Burundi People Division Lead (Fixed-Term)

About One Acre Fund

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund equips 5.5 million smallholder farmers to make their farms more productive. Across nine countries that together are home to two-thirds of Africa's farmers, we provide high-quality farm supplies, tree seedlings, accessible credit, modern agronomic training, and a wide range of other agricultural services. On average, this model enables any farmer to increase their income and assets on supported land by more than 35 percent, while permanently improving their resilience. This is all made possible by our team of 9,000+ full-time staff, drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions. To learn more, please see our Why Work Here blog post.

About the Role

The People Division Lead’s primary role is to make One Acre Fund Burundi the best place to work in the country for development professionals looking to build a career in social impact. S/he will build best-in-class people functions to help us recruit, develop and retain top talent. S/he will drive innovation across all HR and talent functions and help us maintain our unique organizational culture as we scale our program in Burundi.

Responsibilities

Setting Department Vision and Strategy

• Support People departments deliver excellent service to our team, enabling staff to maximize impact for our growing base of farmers.
• Set and execute a long-term vision for all human capital and talent functions under the People Division umbrella.
• Support People departments set and achieve annual Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) to ensure that the People Division delivers high impact, high value results on time.
• Hold the Burundi program accountable for meeting our commitments to staff – meaningful work, career growth and professional development.
• Participate as a key member of the Burundi Program’s steering committee which sets strategy for the program as a whole.

Build Team

• Manage and oversee the following teams: Human Resources (HR), Corporate Operations, and dotted line management of in-country Recruitment and Training, Learning and Development teams.
• Grow the careers of the leaders of these departments through weekly check-ins and workshops, ongoing development feedback, and bi-annual career reviews.

Lead Human Capital and Talent Management Innovation

• Design and execute change management initiatives.
• Continually raise the bar and create an exceptional “customer experience” for all staff.
• Create a candidate sourcing and outreach strategy to quickly fill open roles with top talent.
• Identify levers to improve staff satisfaction and implement projects to build a happy team.
• Work with leadership to improve organizational design.

Oversee Corporate Operations Functions

• Support the Corporate Operations Lead to:
• Provide services, resources and systems to meet the basic health and safety needs of our team.
• Establish, set and enforce security protocols.
• Coordinate emergency response efforts when necessary.
• Make property management decisions for our residencies and offices.
• Provide excellent visitor service and support.

Communicate and Collaborate

• Establish and manage an internal communication strategy for the Burundi team, allowing the division to better understand staff needs, clarify expectations around People services, and ensure that staff understand People policies and program updates.
• Create and monitor staff feedback channels that effectively identify staff pain points and corresponding solutions.
• Build and maintain strong collaborative working relationships with country leadership, global People teams, and across key leaders in all countries of operation

Manage Risk and Ensure Legal Compliance

• Use strong decision-making skills to develop strategic solutions to organizational risks related to human resources and labor law compliance.
• Work closely with the Legal team and the HR lead to minimize legal compliance risks.

Make Data-Driven Decisions

• Ensure the effective use of an online Human Resources Information System (HRIS) to improve performance management data collection.
• Use HRIS data and results from employee satisfaction and manager satisfaction surveys to make decisions and set a data-driven People strategy.

Career Growth and Development

We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.

Qualifications

Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:

Minimum requirements

• University degree or Master's in law, human resources management or other related domains.
• At least 5 years experience in human resources management and/or large/complex management.
• Demonstrated experience in people management and team development.
• Strong decision-making and communication skills.
• Ability to analyze data and make sound judgments.
• Emotional intelligence and empathy demonstrated through collaboration.
• Strong project management skills and ability to oversee the execution of a wide range of projects within different teams.
• Excellent skills in planning and executing a wide range of projects in different teams.
• Ability to lead a team, define a vision and deliver results to meet annual goals.
• English and French required. Knowledge of Kirundi would be an added value.

Quality requirements

• Strong written and oral communication skills and ability to make dynamic presentations.
• Creative and entrepreneurial spirit, able to spot emerging opportunities and rally everyone to action.
• Self-awareness, empathy and a people-centered approach.
• Highly cooperative and able to work independently and manage conflicting priorities while maintaining consistent, quality performance standards.
• Good teamwork skills
• Good listening and problem solving skills
• Emotionally intelligent leader with positive attitude, patience and humble approach to service.
• Naturally honest and able to respect the confidentiality of his work.

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible

Job Location

Muramvya, Burundi

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

Contract Duration

1 year renewable

Eligibility

One Acre Fund can support a work permit for this role. However, nationals of (or those with an extensive professional background and work history in) our countries of operation are preferred.

Application Deadline

01 November 2026. Please note that we hire on a rolling basis which means that applications are reviewed and processed on a continuous basis until a hire is made.

One Acre Fund never asks candidates to pay any money or pay for tests at any stage of the interview process. Official One Acre Fund emails will always arrive from an @oneacrefund.org address. Please report any suspicious communication here (globalhotline@oneacrefund.org), but do not send applications or application materials to this email address.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to our organization’s mission and purpose. One Acre Fund aspires to build a culture where all staff feel consistently valued, represented, and connected – so that our team can thrive as professionals, and achieve exceptional impact for the farmers we serve.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.