HRBP Manager

ABOUT ALU

ALU provides higher education for a higher purpose. Our students declare missions, not majors. They develop the real-world skills to take on the world’s most pressing challenges. And they take ownership of their learning from day one through our peer and student-led approach – because ALU believes in the power and agency of young people to start shaping the future right now. Together with a world-class faculty and staff, our students are igniting a ripple of positive impact across Africa and the world.

We are dedicated to fostering an open yet secure environment, balancing the safety of students, staff, and visitors with respect for individual rights, and safeguarding responsibilities.

HOW WE WORK

The ALU Team works in starkly different ways to traditional academic bureaucracies. We approach education from first principles, empower individuals to design, test, and implement creative new ideas, and work closely together to craft transformative learning experiences. We are deeply passionate about our students and excited by the challenge of building something entirely new.

The African Leadership University is committed to ensuring the safety and Well-being of all students under our care. As part of this commitment , we have a comprehensive safeguarding policy in place , which outlines our Zero-tolerance approach to any violation of safeguarding.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The People & Culture team at ALU enables the organisation to deliver on its mission by ensuring that the right people are hired, supported, and enabled to perform at their best across a complex, multi-country environment. The team operates with a strong service mindset, a high degree of accountability, and a focus on operational excellence, compliance, and continuous improvement.

The team works closely with leaders, managers, Finance, Legal, and external partners to design and deliver people processes that are practical, scalable, and aligned to ALU’s values. Collaboration, clarity, and execution discipline are core to how the team operates.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The HRBP [Manager] – Rwanda is the senior, in-country People & Culture lead and the primary strategic partner to all Rwanda-based leadership. This role owns the end-to-end people agenda in-country. The Manager ensures that HR runs seamlessly across the full employee lifecycle, while being deeply embedded in the business as a trusted advisor, coach, and thought partner. This is a highly visible and influential role that sits at the intersection of strategy and execution.

The HRBP Manager translates organisational priorities into actionable people strategies, drives performance and accountability across teams, and ensures a consistent, high-quality employee experience.
While supported by centralised specialist and operational HR teams, this role is the single point of accountability and coordination for all people-related matters in Rwanda—ensuring alignment, responsiveness, and impact.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Business Partnering & Leadership Enablement

• Serve as the primary People & Culture advisor to country and functional leaders, shaping decisions through a people, performance, and culture lens
• Coach and support leaders to build high-performing, accountable, and engaged teams
• Translate business strategy into clear, actionable people priorities and interventions
• Act as a thought partner on leadership challenges, team dynamics, and organisational effectiveness

Performance Management & Organisational Effectiveness

• Drive end-to-end performance management processes, ensuring alignment from organisational goals to individual outcomes
• Lead performance calibration discussions across teams to ensure fairness, consistency, and high standards
• Partner with leaders to diagnose performance gaps and implement targeted interventions
• Embed a culture of accountability, feedback, and continuous performance improvement

Talent Management, Succession & Workforce Planning

• Provide data-driven insights on talent health, including flight risk analysis, retention trends, and capability gaps
• Partner with leaders to build and maintain robust succession plans for critical roles
• Lead headcount planning and workforce strategy discussions aligned to budget and organisational priorities
• Collaborate with Talent Acquisition to ensure proactive and strategic hiring plans

Employee Engagement & Experience

• Continuously assess and strengthen employee engagement through pulse checks, feedback loops, and targeted initiatives
• Partner with leaders to design and implement interventions that improve team health, morale, and productivity
• Ensure a consistent and high-quality employee experience across the full lifecycle—from onboarding to exit

Culture & Organisational Development

• Champion and embed ALU’s culture, values, and ways of working across all teams
• Drive culture-shaping initiatives that reinforce accountability, ownership, and high performance
• Lead organisational design and restructuring conversations to ensure teams are optimally structured for impact
• Support change management initiatives, ensuring smooth adoption and minimal disruption

HR Operations Oversight & Integration

• Act as the in-country point of coordination across all HR functions (operations, payroll, compliance, talent acquisition, etc.)
• Ensure seamless delivery of HR processes through strong collaboration with central teams
• Maintain oversight of HR compliance and local labour requirements, escalating risks where necessary
• Ensure timely and effective resolution of employee relations matters

Data, Insights & Decision Support

• Leverage people data and analytics to inform decision-making and influence leadership actions
• Track and report on key HR metrics (performance, engagement, retention, etc.)
• Use insights to proactively identify risks and opportunities within the workforce

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE

• 6–10+ years of progressive experience in Human Resources, with a strong focus on HR Business Partnering or equivalent strategic roles
• Proven experience partnering with senior leaders and influencing decision-making at a strategic level
• Demonstrated track record of driving organisational performance, culture transformation, and talent management initiatives
• Experience managing end-to-end HR across multiple functions, with the ability to integrate strategy and operations
• Strong experience in organisational design, workforce planning, and performance management frameworks
• Experience working in fast-paced, high-growth, or multi-country environments is strongly preferred

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

Functional Competencies

• Strategic Thinking: Ability to translate business goals into impactful people strategies
• Performance & Talent Management: Strong capability in driving performance frameworks, calibration, and succession planning
• Data & Insight Orientation: Ability to analyse and interpret people data to inform decisions
• Organisational Design: Skilled in structuring teams and roles for maximum effectiveness
• HR Integration & Oversight: Strong understanding of HR operations, compliance, and systems, with the ability to coordinate across functions

Leadership & Behavioural Competencies

• Influence & Stakeholder Management: Builds trust and credibility with senior leaders; confidently challenges and advises
• Ownership & Accountability: Takes full responsibility for outcomes and drives execution end-to-end
• Collaboration: Works seamlessly across teams and geographies to deliver results
• Coaching & Development: Actively develops leaders and teams through guidance and feedback
• Resilience & Adaptability: Thrives in ambiguity and navigates complexity with confidence
• Culture Carrier: Embodies and reinforces ALU’s values and high-performance expectations

LOCATION: Rwanda