Overview
About us…
Brave finds rising star talent for high growth companies. That means we’re always on the look out for brilliant folks like you. We work to understand your work interests, career goals, and talents. And then put you in touch with our customers, who may want to interview you. Feel free to share our details with a friend or peer. We’d be happy to link them with jobs too.
About the company hiring…
A non-profit social enterprise that prepares youth in Africa with the skills to succeed in today’s economy. They have grown 4x since 2014 and are currently working in 175 secondary schools in Rwanda, 60 pilot schools in Kenya, and over 700 schools in Uganda reaching over 42,000 students intensively and 530,000 more broadly. The organization has 200 staff and almost 300 volunteer youth mentors. And is backed by many the largest global foundations.
About the role…
The company is seeking a Director of Operations to lead operational excellence across our programs and support functions in Rwanda. This is a leadership role ideal for someone who loves managing people and projects to seamless execution and is driven to maximize impact through excellent management practices, processes, and attention to detail. The right person for this role will have a history of achieving results through teams and experience managing projects (including budgets and support functions). Private sector or social enterprise experience is strongly preferred.
Reporting to the Country Director, the new Director of Operations will lead and improve upon operational processes (in program implementation and support functions) to increase efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and performance at scale, so that they can deliver on testing this solution and positioning in it for even greater scale. You’ll join a dynamic leadership team committed to organizational and professional growth.
Performance Objectives
Lead country-wide operations to drive world-class team performance
Working with executive and in-country leadership teams, set strategy to maximize success towards the company’s vision of measurably millions of students across Africa
Collaborate with management team to implement global functional initiatives to ensure successful completion of top organization-wide objectives
Oversee the operations’ teams staffing structures and annual and termly goals
Ensure tight financial management in line with the company culture
Exemplify clear and consistent communication to all levels of the organization
Oversee strategic management of key risks facing the organization
Consistently utilize strong project management skills, and coach team in the same
Program Implementation Oversight
Ensure the the company Exchange team performs in alignment with set work-plans and strategic objectives
Ensure the consistent use of key management tools such as the monthly calendar, program scorecard, and training schedules
Collaborate with the Country Director to develop staffing strategy, including job descriptions and role differentiation
Oversee budget planning and reallocation, and verify that resources are available to the team and relevant stakeholders
Support the team in adjusting execution plans to meet targets, based on monitoring data
Performance Management
Clearly articulate the company Rwanda’s vision internally and manage changes in country activities to maintain strong team alignment and engagement
Build, lead and coach a highly results oriented team to deliver our goals
Quickly address employee performance issues with a caring approach and an eye towards their improvement, while being comfortable exiting non-performers to drive highest quality team performance and growth
Create team recruitment and training strategies to ensure high-quality deliverance and scalable cost model.
Conduct performance management of direct reports and fair and accurate performance reviews for team.
Lead culture building through
Open minded and flexible management
Performance management towards excellence
Encouraging personal and professional development among staff and investing in staff skill building
Driving the team towards youth-facing solutions and cost effectiveness
Identifying challenges that are best solved through systems development and improvement
Creating opportunities for staff bonding and retreats and creating a fun and collaborative work environment.
Financial oversight
Provide financial leadership to maintain a stringent environment of financial management and integrity
Manage financial constraints strategically to optimize impact against cost and position the company to continue to accelerate growth year over year
Support the Finance Coordinator in the growth and development of the finance function
Ensure all regulatory compliance requirements are met, including but not exclusive to annual audits, and necessary tax payments
Support Country Director in ensuring timely financial reporting, and managing to a monthly budget variance of 5% or less.
Drive forward the creation and review of staff policies & procedures (finance manuals, common cost sheet, etc.)
Approve expenditures as necessary
Provide training and coaching to staff on new financial procedures
Qualifications and Profile
Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field
At least seven years of professional experience (or 5 years + a master’s degree), including experience managing operations in a fast-paced, high-performance environment and at least three years managing people & coordinating teams
Proven experience establishing, implementing, and executing operational processes
Critical thinker with a creative and customer-centric approach to operations
Organized, influential, and fluent in using technology, including Excel
Financial integrity
Passion for the company’s mission is a must, but past work in education or youth development is not required. We value diverse perspectives and encourage applications from people with a variety of backgrounds.
Fits our Five Cultural Tenets (see What is the company About? below); Learn more by looking at the company’s culture deck here
Rwandan candidates strongly preferred. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply
Terms
Compensation will be commensurate with experience.
Benefits include medical insurance.
This position will be based in Kigali.
Why You Will Brag About Working At the company
We’ve got the impact.
the company is designed for scale. We quadrupled operations in 2014, going from 54 to more than 200 schools served. We carefully measure our outcomes, and — here’s the best part — we are maintaining quality at four times the size.
We believe in local leadership — 96% of our staff is African.
Our model goes national. In 2012 the company partnered with Uganda’s government to integrate curriculum and a student business club structure into Uganda’s entrepreneurship course nationally, in 2015 we served as a technical advisor to Rwanda on its secondary education reform, and in 2016 we began serving as a technical advisor to Kenya on its national curriculum reform.
Educate is a well-oiled learning machine. We built our model by methodically testing hundreds of assumptions and we are constantly experimenting, evaluating, and improving.
We’re honored that luminaries and leaders like Oliver Wonekha, the Ugandan Ambassador to the US, and Ann Veneman, a former US Secretary of Agriculture and head of UNICEF, believe in us enough to have joined our advisory board.
What Is the company About?
We’re ambitious. Are you? the company is growing fast, so new opportunities are opening up and expanding all the time. We’re inspired by people with drive, and we love to help them reach their full potential. We expect everyone at the company to contribute above and beyond their job description, grow their skills, and advance their careers, and we are committed to supporting our staff members on that journey.
We Put Youth First – The youth we serve come first. Always. In everything. That means we wake up thinking of ways we can serve youth even better and get the highest impact out of every dollar that we spend. It means the company doesn’t own a single vehicle, because we’d rather take the bus if it means one more student can participate. It means making every decision like the future depends on it — because if we get our way, it does.
We Are Always Learning – When you work at the company, educating yourself is part of your job too. We encourage every employee to find the best book on management; share the latest article on graphic design; bring in your favorite college mentor; or meet the researcher pushing the edge of the field. We are always thirsty for knowledge and love to share.
We Only Solve a Problem Once – We are allergic to band-aids so we love the person who brings the new system to solve the problem for good, even problems we haven’t recognized yet.
We Are Flexible – We thrive on change — we’re driving it. We are growing every day, so we have to adapt quickly to meet new challenges, and our team keeps up.
We Exceed Expectations – We assume we can achieve the impossible because we already have, year after year. We want our staff to create your own challenges, ask the toughest questions, and dream scary big!
Every person at the company — from interns to the executive director — is evaluated by how they live up to these five cultural tenets. They are at the core of how we achieve our mission and why we work as well as we do.
Educate is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all who interact in our community. In creating this environment, we encourage people from a variety of cultures, backgrounds and life experiences to join our diverse team.
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