Overview

RwandAir Limited, the flag carrier airline of Rwanda, is hiring a Head of Organization Design & Total Rewards. This is a senior HR leadership role based at Kigali International Airport. The position reports to the Chief HR & Administration Officer and sits within the HR & Administration Department.

This is not a maintenance role. RwandAir is scaling toward 4-Star status and regional hub leadership, and it currently lacks an enterprise job architecture, evidence-based grading, and a governed pay framework. The person who fills this seat will build all three from the ground up.

You will own two connected halves of one system: how work is organised (structure, layers, spans, roles, job architecture, workforce planning) and what that work is worth (job evaluation, grading, pay, benefits, incentives). Your work will touch a workforce of 1,200–1,500 people across headquarters, outstations, flight crew, cabin crew, engineering, and ground operations.

If you are an experienced rewards and organisation design professional looking for a latest job in Rwanda that combines strategy, analytics, and real transformation, this opportunity is built for you

Why This Opportunity Matters

This role is rare because it is a true build role. You will not inherit an existing framework to administer. You will design, evaluate, price, govern, and embed a new architecture across a complex, multi-site, safety-critical airline. That is a career-defining project.

The impact is enterprise-wide. Your job architecture will become the shared reference point for grading, pay, career paths, and the skills-based organisation agenda. Your total rewards philosophy will shape how RwandAir attracts, retains, and motivates talent in a highly competitive aviation market. Your workforce planning methodology will convert fleet and network plans into a credible three-year workforce and cost plan.

You will also work at the highest levels. You will present to ExCo and the Board on pay and structure decisions. You will advise the CHRO and CFO on structural cost levers. You will build and lead a small, technically credible team, transferring capability to Rwandan specialists.

RwandAir is a growing airline with domestic and international routes across East Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Helping shape its organisational backbone at this stage of expansion is a unique opportunity for someone who wants their HR expertise to have lasting strategic impact.

Application Tips

To stand out for this senior HR role in Rwanda, you need to show depth, evidence, and executive presence.

• Lead with your enterprise-wide job evaluation experience. The minimum standard requires demonstrable ownership of at least one enterprise-wide job evaluation and grading implementation in an organisation of 1,000+ employees. Make this the centrepiece of your CV and cover letter.

• Highlight aviation or regulated industry experience. Aviation is strongly preferred. If you have worked in another regulated, multi-site, safety-critical industry, explain how that experience translates.

• Show you can design pay for mixed workforces. RwandAir’s workforce includes licensed and technical staff, operational shift workers, unionised employees, expatriates, and local staff. Demonstrate that you have built pay frameworks for similar complexity.

• Prove you can move an organisation from no framework to a governed one. This is not about issuing policy. It is about sequencing, communicating, and landing change. Give examples of how you did this under pressure.

• Prepare for board-level scrutiny. You will need to show comfort presenting pay and structure decisions at ExCo or Board level. Mention specific instances where you influenced senior leaders.

• Demonstrate discretion. Executive pay, restructuring, and individual pay data require absolute confidentiality. Your application should reflect professionalism and sound judgment.

• Tailor your documents carefully. You will need an application letter addressed to the Chief HR & Administration Officer, a recent CV, notarised degree/diploma certificates, relevant certificates, copies of academic papers, a photocopy of your passport or national ID, and three referees.

• Submit in PDF format only. The deadline is 28th September 2026. Apply through the official RwandAir e-recruitment portal. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

• Apply early. Senior roles attract strong competition. Submitting before the deadline shows professionalism and gives you time to correct any issues.

Recruiters will look for someone who treats employment cost as a business lever, understands the P&L consequence of every design and pay decision, and can hold a firm position under pressure. If you can show that you are comfortable telling a senior director that a proposed structure or grade is not supportable, you will stand out.

Responsibilities

The role has three main areas: organisation design and job architecture, total rewards and compensation, and governance and leadership.

Organization Design & Job Architecture

• Own RwandAir’s organisation design standards, including spans, layers, and decision rights.

• Lead structural reviews across Commercial, Flight Operations, Ground Operations, Engineering, Cargo, Cabin Services, and Corporate functions.

• Design and land a single enterprise job architecture with job families, career levels, and role profiles.

• Establish the workforce planning methodology and productivity ratios that convert fleet and network plans into a credible three-year workforce and cost plan.

Total Rewards & Compensation

• Author the RwandAir Total Rewards philosophy, covering market positioning by workforce segment, pay mix, and differentiation logic.

• Secure ExCo and Board approval for the rewards philosophy.

• Own job evaluation using Korn Ferry Hay, Mercer IPE, or WTW GGS.

• Chair the technical panel for job evaluation.

• Build and maintain salary structures, the annual pay review cycle, and market benchmarking against regional and global carriers.

• Own the rules architecture for crew and technical pay, including flight and duty pay, allowances, and licence pay.

• Manage the benefits portfolio, including medical, pension, staff travel, and housing.

Governance & Leadership

• Own the employment cost strategy and the localisation/expatriate rewards framework.

• Advise the CHRO and CFO on structural cost levers.

• Ensure every structural change preserves RCAA and IOSA postholder requirements and regulatory accountability lines.

• Build and lead a small, technically credible Organization Design & Rewards team.

• Transfer capability to Rwandan specialists.

Requirements

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resource Management, Business Administration, Economics, Statistics, Industrial/Organisational Psychology, or a related field.

• 10–12 years of progressive HR experience.

• At least 5–6 years as a specialist in reward, job architecture, or organisation design.

• A Master’s degree (MBA, MSc HR Management, MSc Organisational Psychology) is strongly preferred.

• Accreditation in a recognised job evaluation methodology (Korn Ferry Hay, Mercer IPE, or WTW GGS) is strongly preferred.

Experience

Essential:

• Demonstrable ownership of at least one enterprise-wide job evaluation and grading implementation in an organisation of 1,000+ employees.

• Experience in aviation or another regulated, multi-site, safety-critical industry. Aviation is strongly preferred.

• Experience designing pay for mixed workforce populations, including licensed/technical, operational shift, unionised, expatriate, and local staff.

• Board or ExCo-level presentation experience on pay and structure decisions.

• Track record of moving an organisation from no framework to a governed one.

• Comfortable telling senior leaders that a proposed structure or grade is not supportable, and holding that position under pressure.

• Treats employment cost as a business lever and understands the P&L consequence of design and pay decisions.

• Handles executive pay, restructuring, and individual pay data with absolute discretion.

Skills

• Fluent in organisation design methods such as Galbraith Star model, Kates Kesler, and Ulrich value-chain logic.

• Mastery of job evaluation and grading.

• Strong compensation and benefits design skills, including pay structure construction, market pricing, incentive design, and benefits economics.

• Advanced workforce analytics and cost modelling capability, comfortable working directly in the data.

• Working knowledge of aviation operating fundamentals, including ICAO/IOSA/RCAA postholder structures, FTL and crew productivity, and CASK/ASK.

• Working knowledge of Rwandan Labour Law No. 66/2018.

• Confident user of HRIS/ERP position management, organisation modelling, and compensation modules.

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How to Apply

1. Prepare an application letter addressed to the Chief HR & Administration Officer.

2. Update your recent Curriculum Vitae.

3. Gather copies of notarised degree and diploma certificates.

4. Prepare copies of relevant certificates and academic papers.

5. Include a photocopy of your Passport or National ID.

6. Provide details of three referees.

7. Compile all documents in PDF format only.

8. Submit your application through the RwandAir e-recruitment portal 

9. Ensure your application is received no later than 28th September 2026.