The Pharo Foundation (“the Foundation”) is a privately funded entrepreneurial organisation 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 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. The key themes for the philanthropic side of the Foundation are education, health, water and agriculture. At the end of 2019, the Foundation started its Social Ventures franchise to prioritise sectors where the Foundation believes a real impact can be made by establishing self- sustaining businesses, which focus on job creation.

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

Position Summary:

The Foundation’s ambition is to grow as a significant employer in East Africa. The HR Manager will be at the forefront of implementing the human resources strategy in collaboration with the Head of Human Resources in Nairobi. This well-remunerated role will give the right candidate an excellent mix of challenge, motivation and fulfilment. The role holder should be passionate about bringing impactful change using their HR experience and have a ‘hands on’ approach to working in an International organisation. The role holder will truly be inspired by the opportunity to build HR processes from the ground up and is motivated to help build a world class Human Resources function in either Rwanda or Kenya.

The role presents a wonderful opportunity for a genuinely driven, curious and passionate individual who desires to affect real change. A confident individual who takes a dynamic, innovative and forward-thinking approach to their work and who respects and understands local cultures and values and yet embraces and can work within international work ethics and standards.

Role Responsibilities:

 Strategic HR Management

• Drive HR change initiatives that will help infuse the Vision, Mission and Values of the Foundation and create the culture that derives from these principles
• Working closely with the Head of HR (Kenya), develop and implement an employee centred approach that will enable the Foundation to attract, retain and create a strong brand that will position the Foundation as an employer of choice
• Implement consistent HR processes and create mechanisms and internal checks to ensure that they are aligned and fully understood by employees
• Execute engagement strategies to ensure employees are passionate, invested and motivated by their work and in the Foundation

Recruitment

• Collaborate with line managers in the development of staffing and recruitment plans, ensuring that each team is staffed appropriately according to the need and budget, in an efficient and timely manner
• Work closely with the Head of HR to develop a competitive recruitment strategy to attract and retain the best talent, both local and diaspora in Rwanda; incorporating diversity in all new hires
• Create a recruitment dashboard that demonstrates how the Foundation is performing against its hiring goals and ensure that the management team is kept regularly informed about departmental recruitment plans

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 the Foundation’s objectives
• Collaborate with line managers in establishing the skill gaps within the relevant departments and facilitate training needs analysis and the execution of mitigation initiatives
• Oversee the delivery of training programmes with other HR colleagues across the Foundation
•  Ensure that training records are documented appropriately and stored

Performance Management

• In collaboration with line managers, review, develop and implement efficient performance management processes
• Ensure all employees have regular performance appraisals and work with line managers making sure that the outcome of these processes are robust and well documented as per the Foundation’s policies
• Implement a performance driven culture that rewards exceptional performance
• In collaboration with the Head of HR, communicate the positive benefits of performance management to employees, as well as provide consistent, data-driven updates to management

Talent management

• Working with line managers, implement best practice talent policies to promote the engagement and empowerment of individuals and teams to create a positive and effective work environment
• Build talent pipelines and create career development programmes such as coaching and mentorship, which would be implemented across the Foundation
• Develop retention strategies and all other aspects required to promote employee satisfaction, team harmony and ensure exceptional overall performance

Compensation Management

• Ensure a competitive market-related compensation and benefits framework is maintained; developing specific programmes to attract and retain high performing talent
• Working with the Head of HR, ensure periodic market salary reviews and analysis are conducted, and make appropriate recommendations for annual reviews
• Develop, review and implement employee wellness programmes in consultation with the Head of HR and the management team

Qualification Requirements:

• Possess a HR related Bachelors’ degree with a postgraduate HR qualification and/or membership of a professional HR association- CIPD, CHRA, SHRM
• A minimum of eight (8) years professional experience; four (4) of these must have been in senior management roles
• 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 leadership in fastgrowing organisations
• An excellent communicator in written and spoken English. Fluency in French will be an added advantage
• Deep understanding of Rwanda labour laws, standards and legal requirements
• Good understanding of HR data metrics and the ability to present these to the senior management to aid in decision-making

Nationality Requirements:

• Candidates must have existing rights to live and work in Rwanda or Kenya
   

Behavioural Competencies:

• Strong and charismatic HR professional with a solid pedigree and experience of setting up centres of excellence within a HR function
• Superb management skills: able to manage and motivate a wide variety of employees from diverse backgrounds in a professional and compelling manner
• Respects and understands the local culture and values, yet embraces and can work within international work ethics and standards
• Problem solving and creative thinking skills
• Ability to get results in unstructured environments
• 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

Application Requirements:

Within your application, please include:

1. A detailed CV and Cover Letter
2. A 1,000-word essay that includes the following:
   1. What HR experience have you gained that indicates you are the most qualified candidate for the role?
   2. What challenges do you foresee/anticipate in building best in class human resources centres of excellence (talent management, learning & development, and compensation)? What steps will you take to successfully resolve these?
3. A one-page list of five references with current addresses, phone numbers, and email contacts

• Competitive market-related compensation and benefits

Established in 2011, The Pharo Foundation has a passion for Africa’s potential to create thriving economies and to prosper. It is a private foundation, committed to Africa, and focused on working with people with the potential to become economically self-reliant. Pharo Foundation seeks depth rather than breadth in what they set out to achieve. Their mission is to facilitate the economic independence of African people, through the promotion of sustainable livelihoods and job creation in Africa. Since its establishment in 2011, Pharo Foundation have granted US$6.2 million to more than 30 projects primarily in Ethiopia, Somaliland/Somalia and South Sudan.

Over the next few years, Pharo Foundation plan to focus on a few selected countries where they can make the greatest difference and have developed an ambitious five-year (2016-2020) strategy. The objective of which, is to significantly improve the income and livelihoods of 30,000 households in Africa, with plans to achieve this via the following four specific objectives:

1. To increase agricultural productivity by at least 50% for 30,000 households.
2. To improve access to water to national standards for 30,000 households.
3. To improve access to priority basic services as identified by each programme partner community.
4. To continuously enhance our and our partners’ impact and programme effectiveness.

The Pharo Foundation is headquartered in London with offices in Addis Ababa, Hargeisa and in other towns near their programme areas.