Talent Operations Specialist

Who We Are! 

🌍 Africa has the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population. By 2035, the continent is poised to contribute more young people to the global workforce each year than the rest of the world combined. 

At Educate! we're obsessed with impact. We leverage iterative learning to build highly scalable youth employment solutions aimed at unlocking the potential of the world’s youngest continent. 

Educate! prepares youth in Africa to learn, earn and thrive in today’s economy by: 

1. Introducing an employment-focused school subject into secondary and 
2. Delivering livelihood boot camps for out-of-school youth, with a focus on marginalized rural girls and young women.

To date, more than 500,000 youth have been meaningfully impacted across Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania, and along the way, Educate! has become the largest youth employment and skills provider in East Africa.

Educate! is a team of over 300 largely African staff and 300 volunteer youth mentors. We prioritize building an engaging, fulfilling and growth oriented work environment. 50% of our top 30 leaders have been with us for over 5 years, 10+ alumni have started their own organizations, and 6 current or former team members were Acumen Fund East Africa fellows. 

We have been backed by top foundations such as Imaginable Futures, Livelihood Impact Fund,  Jack Dorsey’s #startsmall, CIFF and Echidna Giving. Educate! won a 2018 Klaus J. Jacobs Prize and a 2015 WISE Award, and has been highlighted by the World Bank’s S4YE's Impact Portfolio, an Al Jazeera documentary, BBC, The Brookings Institution as one of 14 case studies on scaling education, and the Gates Foundation as a Goalkeepers Accelerator. In 2022, we received a catalytic investment from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott to scale our systems change work.

Educate!'s long-term vision is to design solutions that measurably impact millions of youth across Africa each year.

Good to note: To Our Awesome Applicants! 🚀💫

We know that incredible candidates sometimes hesitate to apply if they don’t meet every requirement. If this role excites you, we encourage you to apply! 

We’re looking for passionate individuals who believe in our mission and can bring unique perspectives to our team—not just those who check every box. We value diversity and strongly encourage women and individuals from all backgrounds to apply.

Position Overview

Educate! is seeking a Talent Operations Specialist to support a fast-growing global team with offices in East Africa. This role reports to the Head of Talent Acquisition and will collaborate closely with our Talent Acquisition team to streamline and optimizing the entire recruitment process in our applicant tracking system (“ATS”), Greenhouse, to ensure a seamless candidate experience and efficient hiring outcomes. This role requires strong project management skills, a keen understanding of recruitment workflows, and a data-driven approach to enhance operational efficiency. In this role, you will support high-volume recruiting efforts, implement scalable processes, facilitate appropriate training and lead improvements in candidate sourcing, tracking, and reporting systems.

To all our amazing applicants: We are a diverse team and we strongly encourage women and individuals from diverse backgrounds to apply, even if you don’t meet every single requirement. We value potential, growth, and diverse perspectives in our team. 

Performance Objectives

1. Systems and Tools Optimization:

• Recruitment System Oversight: Manage the full talent acquisition lifecycle across Greenhouse - our application tracking systems (ATS) - ensuring seamless integration and optimal utilization of ATS, CRM, job advertising tools, assessment platforms, and other technologies that support recruitment.
• Systems Analysis & Optimization: Identify overlaps, gaps, or underutilized functionalities within the existing ATS and implement solutions to streamline processes and enhance overall recruitment effectiveness.
• Training & Continuous Improvement: Train recruiters and hiring stakeholders on processes, gather their feedback, and use it to inform iterations and improvements for enhanced recruitment outcomes.
• Integration & Connectivity: Oversee Application Tracking System integrations, including managing APIs, to ensure a connected and efficient tech stack that supports evolving recruitment needs. You do not need a tech background, but should be able to work with our ATS representatives in implementation.
• Continuous Improvement: Regularly evaluate and adapt the Application Tracking System (Greenhouse), and any other systems and platforms that may be introduced, to align with evolving talent acquisition goals, leveraging new features roll-out and AI enhancements to drive efficiency while maintaining an excellent candidate experience.

2. Recruitment Process Management & Improvement:

• Develop, implement, and maintain streamlined and standardized recruitment and interview processes, including updated guides, to ensure consistency, efficiency, and fairness in candidate evaluation across the organization.
• Train the recruitment team and hiring stakeholders on updated processes, ensuring clarity, alignment, and effective adoption across the organization.
• Collaborate with the Head of Talent Acquisition and Talent Acquisition Manager to make informed decisions on when to standardize or tailor processes based on the strictest governmental employment regulations to maintain compliance in our country of operation.
• Lead and manage cross-functional projects aimed at improving recruitment workflows and the candidate experience.

3. Support Data Driven Recruitment and Reporting

• Activate the Application Tracking System’s ability to collect the required recruitment data across the recruitment lifecycle, including key metrics such as openings, fill rates, source of hire, and recruiter productivity, to drive continuous improvement in talent acquisition.
• Collaborate with Recruitment team & Talent Acquisition Manager to track and measure team performance, including recruiter productivity and stakeholder satisfaction, through surveys and other tools to ensure alignment with our goals.
• Guide recruiter leading recruitment data analytics to develop and manage actionable dashboards to visualize key performance indicators like pass-through rates, candidate drop-off, rejections, and job board performance, enabling faster decision-making.
• Use data insights to identify trends, issues, and areas for improvement, positioning talent acquisition as a key partner as we scale our impact. Oversee the development of various reports for key stakeholders in the hiring process inclusive of quarterly reports to the Director of People.

4. Collaboration and Communication:

• Partner with the Head of People Operations and Talent Acquisition team to ensure a smooth transition from hiring to onboarding processes.
• Develop training materials and conduct training sessions for hiring managers and interview panels to improve recruitment effectiveness.
• Update our internal & external communication templates for the Talent Acquisition team and hiring stakeholders.
• Proactively address complaints and roadblocks about our process by leveraging a deep understanding of the talent acquisition lifecycle and recruitment system (Greenhouse) capabilities to develop effective solutions.

Qualifications

• At least 5–7 years of experience in talent operations or a related role, including managing applicant tracking systems (ATS) such as Greenhouse.
• Strong project management and organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Advanced knowledge of recruitment technologies and tools (e.g., ATS, sourcing platforms).  Experience using & optimizing application tracking greenhouse for recruiting is highly preferred. 
• Analytical mindset with the ability to interpret recruitment data for decisions making
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to collaborate across functions and regions.
• Strong attention to detail and process improvement mindset.
• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field, or equivalent applicable work experience in the field is also acceptable
• Aligned with our Five Cultural Tenets (see What is Educate! About? below) and learn more by looking at Educate!’s culture deck here.

What We Offer 💼

• A vibrant, mission-driven environment with a supportive and fun team.
• Flexibility— Hybrid work environment to empower you in your mode of work. 
• Competitive salary based on experience.
• Healthcare coverage for you and your dependents, work laptop, Internet & call stipend
• Learning & growth opportunities
• This is a Fixed term  contract with a possibility of extension based on performance

Application Process: Rolling basis, interviews happening soon!

Our Culture & Tenets(Values) 🌱

We’re ambitious. Are you? Educate! 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 Educate! 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 of their careers, and we are committed to supporting our staff members on that journey. 

1. We put Youth First, Impact-Obsessed - We are purpose-driven, focused on impact, and prioritize what truly matters. We listen to youth, design our efforts around their needs, and ensure every dollar creates transformative experiences they value.
2. We Exceed Expectations - We take pride in going above and beyond to achieve the best results—proactively identifying problems and seeking solutions without waiting or stopping at what's requested.
3. We Are Always Learning - We are committed to seeking and applying new knowledge and ideas. We stay open-minded and continuously try new things, experiment, grow, and improve. We invest in learning for ourselves and our teams.
4. We are One Team, Many Views - We value all individuals, believe diverse ideas and open dialogue drive excellence, foster a supportive and respectful environment where everyone can freely express themselves. We work as one team and prioritize the organization's mission over personal or team interests.
5. We have the Startup Mindset - We innovate relentlessly to grow our impact, we never think “we have arrived” or “we’re done.”We constantly challenge the status quo, embrace change, and move quickly toward our vision. Unafraid of failure, we question anything that hinders progress.

Every person at Educate! — 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. 

We’re committed to ensuring all candidates are screened for child and youth safety. As part of the process, you’ll need to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct. Educate! reserves the right to withdraw employment offers if any risks to youth are identified.