Program Manager, Rwanda - RPCA

Founded in 1863, Boston College is a Jesuit, Catholic university located six miles from downtown Boston with an enrollment of 9,484 full-time undergraduates and 5,250 graduate and professional students.  Ranked 35 among national universities, Boston College has 888 full-time and 1,281 FTE faculty, 2,711 non-faculty employees, an operating budget of $1.4 billion, and an endowment in excess of $3.5 billion.

Job Description

Full-Time Equivalent Hiring Range: $68,100 to $85,150; salary commensurate with relevant experience.

Location: Kigali, Rwanda

Duration: April 1, 2024 through August 31, 2024 (5 months)

Reporting to RPCA’s Associate Director of Research, the Program Manager will support all aspects of expanding Sugira Muryango (SM), a home-visiting family intervention program focused on early child development and violence prevention across three districts in Rwanda in close coordination with the government and other local partners. The Program Manager will collaborate with a diverse team based at FXB-Rwanda to manage all activities of the intervention to enhance buy-in and sustainment of SM in each District. The Program Manager will help with ongoing programming, ensuring the completion of research deliverables, support to field staff, and regular communication with partner organizations, local government, and the RPCA team in Boston, MA. The Program Manager is based full-time in Kigali, Rwanda.

This program called, Sugira Muryango (SM) or Strengthen the Family, is an expansion / scale up study that has reached 10,000 of the most vulnerable households categorized by the Government in Rwanda across three districts. This intervention can be integrated within poverty reduction/social projection initiatives in Rwanda and other low-resource settings. SM is a home-visiting program that uses active coaching to build parent capabilities and increase responsive parenting of both mothers and fathers to promote early childhood development (ECD) and prevent violence. SM has targeted families in extreme poverty with young children aged 0-36 months. This scale out implementation science hybrid design project enables the RPCA and collaborators at the University of Rwanda and FXB-Rwanda to expand SM to younger children; increase delivery by almost tenfold the number of children impacted by the intervention; increase the use of technology to accelerate feedback; and test an evidence-based implementation strategy, the Promoting Lasting Anthropometric Change and Young Children’s Development (PLAY) Collaborative, to engage local stakeholders and frontline providers and supervisors to ensure quality improvement and sustainability. In the process of scaling and iterative quality improvements, SM is regarded as a global pioneer for implementation methods, processes, systems, and evaluation. Now, SM is entering a phase of continuous enrollment for the next year focusing on embedding financing and program supervision into district governments.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Research Management and Implementation (40%): Provide on-the-ground support in Rwanda and long-distance communication with Boston based team on research deliverables, updates, and field-related activities, including supporting the deliverables of University of Rwanda. Support local teams, including FXB-Rwanda team members, on the management of field logistics, day-to-day research activities, and monitoring of intervention, including risk of harm and IRB reporting. Contribute to development of materials to support implementation of continuous enrollment program for SM. Support the data collection process throughout delivery of intervention and work closely with Boston and FXB-based team members to report regularly on the progress of the implementation and goals.

Government Engagement and Dissemination (50%): Closely work with in-country teams in consultation with RPCA to develop materials to disseminate SM research to key stakeholders, government officials, and other community organizations and funders. Maintain strong partnerships to enhance and contribute to culturally-informed adaptations to SM program including; activities, materials, and messaging-centered on father engagement and violence reduction. Synthesize lessons learned from the advisory board, local NGOs, and study data to create and disseminate targeted messaging included but not limited to father engagement, violence reduction, and child development via continuous training opportunities, one-on-one government interactions and presentations, and scheduled stakeholder meetings with funders, collaborators, and government officials.

Research Administration (10%): Monitor communications, with a sense of cultural competence, with Boston, FXB, and University of Rwanda team to ensure research goals are met. Contribute to reports and other materials regarding SM. Lead weekly team meetings with entire team based in Rwanda and Boston. Maintain strong communication with key stakeholders to contribute to study success. Ensure partner invoices are submitted to Boston College for prompt payment. 

Requirements

Masters in Social Work, Child Development, Public Health, Psychology, Global Mental Health or other relevant fields highly preferred. 3-5 years of experience required. Supervisory experience required. Prior international work experience, specifically sub-Saharan Africa, required. Must be able to travel throughout Rwanda and commit to significant time in the field. Demonstrated flexibility, adaptability, and ability to perform and collaborate under challenging conditions. Strong planning, community mobilization, and inter-cultural communication skills required. Knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research, including mixed methods, preferred. Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail. Self-starter with experience taking initiative and working both independently and as a team. Excellent coordination and collaboration skills required. Excellent communication and project management skills required. Excellent cultural sensitivity and respect for local partnerships required. Authorization to work in the USA (US Citizen or Green card holder) required.

Closing Statement

Boston College offers a broad and competitive range of benefits depending on your job classification eligibility:

• Tuition remission for Employees
• Tuition remission for Spouses and Children who meet eligibility requirements
• Generous Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Low-Cost Life Insurance
• Eligibility for both University-Funded 401k and Employer-Sponsored 403b Retirement Plans
• Paid Holidays Annually
• Generous Sick and Vacation Pay
• Additional benefits can be found on https://www.bc.edu/employeehandbook

Boston College conducts pre-employment background checks as part of the hiring process.

Boston College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. In concert with our Jesuit, Catholic mission, Boston College is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty and staff committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment and strongly encourages applications for women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and covered veterans. To learn more about how BC supports diversity and inclusion throughout the university please visit the Office for Institutional Diversity at https://www.bc.edu/diversity .

Boston College's Notice of Nondiscrimination can be viewed at https://www.bc.edu/nondiscrimination .