agriculture. At the end of 2019, the Foundation also started its Social Ventures franchise to prioritize sectors where the
Foundation believes a real impact can be made by establishing self-sustaining businesses, which 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) and Somaliland (Hargeisa) with further expansion plans in East Africa.
Position Summary
The Head of Education position is a key leadership role within The Pharo Foundation that will be entrusted with the overall responsibility of developing and managing the Foundation’s education strategy and activities in Rwanda. The Foundation aims to provide the highest quality education to the children and young adults of Rwanda and is now actively looking for a driven and passionate individual who wants to make real change for the future of Rwanda.
The position is based in Kigali and will report to the Director of Education East Africa, based in Nairobi, and the Country Representative based in Kigali. This is a high level, a well-remunerated role that will give the right candidate an excellent mix of challenge and fulfillment.
The role encompasses all aspects of the educational strategy and operations, from early childhood to secondary school as well as higher education and vocational schools. It includes, among others, designing curriculums, overseeing academic standards, recruitment of staff and students, the well-being of students, future expansion plans, financial budgeting, financial management and controls, and external relationships with community and governmental stakeholders.
Role: Head of Education (Rwanda).
Reporting to: Director of Education, East Africa (Nairobi), Country Representative (Rwanda).
Functional Relationships: Finance Manager (Rwanda), Head of HR (Rwanda), and Office Manager
(Rwanda), as well as Country Heads of Programmes, Finance Manager (London), Heads of Education (Ethiopia and Somaliland). Direct Reports: Principals/Heads of all the Pharo Schools in Rwanda, Head of Government ECE
Programmes (Rwanda), Head of Vocational Training (Rwanda).
Key Duties and Responsibilities
- Strategy
- Work with the Director of Education East Africa to develop a comprehensive multi-year, multi-school education and expansion strategy for the Foundation in Rwanda.
- Implementing the education strategy of the Foundation in Rwanda, as agreed with the Director of Education East Africa, the CEO, and the Board of Trustees.
- Academic
- Provide leadership and guidance on curriculum selection and ensure the highest academic standards are achieved at all levels.
- Ensure the Pharo Schools attract and retain the best students for academic excellence.
- Create the “Pharo School” brand name as Centres of Excellence in education in Rwanda.
- Create and monitor processes for safeguarding throughout the education system in Rwanda.
- Ensure the Pharo Schools are accredited and in compliance with all national (and when applicable) international standards.
- Ensure the highest standards of teaching and learning pedagogy.
- Promote the focus on holistic child development in all Pharo Schools.
- Promote the teaching of 21st-century skills with a key focus on critical thinking and problem-solving.
- Human Resources Development and Management
- Attract and retain the highest-quality teachers, administrative and support staff.
- Develop and implement procedures to train, supervise, evaluate, and upgrade staff continuously to ensure high academic and work standards.
- Ensure all students and staff are informed of and internalize the Pharo Culture, Vision, Mission, and Values.
- Establish a culture of open communication, shared learning, and cooperation across all Pharo Schools.
- Promote Continuous Professional Development (CPD) of teachers and direct reports.
- Financial Management
- Prepare and manage multi-year financial statements and budgets.
- Prepare and submit monthly management accounts.
- Coordinate financial auditing and the production of annual audited accounts.
- Put controls in place to ensure all schools are run with fiscal responsibility and accountability.
- Undertake regular financial reporting as guided by the fiscal policies of the Foundation.
- Policy Development
- Prepare and implement appropriate and robust policies, ensuring that they are revised and updated regularly.
- Create safeguarding policies and ensure that they are regularly reviewed, and all staff and students are aware of these policies and follow its guidelines.
- Enforce other relevant policies and procedures as they are developed.
- Compliance, Audit, and Risk
- Ensure that all Pharo Schools in Rwanda are in compliance with all local and national requirements and policies.
- Protect the Pharo Schools and the Foundation from undue risk of exposure and mitigate where necessary.
- Ensure that regular financial management and academic audits are carried out in all Pharo Schools and Pharo Education Programmes in Rwanda.
- Stakeholder Relationships
- Ensure good working relationships with cooperation and support from governmental entities, parents, alumni, and the larger community.
- Represent the Foundation on educational forums in Rwanda.
- Represent the Pharo Schools in the media and public engagements in Rwanda.
- Operations Management
- Supervise the management of all the schools’ facilities, and their on-going care and maintenance.
- Ensure proper maintenance and care of all movable assets.
- Maintain the asset register, ensuring that all assets are properly labeled and all records are easily accessible
- Reporting
- Ensure open and continuous communication with the Director of Education East Africa and all key stakeholders.
- Provide regular reports on all aspects of the schools’ business and operations.
- Inform the Director of Education East Africa and the Country Representative, Rwanda immediately of any issues or concerns that might jeopardise the Pharo Schools or the Foundation with respect to non-compliance, reputational risk, or safeguarding.
Qualification Requirements
- The ideal person should possess a bachelor’s degree in education, with a master’s degree being an added advantage.
- S/He must possess a minimum of ten (10) years of professional experience, eight (8) of these in senior management roles in schools or as a School Head/Principal.
- Demonstrated experience in successfully recruiting, retaining, and developing educators, staff, and administrators.
- Excellent business acumen.
- The ability to work autonomously, have strong self-motivation and the maturity to remain accountable for results.
- Excellent communication skills both when working with peers and colleagues, as well as when remaining an approachable and accessible figure to direct reports.
- Behavioral Competencies
- Passionate and driven individual with high social and emotional intelligence.
- A natural and effective leader who can manage staff in a K-12 setting across different locations.
- Excellent communicator with fluency in written and spoken English.
- Fluency or proficiency in French is an added advantage.
- Open-minded and flexible individual.
- Creative thinker who can think outside the box.
- Respects and understands the local culture and values and yet embraces and can work within international work ethics and standards.
- Dedicated team player with demonstrable experience in setting up good governance and processes at scale.
- High levels of integrity, professionalism, resilience, accountability, commitment, and determination.
Application Procedure
The deadline for application is 30th November 2020.
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 time. Due to the high volume of applications, we regret that we will only be able to contact shortlisted candidates.
Please send the information listed below, as a single PDF file, to the following email address: recruiting.rw@pharofoundation.org
- A detailed CV and Cover Letter
- A 1,000-word essay on:
- What education leadership experience have you gained that makes you the most qualified candidate for the role?
- What are your plan and/or experience in transforming schools into high performing schools?
- Kindly give an example from your past experience, if any.
- A one-page list of five references with current addresses, phone numbers, and email contacts
