RDDP II Project Manager

Job Summary

The RDDP II Project Manager takes complete administrative, programmatic, and operational charge of the Rwanda Dairy Development Project. The core focus centers on building scalable business models for milk collection and processing, managing strict IFAD financial controls, running adaptive monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) workflows, and mentoring district-specific implementation field teams.

Qualification

• Educational Foundation: Possession of a formal Master’s degree in Project Management, Rural Development, Animal Production, Agribusiness, or a closely related agricultural economics/livestock development field.
• Language Fluency: Professional, command-level written and oral fluency in both English and Kinyarwanda is mandatory.
• Software Tool Proficiency: Strong functional capabilities across the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and specialized project execution platforms like Microsoft Project.
• Essential Character Traits: Transparent alignment with corporate values of mutual respect, good stewardship, operational accountability, diplomatic communication, creative problem-solving, and a clear team-first mindset.

Experience

Agricultural Operations & Sector Leadership

• Field Tenure Alignment: A minimum of five (5) years of active, professional project management experience within the agricultural sector, with clear preference given to candidates with an established history in livestock or dairy value chains.
• Local Market Integration: At least two (2) years of experience specifically focused on designing, testing, and scaling market systems development (MSD) projects inside the Republic of Rwanda.
• Multilateral Donor Administration: Proven, checkable history managing large-scale, high-value projects backed by major multilateral and bilateral funding agencies (such as IFAD, World Bank, USAID, or the European Union).

Systemic Interventions & Financial Governance

• Market Mapping & Diagnosis: Proven experience applying market systems analysis frameworks to diagnose root-cause blockages, outline leverage points, and map commercial incentive structures.
• Capital Budgeting & Controls: Demonstrated competence managing multi-tier operational budgets, executing expense tracking models, preparing cash flow forecasts, and coordinating formal project financial audits.

Key Responsibilities

Project Leadership, Work Planning & Compliance (35%)

• Direct Operations Frameworks: Provide everyday executive direction over all administrative, programmatic, logistical, and field operations under the RDDP II umbrella.
• Formulate Annual AWPBs: Lead the creation, regular alignment, and resource scaling of the Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWPB) alongside country directors and field supervisors.
• Enforce Strict Compliance: Ensure every layer of project spending and field execution strictly complies with IFAD donor contracts, legal agreements, and Heifer's internal operating guidelines.
• Consolidate Grant Reporting: Author, review, and synthesize technical progress reports (quarterly, semi-annual, and annual formats) to satisfy performance tracking matrices.

Systemic Interventions Design & Market Systems Development (10%)

• Engineer Scalable Dairy Models: Design and pilot new commercial business models aimed at resolving structural market failures within input supply chains, veterinary networks, and cooperative processing systems.
• Foster Multi-Actor Partnerships: Cultivate alliances between agricultural input suppliers, financial tech entities, microfinance institutions, dairy cooperatives, and private sector processors.
• Iterate via Adaptive Management: Implement continuous feedback loops using field data to shift, refine, or expand systemic market models based on real-time socio-economic changes.
• Mainstream Inclusive Access: Infuse gender equality, youth integration, and social inclusion principles directly into all dairy system interventions to guarantee fair asset and income accumulation.

Staff Management, Coaching & Performance (15%)

• Govern District Action Blueprints: Guide field coordinators to draft localized, district-specific implementation plans, monitoring schedules, and data pipelines.
• Execute Staff Evaluations: Provide regular performance coaching and conduct formal mid-year and annual performance reviews for all direct reports assigned to the project.
• Embed Systems Lens: Train and evaluate field staff on their ability to utilize market-driven, non-subsidized methodologies during stakeholder engagements.

Budget Management, Procurement & Compliance (15%)

• Monitor Budget Variances: Review monthly expenditure metrics against master financial allocations, implementing timely corrective adjustments to address variances.
• Oversee Local Procurement: Chair and direct internal local Procurement Review Committees (PRC), reviewing requests for proposals (RFPs), establishing inventory control safeguards, and signing off on procurement plans.
• Lead Financial Auditing: Maintain rigorous internal controls over project financial records to guarantee clean external evaluations and compliance audits.

Coordination, Multi-Stakeholder Management & MEL (15%)

• Represent Corporate Interests: Act as the primary technical point of contact for the project with IFAD delegates, Ministry lines, RAB executives, SPIU leadership, and private dairy conglomerates.
• Engineer Project Exit Strategies: Draft, update, and deploy a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder project exit strategy to embed sustainability plans into existing government and cooperative structures.
• Mitigate Risk Matrices: Author and maintain a live project risk register, updating vulnerability tracking points quarterly and escalating emerging threats to the Country Director.

Expected Outputs & Deliverables

• Standardized, donor-approved Annual Work Plans and Budgets (AWPB) compiled on schedule.
• High-quality, audit-compliant technical and financial reports (quarterly, semi-annual, and annual).
• Completed market diagnosis profiles, system maps, and pilot intervention designs for the dairy sector.
• Fully functional procurement plans, verified asset registries, and minutes from Local Procurement Review Committee decisions.
• An active, updated project risk matrix and an annually reviewed long-term sustainability and exit blueprint.

Skills Required:

• Agricultural / Studies
• Animal / Science / Veterinary
• Sales / Marketing / Business / Management