Country Director

Job Summary

The Country Director (Rwanda) holds final accountability for the strategic growth, operational compliance, financial health, and spiritual alignment of HOPE’s Savings Group Ministry portfolio in Rwanda. Core executive responsibilities include managing high-level church partner relationships and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs); designing and monitoring five-year strategic growth plans and annual budgets; overseeing end-to-end human resource governance and succession plans; maintaining full compliance with Rwandan tax and registration laws; and embedding vibrant spiritual development frameworks across all staff and partner operations.

Foundational Capabilities & Qualifications

• Spiritual Alignment: Public confession of Christian faith, active engagement within a local church body, and an uncompromising, passionate commitment to the holistic mission and vision of HOPE International.
• Executive Longevity: Demonstrated leadership experience at a senior executive level within international development sectors, OR a minimum of 5 years of successful commercial business execution at a senior management level, combined with at least 2 years of active international development tenure.
• Academic Credentials: University degree in Project Management, Social Development, Business Administration, International Development, or a closely matching technical field of study.
• Linguistic Mastery: Complete professional fluency in written and verbal English and Kinyarwanda is mandatory; professional proficiency in French is highly advantageous for regional collaboration.
• Microfinance Literacy: Prior experience managing or scaling microfinance networks, commercial banking programs, or community-led savings group ministries is strongly preferred.
• Relationship Mechanics: Proven ability to navigate complex workplace dynamics, establish elite church relations, and effectively inspire and lead diverse, cross-functional professional teams.
• Regional Expertise: Demonstrated local experience operating within, navigating, and deeply understanding the socio-economic and cultural landscape of the country of Rwanda.
• Operational Traits: Assertive self-starter with the ability to work independently, manage high-stress environments, and demonstrate extreme cross-cultural intelligence.

Technical & Operational Architecture

In this executive post, your strategic leadership links international compliance frameworks with community-level transformation:

• Church Partner Network Architecture: Evaluating potential ministry partners, managing active church relationships, and finalizing multi-year Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) alongside regional leadership.
• Multi-Tiered Financial Governance: Directing complex multi-year planning and re-forecasting cycles, reviewing Quarterly Action Plans (QAPs), and keeping field operations strictly within approved budgets.
• Talent Architecture & Succession Planning: Running regular workforce analysis tracks, mentoring direct department heads, and deploying annual succession plans to secure future leadership pipelines.
• Regulatory & Risk Governance: Auditing entity registrations, tax tracking portfolios, and local labor law alignment to protect the organization from operational or legal risks.

Key Responsibilities

1. Visionary Leadership, Strategy & Partner Governance

• Maintain, promote, and actively contribute to the complete fulfillment of HOPE International’s core mission, vision, and organizational values across Rwanda.
• Achieve or exceed annual performance and growth targets for the Rwanda SGM program within approved expense parameters, securing formal approval from the HOPE Board.
• Oversee and proactively manage current and emerging partner relationships between HOPE and national church bodies to support programmatic scale and sustainability.
• Formulate and execute comprehensive five-year strategic growth plans, annual business roadmaps, and detailed re-forecast arrays for submission to the Regional Director.

2. Spiritual Integration & Corporate Witness

• Design and deploy a comprehensive spiritual integration master plan for the Rwanda program, establishing clear, measurable metrics to evaluate progress.
• Embed structured devotional frameworks, prayer regimens, and spiritual retreats across all staff layers to protect and nourish the Christ-centered mission of the organization.
• Model healthy spiritual boundaries across family, work, and church commitments through the active adoption of biblical, personal disciplines.
• Represent HOPE effectively within the network by welcoming international donors and visitors, structuring ground logistics, and leading cross-border learning summits.

3. Financial Stewardship & Risk Management

• Enforce absolute compliance with the approved HOPE Financial Manual across all internal operations and sub-allocated church partnership funds.
• Review, validate, and authorize church partner Quarterly Action Plans (QAPs), facilitating timely funding transfers to hit milestone targets without budget overruns.
• Engineer and monitor comprehensive standard operating procedures (SOPs) and risk-mitigation matrices to secure corporate assets and reduce compliance exposure.
• Ensure HI Rwanda remains a fully registered, compliant entity recognized under the evolving labor, corporate registration, and tax laws of the Government of Rwanda.

4. Advanced Human Resource & Asset Infrastructure

• Take ultimate accountability for all human resource management across the Kigali head office, including contract negotiation, policy updates, and performance evaluations.
• Recruit, retain, motivate, and mentor a passionate, highly skilled workforce, deploying proactive compensation reviews to preserve market equity and fairness.
• Lead annual succession planning exercises to identify, cultivate, and prepare internal high-potential talent for future critical leadership roles.

Expected Outputs & Deliverables

• Approved Five-Year Strategic Roadmaps and fully balanced annual operational budgets.
• Active, signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) covering all participating church partner networks.
• Up-to-date Risk Mitigation Audits and flawless legal registration records filed with Rwandan authorities.
• Documented Performance Evaluations and structured Succession Blueprints for all key office staff.

Skills Required:

• Sales / Marketing / Business / Management