RwandAir Ltd Vacancy: Head of Organization Design & Total Rewards – Deadline 11 September 2026

RwandAir Ltd, the flag carrier airline of Rwanda, is expanding its operations as it works toward 4-Star status and stronger regional hub leadership.

The airline is inviting applications from highly qualified and experienced professionals for the following position:

Job Title: Head of Organization Design & Total Rewards

Department: HR & Administration
Reports to: Chief HR & Administration Officer
Location: Kigali International Airport, Rwanda
Experience Required: 10–12 years

Job Purpose

The Head of Organization Design & Total Rewards will lead the development of RwandAir's organization design, job architecture, workforce planning, compensation and benefits frameworks.

This is a strategic build role, responsible for developing and embedding systems covering an estimated workforce of 1,200–1,500 employees, including headquarters, outstations, flight crew, cabin crew, engineering and ground operations.

The successful candidate will help establish how work is organised across RwandAir and how roles are evaluated, graded, compensated and rewarded.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

1. Organization Design & Job Architecture

  • Develop and maintain 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 implement an enterprise-wide job architecture covering job families, career levels and role profiles.
  • Establish workforce planning methodologies and productivity ratios.
  • Translate fleet and network plans into a credible three-year workforce and cost plan.

2. Total Rewards & Compensation

  • Develop RwandAir's Total Rewards philosophy, including market positioning, pay mix and differentiation.
  • Present the Total Rewards strategy for Executive Committee and Board approval.
  • Lead job evaluation using recognised methodologies such as Korn Ferry Hay, Mercer IPE or WTW GGS.
  • Chair the technical job evaluation panel.
  • Develop and maintain salary structures and annual pay review processes.
  • Conduct market benchmarking against regional and global airlines.
  • Develop compensation rules for flight crew and technical employees, including flight/duty pay, allowances and licence pay.
  • Oversee employee benefits such as medical insurance, pension, staff travel and housing.

3. Governance & Leadership

  • Lead the employment cost strategy and localisation/expatriate rewards framework.
  • Advise the Chief HR & Administration Officer and CFO on employment cost and organisational structure decisions.
  • Ensure structural changes maintain RCAA and IOSA postholder requirements and regulatory accountability.
  • Build and lead a technically strong Organization Design & Rewards team.
  • Develop and transfer technical capabilities to Rwandan HR professionals.

Minimum Qualifications

Applicants should have:

  • A 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 of specialist experience in reward, job architecture or organisation design.

Preferred Qualifications

The following are strongly preferred:

  • A Master's degree, such as MBA, MSc in HR Management or MSc in Organisational Psychology.
  • Accreditation in a recognised job evaluation methodology, including Korn Ferry Hay, Mercer IPE or WTW GGS.

Essential Experience

Candidates should demonstrate:

  • Experience leading at least one enterprise-wide job evaluation and grading implementation in an organisation with 1,000+ employees.
  • Experience in aviation or another regulated, multi-site and safety-critical industry. Aviation experience is strongly preferred.
  • Experience designing compensation for mixed workforce populations, including licensed/technical, operational shift, unionised, expatriate and local employees.
  • Experience presenting pay and organisational structure decisions at Board or Executive Committee level.

Other Desired Competencies & Skills

Previous Experience

  • Proven ability to move an organisation from having no formal framework to a governed and effective framework.
  • Strong ability to manage and communicate organisational change.
  • Confidence to challenge senior leaders when proposed structures or grades are not supportable.
  • Strong understanding of employment costs and their impact on business performance and the P&L.
  • Ability to handle executive compensation, restructuring and confidential employee information with a high level of discretion.

Job-Specific Skills

  • Strong knowledge of organisation design methodologies, including Galbraith Star Model, Kates Kesler and Ulrich value-chain logic.
  • Advanced job evaluation and grading expertise.
  • Strong compensation and benefits design capabilities.
  • Experience in salary structure development, market pricing, incentive design and benefits economics.
  • Advanced workforce analytics and cost modelling skills.
  • Working knowledge of aviation operations, including ICAO, IOSA, RCAA postholder structures, FTL, crew productivity, CASK and ASK.
  • Working knowledge of Rwandan Labour Law No. 66/2018.
  • Proficiency in HRIS/ERP systems, position management, organisation modelling and compensation modules.

Application Requirements

Applicants are required to submit:

  • Application letter addressed to the Chief HR & Administration Officer.
  • Recent Curriculum Vitae.
  • Copies of notarized Degree/Diploma certificates.
  • Relevant professional certificates.
  • Copies of academic papers.
  • Photocopy of Passport or National ID.
  • Three referees.

How to Apply

Interested and qualified candidates should submit their applications through the RwandAir e-Recruitment portal.

Application Deadline: 11 September 2026

Application Documents: PDF format only.

Important

This is a senior-level HR leadership position requiring substantial experience in organisation design, job evaluation, compensation and total rewards. Candidates should carefully review the minimum experience and specialist requirements before applying.

 
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